President Donald Trump stopped tariffs for 90 days on goods that are transported to the United States from other countries.
“It’s affecting the world already, prices are starting to go up, the stock market is also taking a big hit,” accounting teacher Mr. Lou Downey said. “It’s going to be a tough adjustment for everybody, not just the United States.”
The current price of two dozen eggs at WalMart.
Photo by: Ever Schmidt
President Trump uses the tariffs to bring people who live in the U.S. to buy products made here. He made transported items more expensive, encouraging consumers to buy U.S. made products because they are made in America. They seem cheaper because the transported products have increased in price.
“I see why the president is doing this,” Mr. Downey said. “They have tariffs on our stuff, and we were tariffing them.”
According to CNN, Trump signaled a potential U-turn on the trade war with China. Chinese prices of items will come down, but the tariffs won’t be zero. China eventually refused to lower the prices on tariffs and have a 125% increase on US goods.
“Honestly I didn’t know much about tariffs, but I have noticed gas prices decreasing then rising again,” sophomore Bryland Haile said. “Whatever Trump decides to do everyone will have to deal with it, so I’m not letting it consume my life.”
According to Fox Business, the price of crude oil prices could be increased 10-20 cents when tariffs are back in effect for gasoline.
Not only have gas prices taken a toll, but students who buy from online stores such as Shein, Temu and Ali Express have also noticed a change in buying their items.
“Recently I have noticed how expensive shipping is,” junior Nova Miller said. “While shipping used to be only a few dollars, now it has become almost twice that. Honestly with the tariffs people are going to start buying U.S. made products, but many online stores are going to lose customers because no one wants to pay $10-$15 for shipping.”
Two members of the GS FCCLA club were recently recognized for their contribution to the program and presented with awards at the FCCLA STAR Events Competition.
Senior Karma Schall was one of the two to receive the award and she spoke of her experience with the program. The other was senior Brenna Kohl, who also received an award at the event.
Kohl and Schall displaying their certificates at the STAR Event.
Photo Courtesy: Morgan Ferczak
“STAR stands for Students Taking Action and Recognition,” FCCLA advisor Mrs. Morgan Ferczak said. “Students are able to choose a variety of different events that are related to the family and consumer sciences.”
FCCLA stands for Family Career Community Leaders of America and is made up of hardworking students. The club gains several new members every year.
“The event I competed in is called the Public Policy Advocate,” Schall said. “This event allows you to pick any public policy you’d like and educate others on the information you’ve learned.”
Schall has been involved with FCCLA for three years throughout her high school career. She focused her project on the risk of drug use and spoke about overdose to educate others on the topic.
“For my project I first educated myself on the number of overdose deaths in the U.S. and the things that have been put in place to lower these deaths,” she said.
Schall explained that her project was an effort to lower deaths related to overdose in her area.
“I chose to educate others on the Good Samaritan law,” she said. “I did this by going to local businesses to educate them on this law with a flyer that had research as well as local recovery resources.”
Schall also provided the businesses with Narcan to keep within their facilities in case of an emergency.
There were several other members who attended the event.
GS’ FCCLA team at the STAR Event.
Photo Courtesy: Morgan Ferczak
“It was a great experience and a good way to get involved,” senior Reagan Sands said.
Schall is planning to go into a nursing program in the future and is using this award as a step in that direction. She spoke of the work that she has put into the program and mentioned how proud she is of each of her accomplishments.
“It felt amazing because of the work I put into this project,” Schall said. “My efforts to spread awareness have gone so much farther than I could have imagined.”
A controversial push to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education is gaining momentum in Congress, raising concerns about the future of federal oversight in schools.
If the Department of Education (DOE) is dissolved, school districts could face significant disruptions in funding and resources. Programs that rely on federal support, such as Title I for low-income schools or special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, could stall or disappear, forcing districts to find alternatives.
On March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin shutting down several functions of the DOE.
Greensburg locals participating in the Hands Off protest on April 5.
Photo Courtesy: Barb Ciampini
“It feels very rushed, without deeper thought into the implications of dismantling or reducing,” GS Superintendent Dr. Ken Bissell said. “Our district relies on federal funding for our Title I, II, III and IV grants, which help us with things such as special education needs and equity issues for students from marginalized populations. If there were no federal funds, that’s a lot of teaching positions that go away.”
