Many schools don’t have snow days anymore because Covid-19 opened a new world of virtual learning.
GS has flexible instruction days, so students can do work from the comfort of their own home when the weather gets bad. There are many advantages to FIDS days, but there are also many disadvantages.
“I wouldn’t be comfortable doing online because I don’t get the hands on learning I need,” sophomore Nevaeh Hirst said.
Many students need a teacher to physically show or help them when it comes to learning, and a computer screen doesn’t allow that to happen.
Some teachers will make videos or step-by-step directions for the students, and many benefit from this because they can look back and make sure they are doing what is being asked.
“If I were to virtually learn, I would slack off because there are more distractions for me at home,” Hirst commented.
Distractions are more limited in school, and the teacher can bring the student’s attention back to the subject at hand. When the child is at home, anything around them can take their attention away from school because they are in their comfortable place.
Students can also cheat on assignments using the technology around them. Not only is this not helping their brain work, but it’s also giving kids the opportunity to become dependent on technology.
When GS has a FIDS day, many students may fall behind on their work or their grades may even lower.
“When we do online my teachers usually don’t give work, but when they do, I don’t do it because I’m used to not having to,” junior Savannah Herring said.
Some students may not be able to attend their virtual classes because they don’t have access to the items they need. Not being able to do work or log onto the live class, the students not only are falling behind on work, but they also will be marked absent.
“I think if you have access to a computer or WIFI at home, you can benefit, but if you don’t have access, school shouldn’t hold you accountable for it,” U.S. government and politics teacher Ms. Sierra Aires said.
Tables have turned with teachers now running the halls playing games of their own.
Started by associate principal Frank Sundry, High School staff members have been taking part in a faculty-wide camaraderie building game, separated into five teams with each competing against the others in different activities.
Mr. Sundry formed this game for the staff as a team-building exercise to help form stronger relationships between them all.
“For a school to be successful, you have to hold a positive culture,” Sundry said. “People have to enjoy coming to work; enjoying your work and your time spent with peers and coworkers has a positive effect on the classrooms, as well as teachers and students.”
So far, they have proven to be a success amongst the staff. Starting with only about sixteen participants, just the first activity doubled that number.
“I think once everybody realized what it was, we were all enthusiastic,” Librarian Mrs. Carrie Vottero said. “It has made us all have fun with each other, which we don’t really get to do. … It has made everybody feel like we are on a team together. … It’s just a great idea.”
Fitting Sundry’s goal, participants find the game to be beneficial for their everyday lives. An important result is the communication it has brought between those who don’t normally get to speak, commonly from separation between floors.
“It’s definitely good,” Physics teacher Mr. Christopher Gazze said. “I’ve interacted with more people, people that I usually wouldn’t; whether it’s in person or over chat. It’s really nice.”
Regarding the games themselves, there is an almost consecutive favorite out of them all so far – that being the original. Somewhat of a scavenger hunt, each team hid GS logos throughout the school and searched for the others, the end goal being to find other team logos and keep your own hidden.
As of right now, whether the game will be long-term or not is uncertain, as there are still factors that need to be ironed out.
“The toughest task right now is the frequency,” Sundry said. “You don’t want to do it too much and over saturate, but you also don’t want to do it so little that people lose interest.”
After everything regarding staff is set in stone, like the times for each activity, he said the plan is to eventually include students in the games. However, he is unsure when that could end up happening.
As of now, the game has absolutely proven to be a hit with the teachers and will only keep growing in participation. Hopefully as years go by it will serve as a tradition among the staff.
“We all say that it does,” Mrs. Vottero said when asked if the game has a future. “It’s just like a lesson: the first time you do it it’s only like a run through, but you know you’re going to do it better the next time. I absolutely think everybody would like to see this be something that sticks.”
The cast and crew of Footloose are nearly prepared to hit the stage, break the rules and dance ‘till they can’t no more.
The students involved are incredibly excited to present it in front of audiences. Junior Wesley Heverly, who last year played SpongeBob in GS’ The SpongeBob Musical, will be playing the lead role of Ren.
“… we have the entire show blocked and choreographed,” Heverly said. “All we have to do now is put it all together and run through the whole thing a bunch of times and we’ll be set.”
