studentjournalism

GSHS Footloose Musical

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

By Kerrick Shaw

Photo by: Kerrick Shaw

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. 

Stress Management

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

By Samarah Guy

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.

Future District-Wide Construction Plans

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by Kerrick Shaw

Photo courtesy: Mrs. Kayla Tamer

On Wednesday, January 17th, GS Superintendent Dr. Ken Bissell held a presentation revealing the district’s “laundry list” of potential construction projects.

The listed projects consisted of refreshing the interiors of the district’s buildings, plumbing and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) repairs, landscaping and better accessibility for people with disabilities.

GS is forming a steering committee to decide what upgrades should be prioritized across the board, based on urgency and specific school buildings.

“My first priority is to look at the current state of all of the buildings,” Dr. Bissell said. “Number one is looking at what’s going to be here in the long term and what we need to do to bring them up to speed. There are three big topics we’re looking at: Safety and security … ADA, accessibility for everybody … and the last one is community engagement.”

Bissell said the district will take the concerns and recommendations from students and staff into consideration once the steering committee is formed.

Teachers are anticipating the completion of the district’s future plans, but have expressed worries of their own.

“There are things that have been left going for long periods of time, which is causing all of these issues to come together at once,” Social Studies teacher and Track and Field Coach Mr. Robert Lehman said. “Had the problems been addressed, it may not have gotten to this point.”

A number of teachers at the high school have experience teaching in the middle school as well, giving them a broader view of what the district might need.

“I believe the middle school needs the most updating,” Math teacher Mr. Al Toret said. “It has the most glaring needs. … My opinion is that the classrooms are too small; they were very tight. It was tough to do anything different because of the little amount of space.”

Mr. Toret and Mr. Lehman both agree that the biggest factor regarding the problems with the district’s middle school is age. Lehman considers problems harder to solve when caused by age. The High School, while still having issues of its own, could require less of an overhaul.

On top of the school buildings themselves, other areas on school grounds require acknowledgment for repairs, such as the High School’s tennis courts, fields and the athletic facilities.

“As a coach, I of course would want them to focus on the athletic facilities,” Lehman said. “One of the biggest problems is the locker rooms. That’s what I see the most as being in disrepair. You have lockers with no doors and some that can’t lock because the doors they have are bent so badly. The way the locker rooms are set up creates a lot of blind spots where you can’t see what is happening. It was a relatively poor setup to begin with.”

There is a lot to be done, but teachers have no doubt about Bissell’s ability to accomplish it all. Lehman said, having been friends with him throughout his career at the High School, that he “understands” what any problems are and trusts that he has the right plans to solve them.

Money is also a factor that needs to be greatly considered during the planning, which is why the steering committee being formed for determining what the top priorities are is essential.

“I believe when we got new roofs that was in the millions of dollars,” Toret said. “When you’re considering structural changes, there are architects that need paid, engineers that need paid, there’s construction costs – materials aren’t cheap, labor costs aren’t cheap. There’s a lot that goes into those numbers and it adds up quickly. It is a big deal.”

Students have also expressed opinions of their own. Their experiences in each building are much broader than the majority of the staffs’, as many students had, and have, classes on all floors every day.

“I think the high school needs a lot,” senior Lucy McChesney said. “Air conditioning and heating need worked on; there’s often problems with those. It definitely needs renovations, like in the bathrooms. … Comfortability is the most important thing.”

Bissell also believes comfort is necessary for the students. He spoke on upcoming HVAC repairs set to begin this April, funded by ESSER, which is a program, started in 2020, that focuses on supplying educational learning aids for classrooms and improvements within the schools.

He’s confident in the district’s capability of completing each project, but acknowledged that they will not be done in a day. There’s currently no way of determining an exact timeline. “If we as a district think it’s important to invest into the education of the youth in our community, it isn’t necessarily just a teacher standing in front of the room,” Toret said. “The environment we have our students in is almost just as important.”

Matchomatics

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by: Emma Helmick 

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.” 

Feminine Hygiene Dispensers Update

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by: Rubee Stillwagon 

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.” 

College Football Playoffs

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by: Ava Hardaway 

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.” 

Basketball Season

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by: Adison Poole  

 GS lions’ basketball is in full swing.  

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.”