The federal government’s role in schooling is to “uphold civil rights” for children, Dr. Bissell explained. He stated that he believes the shut-down will not happen, but acknowledged the hypothetical question of how those funds would be made up.
“Teachers are the direct support for students; education is a human-to-human endeavor of building relationships and trust, to then learn from each other,” Bissell said. “If we lose funding, it will definitely result in us not having enough funds to support the teachers and staff.”
According to the district’s Director of Curriculum and Federal Programs, Dr. Lenni Nedley, school districts handle variations in their funding yearly, stating that schools will adapt as necessary if federal funding is dissolved.
“Each school year, districts are faced with federal and state funding fluctuations; they’ll make adjustments to their general budgets as needed in different areas,” Dr. Nedley said. “The district always places children at the forefront of their decision-making to ensure they’re receiving what they need to be successful.”
The federal grants support four reading specialists, three school counselors, one science teacher and two classroom assistants, as stated by Nedley.
“If funds are reduced, we’d be put in a situation where we’ll have to make very difficult decisions,” Bissell said. “Staffing is the number one indicator of student success; good teachers make successful students. If we’re forced to reduce the number of staff we have, that’s going to directly impact the kids.”
On top of the human resources students are provided through teachers and staff, a majority of students in the GS school district take advantage of the food services available.
“Our school district is just over 60% free and reduced lunch,” he said. “That is a lot of kids that these funds help provide resources to.”
Having heard of the possible closure of the DOE, some students are considering what the absence of such programs could mean for their school experience. Senior Adien Carota expressed confusion over the reasoning behind the proposed closure.
“It simply shouldn’t be closed, I don’t understand the motivation,” Carota said.
Senior Kyle Keller believes “education will go down” following the change in funding.
Principal Mr. Adam Jones echoed concerns about how the closure could impact schools across the country. He explained that a lack of federal guidelines will result in disparity among states.
“Not having oversight to ensure students across the country are receiving the same protections and rights makes me worry about if it’ll further create ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’,” Mr. Jones said. “Some states could take advantage of it, seeing it as them not having to follow federal mandates anymore. I don’t think every state values their educational system the same.”
The DOE’s involvement in schools is generally focused on broad policy and compliance with federal regulations. In contrast, states directly shape the daily operations of schools, making key decisions that affect classroom instruction and testing.
“For the country to run an effective educational system, you have to have an overall level to ensure that all of the states and kids are getting roughly the same standards, curricula and resources,” Jones said.
Although much remains uncertain, GS’ faculty and administration will focus on maintaining stability for students, regardless of what decisions are made at the federal level. Their attention remains on adapting to whatever comes next.
“Pennsylvania has always had a very strong educational system, so I don’t fear a major negative outcome for our district,” Jones said. “In ten years, if there’s no Department of Education, I don’t think there will be a noticeable difference in our school.”
GS enforced punishments this year for students who played hooky.
Sanctions go into play when a student misses 13 or more days of school. The main premise of sanctions is to make it more of a priority for students to be present in school. When a student is put on sanctions, attending prom, walking at graduation or attending extracurriculars is not allowed.
GS 2025 prom advertisement posted throughout the halls.
Photo by: Theresa Schuetz
“Fundamentally, they are a goal to get kids to make up the academics that they miss when they miss school, especially when they miss a lot of school,” Dean of Students Mr. Jeff Kronenwetter said. “And in order to go on sanctions in and of itself, you’re missing 12, 13, 14 days of school. And there’s going to be an academic consequence to that.”
When a student is put on sanctions, they can be reduced by staying after school for two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“The punishments could be fair for the people who genuinely skip school,” senior Josselyn Blawas said. “To knock off an absence you have to stay after school for two hours, and you have to do that twice to get one absence off. So, if you’re someone who just skips school, you could use that time to do work.”
When students stay later for two of those days, it removes one absence from the record. When students stay at the school they are not allowed to be on their phones, and they must be working on schoolwork. However, this way of removing absences may be hard for students who have jobs outside of school.