Blocking allows the Director to choreograph the show and take advantage of the space they have, mapping out each movement the actors make.
This point in the musical making process is where a lot of the work goes in, from both the students and the staff.
“… We have to add costumes, props, more set pieces, lighting, microphones and special effects,” Director and Producer Mrs. Sue Glowa said. “We’re finishing up adding all these components and bringing alive the magic of the show.”
It will be accompanied by an orchestra of local professional musicians playing live each night. Mrs. Glowa said that the performances will be “amazing.”
The cast and live music will bring a great deal to the show, but behind the scenes there is also the stage crew helping bring each scene to life.
Photo by: Kerrick Shaw
“What I do on stage crew is help move the big set pieces to where they need to be for each scene,” junior Logan Lewis said. “Once we get everything taped where they’re needed to be, I get to do flies; the pieces that are controlled from the air. I’m excited to do those and just to see the finished project for this amazing show.”
The students must work hard to act out each scene together, keeping in mind who is going to be where and what is about to happen.
“It’s a super fun show to be working on with how super dance heavy it is,” Heverly said. “… SpongeBob was such an energetic character last year. With Ren, he is also really energetic from his love for dancing. It’s great, the characters fun to be.”
Tickets are on sale now for Footloose, coming to the stage on March 1st and 2nd at 7 pm, as well as March 3rd at 2:30 pm. Tickets will also be available at the box office an hour and a half prior to each showtime.
Resources are available in the Guidance Office to help alleviate stressful situations and to promote healthy solutions to issues students may be having.
Stress happens when the mind goes through a state of worry or tension.
Things like big changes, too many responsibilities, lack of control, trying to reach expectations, hate or abuse can be some of the leading causes of stress.
“There’s going to be stressors, things that stress us out in life, but being able to deal with them in healthy ways is important,” Guidance Counselor Mr. John Manley said.
Deep breathing, counting back from a number or simply just finding something that can ease the mind are great ways of releasing stress.
“I try to remove myself from the stressful environment that I’m in,” Manley added.
When people are stressed, they tend to fidget around or become emotional as well. This is because stress can be too much emotion for one’s body to handle and needs to be released in some manner.
“When I’m stressed, I tend to get angry or frustrated,” sophomore Cora Gray said.
Trying to understand what is causing the stress is the first step to take. From there one can start talking about it and find ways to help ease the stress.
“I like to find three things to focus on because then I’m not thinking about what is stressing me,” Gray added.
Stress can also cause stiffness to parts of the body, so exercising or stretching when stressed can be an effective way to deal with it as well.
“Make sure that you have time to balance some sort of healthy distraction, so that you’re not constantly in a stressful situation,” health teacher Mr. Patrick Hutchinson said.
Stress happens to everyone, and preventing it isn’t necessarily possible. Staying organized, having a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, exercising and taking care of one’s mental and physical health are great ways to help minimize how much stress a person has.
Stress may also lead many teens to addiction because they don’t understand how to cope properly. To prevent stress-caused addiction, find the triggers and find a solution when triggered.
“Try to find yourself a distraction to help yourself, not drugs, not alcohol, not compulsively eating but something healthy like exercise, music or whatever it may be,” Mr. Hutchinson added.
Positive self-talk about stress management is a healthy form of coping with day-to-day stressors.
It is that time of year. Matchomatics forms have been sent for students to fill out.
The forms will be open to students from December 4th to January 5th.
Matchomatics is a fundraiser through NHS. Students fill out the form of questions and then it is submitted. They calculate the answers by how similar people did them.
This is the first year for forms to be online instead of being on paper that advisory teachers handed out.
Last years Matchomatics example form.
Photo by: Emma Helmick
Students will be able to purchase their results February 5th-9th for the price of $2.
“Going online was a big decision to us,” NHS advisor Mrs. Cheryl Harper said. “It’s easier to get students to fill out forms when you’re physically putting it in front of them, but it does save so much paper. So we are really hoping that it works out for us.”
Since it is online, there is no way to make sure every student submits their answers. There have been posters put up in the hallway with the QR code to the form.
“Last year they sold so little and the shipping to bring the forms here and then get them back was a lot,” senior Paige Gaughan said.
Out of everyone who filled out the questions last year, there was only a total of 161 copies sold last year.
“It ate up all our profits,” Mrs. Harper said. “So we will print them out as people want them. We are actually going to go around and take orders from people and pass them out.”
The papers will show students who are most compatible and then birthday trivia on the back. Results will still be available to buy until February 15th.
“It’s always interesting to see who I match up with and see if I closely matched with any of my friends,” junior Cecilia Ecklund said. “It made it a lot easier to complete compared to previous years because it is online.”
Matchomatics has been a tradition at GS for over 20 years.
“It’s just supposed to be fun,” Harper said. “I think sometimes people think that it’s silly, but that’s exactly what it’s supposed to be.”
The feminine hygiene products were removed from the bathroom dispensers.
“I wish they wouldn’t have taken the products out of the bathrooms, but I can understand the problems with it,” sophomore Izabella Caruso said.
The removal all comes down to one factor.
High School Principal Mr. Adam Jones said that they were removed for “misuse and vandalism.”
Due to students overflowing toilets with the products, throwing them at the mirrors and ceilings and sticking them to walls, all products were moved to the Nurse’s Office.
A now empty feminine hygiene dispenser.
Photo by: Rubee Stillwagon
“I completely understand why they put them in the Nurse’s Office, but it can be hard for girls to go in and ask for that stuff,” Caruso said.
It can be difficult and sometimes embarrassing for students to go in and ask for these products. These items being wasted, and bathrooms being vandalized, is something that the school district is trying to prevent.
Mr. Jones explained how unfortunate it is that a student’s senior project, that they worked hard for, isn’t being respected.
GS graduate Emily Campbell had feminine hygiene products installed into the bathrooms for her senior project. These dispensers were filled early in the semester and have already been taken out.
“I don’t understand why students can’t just respect products that were there to help them,” sophomore Delilah Bevan said. “It’s sad that people don’t think about the consequences of their actions.”
Due to a select group of students, helpful products are now harder to get for those who find them useful.
“I just think it’s sad because some students don’t have these things at home,” Bevan said.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to have these products provided to them. This was an opportunity to help those people. These products are still available, but the goal was for students to respect them.
“Our hope is that students report incidents that impact their educational experience,” Jones said. “This includes resources provided to all students by the School District. We are a family at GSHS and when that family is negatively impacted, we must all work to fix it.”
As the college football season comes to an end, playoffs have begun, and the bowl games have been set. From the Potato Bowl to the Citrus Bowl, 84 teams will continue their seasons and play one more game.
There are 42 total bowl games set for the end of the 2023 season, including the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, which are the College Football Playoff Semifinal games. Four teams will face off to determine the College Football Playoff National Champion.
On December 3rd, the college football committee came together to decide on the four teams that will face off in the playoffs. Alabama, Michigan, Texas and Washington were selected as the semifinalists for the playoffs. There was much debate that these four teams should have been the teams in the playoffs.
Results of an Instagram poll.
30 people voted.
Photo courtesy: gslionsden on Instagram (give it a follow)
With undefeated Florida State not being selected in the playoff bracket, many fans, players and coaches were upset with the decision of the committee. High school gym teacher Mr. Nathan Snider and senior Mikey Kingerski have watched much of the college football games leading up to the playoffs and have an opinion on the teams.
“I don’t agree with the teams that are in the playoffs,” Mr. Snider said. “I believe Florida State should be in, even though I don’t believe they are one of the top four teams in the country. I feel like if you are in a big five conference and you go undefeated you should be in, especially when there are teams in who lost one game and FSU didn’t.”
Although the Florida State Seminoles did not make the playoffs while having an unbeaten record, they will get the chance to play the Georgia Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl on December 30th. Georgia was another team that had a strong record but wasn’t good enough to be in the postseason.
Many people have chosen their team to root for in the college football playoffs. As Michigan seems to be the top-runner for the playoff championship winner, other teams have received love, or hate, for their placement in the championship games.
“My favorite team in the playoffs is Washington,” Kingerski said. “I would have liked to see an ACC team in the playoffs over Alabama, as it is my favorite conference. But it should be a very interesting and cool group of playoff matchups.”
Other top college teams like Missouri, Ole Miss, Oregon and Penn State didn’t make the playoffs, but did receive a bowl game.