“Each student should be able to pick what day of the week they want to stay to make up for an absence,” senior Gregory Paravate said. “It’s unfair for students who work outside of school.”
To be put on the list requires 12 unexcused absences. Excused absences that do not count towards sanctions include doctor’s appointments, funerals and college visits. When students are out because of illness, parents can write them an excuse, but it still gives one point towards sanctions.
“If we don’t know where you were or even if a parent sends a note that explains, ‘this student was absent on this date because she was sick,’ it does count towards sanctions,” Mr. Kronenwetter said.
Students are not required to make up unexcused absences through participating in detentions, but if they do it allows them to participate in extracurriculars, dances and the graduation ceremony.
“We’re just trying to establish a routine like there is in the workforce when it comes to sanctions,” Kronenwetter said.
Students are flying throughout the halls as summertime approaches, cracking energy drinks left and right.
Whether it be Monster, Red Bull or even coffees, caffeine crowds store shelves and leaves them just as fast. Classrooms are littered with cans, but opinions on them vary.
The Lions’ Den staff’s Energy Drinks on an average day.
Photo by: Ever Schmidt
“Energy drinks are the highlight of my morning,” junior Kaylee Foley said. “Monsters are my favorite, personally; I love that it can give me the energy I need in just one drink. It helps me work better and gives me extra energy to help me finish the day fully energized.”
According to Nova Medical Centers, energy drinks have some positives. They help to “improve students’ mood and attitude, to eliminate feeling groggy. Being able to buy a drink that will give almost instant energy for only one to five dollars can be very convenient.
With every positive, there are also negatives. Regardless of the good they bring to some they can also affect the way people act and feel in the opposite way.
“The first time I had an energy drink, I had a bad experience and will probably never drink one again,” junior Adrianna Scalzo said. “It made me feel so sick that I’ve haven’t had one since then.”
According to The National Library of Medicine, energy drinks can be a health risk. There have been nine cases of cardiac arrest in recent years, three of them being fatal. They have concerns that they can cause nervous system disorders and addiction.
“I think they are terrible for you, they mess with your hormones and your heart,” Health and Physical Education teacher Mrs. Alyssa Lukatch said. “It’s a whole-body disrupter.”
Energy drinks contain caffeine and sugars which can be associated with a decrease of insulin sensitivity, causing the body to have resistance to the hormone insulin. It also can give risks like anxiety, hallucinations, headaches, tooth decay and more, according to Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials.
“People drink them for energy just to crash harder a few hours later, when you really should be looking at why you don’t have any energy,” Mrs. Lukatch said.
Various business locations have been rapidly cleaning out in Greensburg.
Route 30’s Dick’s Sporting Goods, the South Greensburg Wendy’s restaurant and Greengate Center’s Big Lots have all been affected in recent months by poorly performing locations or filing for bankruptcy.
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Following the closing of its Route 30 location, the Westmoreland Mall is welcoming a Dick’s House of Sport into an anchor space in the mall that was previously occupied by Sears. Computer Science teacher Mr. Tyler Brinton believes the new store will be “great for the community.”
“It’ll be a really great place for kids to get sports gear, especially being in the mall,” Mr. Brinton said.
The House of Sport offers a more interactive experience for customers than a normal Dick’s Sporting Goods location; they are often larger than a Sporting Goods, with most locations, such as at Ross Park Mall, featuring golf simulators, spaces to practice sports and a 30-feet-tall rock wall. The store will also offer the expected athletic apparel and equipment.
The outside of the Greensburg Dick’s location after being shut down.
Photo By: Kerrick Shaw
Wendy’s and TGI Fridays
The Wendy’s restaurant located on South Main Street was one of over 100 U.S. restaurants closed in 2024 from failing to keep up with other spots. These closing sites will be balanced out by the opening of around 250 new restaurants across America.
The outside of the South Greensburg Wendy’s.
Photo By: Kerrick Shaw
“I was told we closed because our lease was up and we didn’t make enough to pay it,” Wendy’s employee, junior Nova Miller, said. “We’re all set at a new store now. They moved all of the employees at the South Greensburg one to the Wendy’s by the mall; we’ve basically combined stores.”