“Besides the playoff matchups, I plan on watching Florida State vs Georgia and Ole Miss vs Penn State,” Kingerski said. “I would like to see Florida State win to prove the committee wrong. I want to watch the second game because I like Penn State.”
While others prefer watching the bowl games, some do not. When not placing in the top four spots, teams are not given a chance to play in the playoffs. For the next college football season, the committee has decided to expand the playoffs to a 12-team playoff bracket.
“I enjoy and will watch the college football playoffs,” Snider said. “I don’t care for the bowl games at all, but I’m really looking forward to next year when they have 12 teams in the playoffs.”
As the college football season is slowly ending, the NFL season still has a few more weeks left. Fans of football -college or professional- have their preferences regarding what they would rather watch. The NFL gets more love than college football from many fans, but others enjoy watching college students play than professionals.
“I enjoy both the NFL and College football,” Snider said. “I would say I enjoy the NFL more, mostly because of fantasy football and the Steelers. It keeps me more invested in every game. College, I enjoy watching the big rivalry games and conference championship games, but I don’t watch every game like I do the NFL.”
It’s officially basketball season and the 2023-2024 players are excited about upcoming games.
“I have high expectations for this season,” junior Blessing Gantt said. “At our tip off tournament we went 1-1; we wiped out Ringgold 71-12, but lost to Blackhawk 40-35.”
Gantt is a member of the girls’ varsity basketball team. Both the boys’ and girls’ regular season started on the first of December and will continue all the way into February.
“We do a lot of preseason work,” Gantt said. “This year we have been putting in a lot of work to hopefully help us get further than last year.”
Players on both the girls’ and boys’ teams talked highly of their coaches. Freshman AJ Tarpley claimed he quite liked his coach and said, “he knows what he’s talking about.”
The GS boys’ basketball team plays against Derry Area.
Photo by: Adison Poole
“Our players are truly amazing,” girls’ varsity basketball Head Coach Mr. Rick Klimchock said.
Klimchock explained how excited he is for this year’s season.
“We have high expectations for this season,” he said. “I’m looking forward to a lot of exciting games.”
Klimchock has had years of experience with the sport. He’s coached basketball since 1978 and has coached at GS since 2017.
Boys’ varsity basketball Head Coach Mr. Cameron Auld has coached for two years at GS. He was also assistant coach for a year at Waynesburg University, his former college, and another year as Head Coach of the freshman boys at Norwin.
“I am always looking forward to this time of year,” Auld said. “We have a good group of guys, a group I have really started to form relationships with.”
Basketball season tends to bring out fans at each of the games. The students and coaches have said they enjoy seeing people there and are excited to see the turnout for future games.
“I encourage our guys to go watch all their classmates compete,” Auld said. “My hope is that if we participate in making other teams’ home environment a fun place to be, then those kids will come make ours one as well.”
The girls’ team hopes their turnout will increase as the season goes on.
“We’ve had decent turnout with parents,” Gantt said. “We’ve only had two games at home at pretty random times, so we never expected a crowd.”
Players of both teams are just glad to be back out on the court playing their sport.
“I think the team could make it to playoffs this year,” Tarpley said. “I am looking forward to making it far this season.”
Auld expressed that the practice the team put in wasn’t just physical practice.
“Being only on year two, for as much time as we have been together, we are still learning about one another,” Auld explained. “That’s the thing about sports that I think gets overlooked, the relationship piece.”
As a Coach, Auld hopes that all his players can form some sort of bond and hopes that whatever bond they form shows out on the court.
“If you don’t have good relationships, you don’t have trust,” he said. “If you don’t have trust you struggle to win.”
Many players have been able to form close bonds with many of their teammates and are excited to be back on the court with one another.
“I’m looking forward to playing with the seniors one last time,” Gantt said.
Coaches are just as involved with the players and have spoken highly of the entire team.
“Our players are truly amazing,” Klimchock said. “We have seniors and juniors who show our underclassmen the culture that is GS Lady Lion Basketball.”
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams have set different goals for themselves this year. The teams have expectations they hope to meet by the end of the season.
“I think our main goal is to improve,” Gantt said. “We want to finish higher in our section and possibly even be section champs.”