The restaurant chain TGI Fridays filed for bankruptcy in November, leaving the location in the Hempfield Square shopping plaza, surrounded by Texas Roadhouse and PetSmart, available for lease. TGI Fridays Inc. operates less than 40 locations in the U.S.
Big Lots
Big Lots, located in the Greengate Shopping Center, recently had their windows covered with everything-must-go signs. The discount furniture and home décor chain filed for bankruptcy in September of last year, however, its debts were just picked up by Gordon Brothers, a global assets company.
According to the Gordon Brothers press release, their purchasing of Big Lots Inc. will preserve the brand, keeping “hundreds of stores in operation and preventing thousands of layoffs.”
Variety Wholesalers, a company included in the transfer of Big Lots’ assets, will operate about 200 stores under the Big Lots brand. Gordon Brothers will provide real estate services to support the future of Big Lots and have just put new-to-market store leases up for sale across 47 states, not including PA meaning the Greengate Center space will remain closed.
GS Libarian Mrs. Carrie Vottero believes the closing of these businesses is due to the ever-growing use of electronics.
“I remember shopping a different way than how young people, and myself, shop today,” Mrs. Vottero said. “It’s bound to change; the world is changing. More things are continuously going electronic, like Amazon and DoorDash. That’s just how people shop now.”
Students are stuck juggling their responsibilities while stocking shelves or handing out orders with homework due the next morning.
Some teenagers begin their search for work once in high school, but with both school and a job, students might struggle to manage their time efficiently.
“It is definitely hard to manage my time because my plate is full with school, work and softball,” junior Maggie Alcorn said. “It gets challenging, but I try my best to work around my work schedule.”
Sports and other extracurricular activities can make it especially hard to handle the workload. Senior Katie Shea, Fundraising Director for Mini-THON, said that most employers are “more lenient towards students.”
“If something comes up for Mini-THON or volleyball, I make sure to let my manager know right away,” Shea said. “They usually understand with high school students that school comes first; if your job gets in the way, you need to put it on the back burner.”
Principal Mr. Adam Jones believes that having a job isn’t as important as some students make it out to be, saying that students who participate in school activities like clubs, musicals or athletics should focus on those. However, Mr. Jones also understands that jobs teach teenagers life skills that they cannot learn in school.
Comic by: Kerrick Shaw
“I think going to school is your primary job,” Jones said. “If the time you’re committing to your job is impacting your studies or if your grades are going down then you need to set your priorities. I hear so many kids say that they have to work, but school should be number one on their list.”
Regardless of her busy schedule that can sometimes be a struggle, Alcorn thinks it is very important for high schoolers to have a job, saying it gives teenagers an “early work ethic.”
“I started working the summer before my freshman year; I was fourteen,” she said. “I would recommend getting a job early and working hard. I think working will only get harder as you leave high school.”
Shea agrees it’s ideal to start working as soon as possible. She explained that it teaches responsibility and is a different way for teenagers to meet new people.
“I started working at the end of my junior year,” she said. “I’m a food runner which can sometimes be difficult because we have three floors, so having to run food up three floors as quickly as possible can be really tiring. I also have to close on school nights at times which means I don’t get home until 11:30 some nights.”
Balancing work on top of school requires adjustments for teenagers and its important to ensure that responsibilities, like good grades, will be maintained.
“Each individual is different,” Jones said. “Some students can juggle high level courses and a 30-hour work week; some can’t, and that’s okay. Everything really depends on what the kids are comfortable with and what they need to do. It’s important to remember what comes first.”
Resources are available at GS for students who need a boost with their classes.
Tutoring services at GS include the Next Step program and the National Honor Society’s student-led tutoring program.
Next Step is a resource for students to work on missing assignments, make-up/retake assessments and get help with any questions they may have. Next Step takes place from 3:05 to 4:05 p.m. in room 373 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Transportation is available for students on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“It’s not meant to seem like a detention, it’s meant to be more relaxed,” Next Step teacher Dr. Taylor Guido said. “As a student, I would’ve liked to have this because when you get home, you get distracted. It’s a quiet, extra hour of working time for students who need it.”
Next Step keeps students in “school mode,” according to Dr. Guido. No paperwork or form is required to participate in the program; students only need to communicate with Guido in advance, giving them freedom to pick and choose when they want to stay.
Next Step times and goals.
Photo By: Kerrick Shaw
“I like to ask students what their goal is for the day; I also communicate with their teachers,” she said. “More students have started to stay more recently, but I hope more do take advantage of it in the future.”
On the other hand, tutoring through National Honor Society (NHS) requires filling out a Microsoft Form that’s available with a QR code posted throughout the school. The form requires the student’s name, advisory and advisory teacher, the class they need help in and answering a few multiple-choice questions that will help them be set up with the best-fitting mentor.
NHS is a national program that gives students the opportunity to engage in community outreach and service and encourages the development of important skills. The GS chapter is a group of about 50 seniors who are highly engaged in the school and community.
“I go through the NHS members and find who’s able to help students in need,” NHS Adviser Mrs. Cheryl Harper said. “Once they’re matched, they meet in advisories and work it out. I think the students who show up, and want the help, really do benefit from it.”
NHS Member senior Everett Redinger believes the tutors are “very helpful” when working one-on-one. Tutors are working with the same education, having taken most of the same classes and knowing what hardships went with them.
“I don’t think enough students that need help take advantage of it,” Redinger said. “The students are generally all aware of the tutoring program, but for students to sign up for it, they themselves must want help. If the students don’t want to truly improve in the area, tutoring can be very difficult.”
Both Next Step and NHS’ tutoring have grown recently according to Dr. Guido and Mrs. Harper respectively, but both hope to see more students participate in the future.
“I hope that students who need help become more self-advocating, more willing to ask for help,” Harper said. “I think the school’s tutoring services are something kids should turn to before falling behind and having more trouble. They’re here to help.”
Clubs across GS have started up and have exciting things planned for their members.
From interacting with the community to getting together with students who share interests, there is something for everyone to get involved in.
Students looking to gain community service hours and make a difference will be interested in checking out the Interact Club.
“The cool thing about Interact is that it’s networking around the world since the Interact Club is an international organization,” president of the Interact Club Ian Smith said. “You learn a lot about volunteer opportunities in other countries and how you can help.”
The GS Interact Club has begun helping across the globe, starting with orphaned children in Ukraine. The club has already distributed 15 tags that include the name of a Ukrainian orphan and a list of items they need to club members.
“We have already distributed them, so at this point we are not sure if there’s any more to give,” Smith said. “If people really want to do it, we certainly could have students collaborating to buy stuff for the same orphan.”
The club will be attending a conference with other Interact Clubs in the area to discuss more community service opportunities in the future.
“On Oct. 17during school we have our district interact conference with the Rotary Club at Greensburg Country Club,” he said.
Interact Club isn’t the only club looking to better the community. Another wonderful option for students looking to get involved is the SADD club.
“SADD Club has Red Ribbon Week, which is very exciting, lots of club meetings and fundraisers,” vice president of the SADD Club Riley Campbell said.
Red Ribbon Week is a campaign that focuses on preventing drug use. Joining SADD Club allows students to play a part in keeping their peers drug free.
“Red Ribbon Week is Oct. 21-25, and the theme is: Life is A Movie, Film Drug Free,” Campbell said.
SADD Club’s community involvement doesn’t end with Red Ribbon Week. The club is also very involved with projects relating to Sage’s Army.
“We work with people who run school therapy sessions and do a lot of community outreach,” she said. “We will work with them and also do our own community outreach.”
Not all students feel their communication skills are strong enough to participate in community wide events such as those in Interact Club or SADD Club. Students looking to improve these skills should look to join the Speech and Debate Club.
Speech and Debate officers promote GS for T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights Sweepstakes.
Photo By: Mrs. Andrea Redinger
“A big part of Speech and Debate is that it’s an opportunity to work on yourself, work on your emotions and work on your speaking skills,” vice president of Speech and Debate Emily Ziska said.
The club also hosts festivals for those looking to expand upon their skills and compete against other Speech and Debate members.
“Festivals are where people are finding what they like, what they want to do and working on whatever makes them happy,” Ziska said. “There is also the more competitive stuff like debating.”