Throughout the off-season coaches and students have put work into improving to play better this season. Practices will continue throughout the season to hopefully improve gameplay as the year goes on.
This year the girls’ basketball team kicked off their regular season with a trip to Disney World to participate in a tournament.
“Disney is really fun,” Gantt said. “We got to see the parks before the tournament.”
The players left for the trip on the 16th of December for a tournament that will take place over the course of three days.
While the season has already started, there is much more to come, and players and coaches hope that students at GS will come out and support the teams this year.
“I think a student section would be great,” Gantt said. “But our main goal is winning.”
Making sure our schools are safe should be a number one priority, especially in today’s society. With the number of school shooting rates increasing every year, it’s important to take the proper steps in order to keep everyone safe.
“I think fire drills should be done maybe one in the fall one in the spring and lockdown drills should be done every month,” School Police Officer Mr. Kerry Dieter said. “On a state level, I think they should flip those around.”
According to Education Week, as of November of this year, there have been 36 school shootings that resulted in injuries or death. Since 2018 there have been 180 school shootings. On average, in these shootings, two people are killed and one is injured. Although these numbers may not seem that big, they are still too high. Students should be taught to be prepared for these situations so there are less injuries and deaths.
The door jamb that was provided to all classrooms to use in the event of a lockdown.
Photo by: Rubee Stillwagon
“I know school shootings are a big fear for many students and that’s sad to me,” sophomore Maggie Alcorn said.
School shootings are a fear for kids all over the world and it’s unfortunate that this is something they worry about. According to Sandy Hook Promise, more than 43,000 were exposed to gun fire at school in 2022. Schools take certain measures to make the buildings safer but some of them aren’t always as beneficial as they believe.
“I feel like the door jambs can be beneficial,” Alcorn said. “But I also think they can be dangerous.”
All teachers were provided with jam block safety systems to use in case of an emergency. The problem with these safety systems is not their reliability, but rather how safe they are actually keeping people. While these do block the door and keep them shut, they can also tell an intruder that someone is in the room. This is because they can only be used from the inside.
“I think we need all new interior doors and new door locks,” Officer Dieter said. “A locked door is the number one life saver.”
Even if an intruder does get into the school, a door and lock protecting students and teachers in classrooms can be a saving factor.
“We are the only schools within the county that don’t have mousetrap entrances,” Dieter said.
Mousetrap entrances are becoming very common within schools. These entrances are set up so that anyone coming into the school must pace through a secure vestibule before entering the actual school building. This would stop people from having access to the rest of the building before making sure they are not a threat. Unfortunately, this is a very expensive remodel for schools.
“When it comes to protecting people, I feel like more money should be used,” Alcorn said.
Although schools have money put aside for safety measures, some people would argue that it should be a larger amount. But that doesn’t necessarily come from the school level but more from state and federal levels.
“I think because this is clearly a problem in our nation, that there should be some funding provided by the state and federal government,” Math Teacher Mr. Al Toret said.
The burden of protecting schools from a school shooting is too big to fall on local schools. This goes beyond the school and to higher authorities. With this being said, there is another thing as well that falls into the hands of those beyond school level.
“There should be some school focused training that officers are required to go through, and I would say on a regular basis,” Mr. Toret said.
After the shooting on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, many people questioned the way law enforcement handled the situation. Although there were 376 law enforcement officers on scene, they were reported to have handled things in a “chaotic, uncoordinated way that lasted for over an hour,” according to The Texas Tribune.
“A building like a school does offer a different thing because you’re dealing with children,” he said.
Schools filled with learning children should be protected. After all, children are one day going to be future leaders. That is why it is so important to raise awareness about this problem that our world is facing and take all the proper steps in order to keep people safe.
“If you see something, say something,” Officer Dieter said. “Everyone knows something at some point. It’s a matter of whether they want to say it.”
On November 17th a Taylor Swift fan passed away at her night one show in Rio de Janeiro.
“I know a lot about the fan passing away at Swift’s Brazil show,” junior Lauryn Swierczynski said. “The fan actually passed before Swift even took the stage.”
The 23 year old fan, Ana Clara Benevides Machado, became ill at the show due to the heat wave, with temperatures that felt over 100° Fahrenheit inside the stadium.