The open-endedness of the club allows for many different types of students to find their place within Speech and Debate.
Students who find the competitive aspect of Speech and Debate particularly exciting should consider joining the Chess Club. Like debating, chess can help students become more calculated and innovative.
“It helps you look ahead on your future plans, because in chess you have to plan your moves ahead of time,” president of the Chess Club Elijah Miller said.
To enhance these skills, the Chess Club maintains a very competitive nature during their meetings.
“We have Mr. Lenzi make us a bracket and every Tuesday we come together and do the tournament,” Miller said.
Students who do well in the club will have the chance to attend a tournament between other highly skilled chess players in the area.
“We have a chess tournament planned for November and will have in-house tournaments to determine who’s going to the big tournament,” secretary of the Chess Club Lucy Giovannelli said.
There are also plenty of options for students who like more relaxed environments where they can collaborate with others who share their interests. One of these clubs is the Guitar Club.
“Sometimes we have members who have been with it for a while who like to jam with each other and it’s always exciting when out of nowhere a song starts to happen and they’re all combining their efforts,” Advisor of the Guitar Club Mr. Darryl Audia said.
For those who aren’t as experienced at the guitar, the club serves as motivation to get better.
“The goal is to at least learn a couple chords and stuff like that,” Mr. Audia said. “The hope by the end is, if people want to continue to come, that they do some of their own research.”
Experienced members in the club will even come together on occasion to put on performances for other students.
Members of guitar club preform in the Library.
Photo Courtesy: Mr. Audia
“The thing we’ve done historically the last two years is the week right before holiday break we will have a coffee shop-like performance that will be in the library probably during lunches,” he said.
Like Guitar Club, French Club members come together over a shared interest and orchestrate an incredible performance every year. This performance is none other than Culture Day.
“The officers themselves go on stage and announce any sort of French speaking activities during Culture Day,” vice president of the French Club Alyssa Barber said. “The food taste testing that went on last year was entirely run by French Club.”
French Club has a lot to offer students interested in French even outside of Culture Day.
“We do a lot of fun things,” Barber said. “This year we’re planning on going to the French bakery in South Greensburg, get together to play games and do things for the trip.”
Students looking to improve their experience at GS should look for a club that interests them and begin making connections with their peers.
“Really it’s about networking and getting these friendships to grow,” Mr. Audia said.
Students at the high school are experiencing technical difficulties.
The district changed its technology company this summer when their contract ended, causing a shift throughout the schools.
This resulted in things going a little differently this year such as distribution being delayed, kids not getting the same laptop and some devices being dirty.
Abegail Spaugy’s school laptop this year.
Photo By: Emma Helmick
“It was going to take an awful lot of time to get laptops back in the hands of the same student that it came from,” Superintendent Dr. Ken Bissell said. “So that’s where I made the decision and said, ‘get them ready as best as you can and let’s get them out to the students.’”
The plan was to put in new software, clean them up and organize them to be returned to the same student, but there was not enough time.
“Last year my computer worked as it was supposed to and also had a touch screen,” junior Andrew Lehnhardt said. “I can tell I was given a much older one that doesn’t function nearly as well.”
Next year there is a plan to get all new touch screen computers that have double memory and will run faster to all grade levels to fix the problem of slow and older devices.
“The computers that I have had in the past are super slow,” senior Joshua Nepple said. “I didn’t get the right one when I got my computer this year, but I heard they are getting faster computers for next year which I think is good.”
Another change that has been made is that there is now a tech line that students can call at any time to get issues resolved.
“I like how the tech line is 24/7,” senior Abegail Spaugy said. “Last school year, the tech office was only open a few days a week, and if you had an issue, you had to wait until the tech company workers were in their office.”
There is currently no in-person tech office available to students during the school day, but as of right now the plan is to have someone in the tech office eventually along with the tech line to try to minimize any possible issues that students could face.
“My job is, I have to look at what’s best for the student body, for the staff, and the community and the taxpayers, and how we make that happen,” Dr. Bissell said. “That’s why we made the decisions that we made, with the plan for next year being we’re going to get new devices across our system.”
The Lions' Den 