With the heat wave going on outside the stadium and the number of fans inside the stadium, water was a necessity for fans in attendance.
Fans who prepared for the night two concert in Pittsburgh.As can be seen, everybody had water on hand.
Pictured from left to Alexis Strouse, Lauryn Swierczynski, GS Graduate Katlyn Swierczynski, GS Graduate Josie Beckerleg and Sophie Beckerleg.
Photo courtesy of: Lauryn Swierczynski
“Unlike how it was for U.S. shows like mine, the international shows don’t have a seating plan,” Swierczynski explained. “In Brazil, it was basically like a mosh pit of people.”
After the events that took place on night one, Swift decided to postpone Saturday night’s show until Monday to make changes in the stadium to prioritize fans’ safety.
“I don’t understand why she didn’t take precautions the first night,” junior Alice Wilkinson said. “If she knew it was going to be so hot, she should’ve done something about it.”
Due to Swift’s decision to postpone the show, she was faced with backlash from fans all over the world.
“I saw lots of fans that took their concerns to social media mostly on TikTok,” Swierczynski said.
Fans from all over the world were quick to give their take on the situation through posting videos or comments on social media. Sites such as X (Twitter) and TikTok were flooded with fans defending Swift or blaming her for the fan’s death and the postponed show.
“I absolutely love and look up to Taylor Swift,” Swierczynski said. “I don’t think Taylor should be blamed for this at all.”
Swift is not a singer known to cancel shows. Throughout her Eras Tour, Swift has played no matter the temperature, rain or shine.
“You have to give Taylor props because every time you cancel a show everyone involved loses money,” building substitute Mrs. Carmen Cherrington said.
During her first night in Brazil, Swift was able to push through her over three hour long show even with the heat wave in full swing.
“Clips surfaced of Taylor profusely sweating and her skin being visibly red,” Swierczynski said.
Many fans were quick to point the finger at Swift and claimed she should be held accountable for the situation. However, Swift wasn’t responsible for setting the stadium’s rules.
“I don’t think it was just her fault, but I feel like she could’ve played a bigger role in preventing the situation,” Wilkinson said. “The stadium shouldn’t have had those rules, but Taylor also shouldn’t have played there knowing the rules.”
Fans were told the night of the show that they were not permitted to bring their own water in the stadium.
“At the Pittsburgh Eras Tour show I went to this summer, I was allowed to take 2-3 clear sealed water bottles,” Swierczynski explained. “I went through all my water and my show was nowhere near as hot as the Brazil (show).”
The venue of the show was the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium. This Stadium can hold 44,661 people at a time with the ability to expand to 60,000 people for certain events. On the night of the show Swift had 60,000 fans in attendance.
“I used to work venues, and this should have never happened,” Mrs. Cherrington said. “This absolutely cannot be blamed on Taylor.”
The night of the show the venue’s management decided to shut the air vents inside the stadium to “improve vocals.”
“I think the venue closing parts of the stadium affected the airflow,” Swierczynski said. “I know they were open at the Sunday night show two days later.”
Swift was set to play November 17th, 18th and 19th in Rio; instead she made the ultimate decision to postpone Saturdays show to that upcoming Monday.
She took to Instagram to announce the decision to her fans only hours before the show.
“I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium,” Swift wrote on her Instagram story. “The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio. The safety and well being of my fans, and fellow performers and crew has to and always will come first.”
The stadium full of Taylor’s fans began to boo the artist and chant against her minutes after the post went up.
“This tragic situation upsets me, not only because of the loss of a young bright person, but also the toll it has taken on Taylor,” Swierczynski said. “There were several sources saying Taylor was crying at her hotel.”
Fan or not, everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the situation; however, everything that played a role in the situation needs to be taken into consideration.
“Taylor is such a big artist and with the amount of power she has, I just don’t understand why she didn’t take action sooner,” Wilkinson said.
Swift made her attempt to resolve the situation not only by making changes to make the next two nights of the Brazil shows safer, but also by reaching out to the fan’s family and dedicating the acoustic set of the show to Machado.
“Taylor is one of the only artists that seems like she really does care about her fans,” Cherrington said. “People need to realize that when talking about this situation.”
The Lions' Den 