Inside this issue:

Sister Act 2

Love Yourself 4

Jake N’ Ally 5

Black History

Month

11

Heroin Addic-

tion

12

Valentine’s for

Singles

14

Relationship

Do’s and

Don’t’s

16

Pantherette 14 FEB 2018 VOLUME 57, ISSUE IV

On February 14, many people around the United States celebrate Valentine’s Day by exchanging candy, flowers, or boxes of chocolate with their loved ones, but what is the true meaning of Valentine's Day? This holiday dates back centuries to an-cient Roman rituals and the customs of Victorian England.

Most people know that February is a month full of romance, and St. Valen-tine’s Day, as we know it to-day, contains memories of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who is St. Valentine and how did he become associated with this holiday?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three dif-ferent Saints named after Val-entine. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. Once Em-peror Claudius II decided that single men make better sol-diers than those who have wives or families, he outlawed marriage for young men. When Valentine saw the un-fairness, he started to defy Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valen-tine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

While some think that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to celebrate the anniversary of Valentine’s death, which probably occurred around A.D 270, others claim the Chris-tian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the

were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, but writing Valentines didn't appear until after 1400. The oldest known Valentine still in existence today is a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Or-leans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In the UK, Valentine's Day began to gain popularity around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small to-kens of affections or hand-written notes, and by 1900, printed cards started to re-place handwritten letters.

Around the early 1700s, Americans began to exchange handmade Valen-tines. Esther A. Howland be-gan selling the first mass-produced Valentines in America. Today, according to the Greeting Card Associa-tion, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year. Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all Valentines. Sources: history.com Npr.org

pagan celebration of Lupercalia. It was celebrated at the ides of February, February 15.

Lupercalia was a Ro-man fertility festival dedicated to Faunus. The festival would begin with members of the Lu-perci congregating at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or Lupa. Then, the priests would sacrifice a goat (for fertil-ity) and a dog (for purification). Then, they would strip the goat’s hide, cut them into strips, and dip them into the sacrificial blood. They would go out to the streets, slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Surprisingly, the Roman women were not scared at all; they believed if they touched the hide, it would make them fertile in the coming year. According to legend, later in the day, all of the young women in the city would place their names into a big urn. The city’s bachelors would choose a name and be-come paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in mar-riage.

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was later outlawed and deemed “un-Christian” at the end of the fifth century. When Pope Gelasius declared Febru-ary 14 St. Valentine’s Day, it wasn't considered a day associ-ated with love, however; That idea came much later. During the Middle Ages, in France and England, people believed that February 12 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which inspired the idea that the mid-dle of February is a romantic time.

Valentine greetings

The History of Valentine’s Day Alana Boyle ‘20

Panther-

ette is

now

avail-

able

online in

color!

Wanna know

some crazy

stuff about

your teachers?

See page 6.

The Pantherette thanks Mr. Cullen for the printing of our paper!

Advisor: Heather Barrett Secretary: Starr Neidlinger Editor-in-Chief: Ellen Robinson Treasurer: Elizabeth Clement Administrative Assistant: Donald Ballou Sports Editor: Brenden Livinghouse Technical Editor: Layomi Adeojo Sports/Technical Editor: Skylar Renninger Junior Editors-in-Chief: Charanya Birabaharan and Lily Whitmoyer Sophomore Editor: Reiley Bagenstose Photographer: Allison Henwood Contributing Pantherette staff: Mary Brooks, Hallie Jacobs, Kadin Hohenadel, Cecily Ramirez, Hannah Selt-zer, Michael Shott, Josh Calancea, Jessica Shomo, William Stevenson, Jasmine Stoudt, Jakob Strausser, Molly Wenzel, Vito Zazo, Molly Ballou, Tessa Bewley, Mackenzie Bossler, Alana Boyle, Tatum Brown, Stephanie Brum-bach, Julia Craft, Brock Dalton,, Emily Hoffert, Lilyanna Isenberg, Emily Kale, Chloe Peters, Danielle Readinger, Gabby Rider, Hope Rozycki, Skylar Weddle, Lily Wiley, Addison Angstadt, Mandi Brush, Kara Faulk, Sandra Goho, Vanessa Jones, Samantha Stewart, Emily Zaharia

The Pantherette is published by students of Schuylkill Valley High School, Leesport, Pennsylvania, 19533

Congratulations!

Senior Takoda Hartman placed 1st in the District Skills USA Competition for Diesel Technology. He is con-

tinuing on to the State Competition in Hershey! Good luck!

SV Scientists Seniors Laure Henne and Emily Gunkel placed 2nd in Ecology. Senior Olivia Jenkins and Junior Tristian Kucera placed 3rd in Chemistry Lab. Senior Olivia Jenkins and Sopho-more Trevor Teprovich placed 3rd in Material Science.

Nice repping SV, Science Olympiad!

SV Powerhouse at the 2018 Farm Show

Senior Mackenzie Homan won 3rd place in the Market Basket Division for Potted. She had to have 6 (or more) herbs arranged in a decorative basket. Senior Ashley Spatz won 4th place in the Market Basket Division for in and out of season vegetables (8 or more kinds). Junior Mikayla Davis placed 2nd for Greenhouse and High Tunnel Vegetables (3 on a plate).

Good job girls!

Page 3

Sister Act Whitney Tomes ‘20

Save the dates April 13 and 14. Why, you ask? Well, they’re the show dates for the school MUSICAL! This year’s musical is Sister Act. What is Sister Act? Well, thanks for asking, I have the answer for that. Sister Act is about a show-girl named Deloris Van Cartier who witnessed a mob crime. The police hide her in a traditional convent where Deloris and the head nun, Mother Superior do not get along too well. Find out if Deloris can survive living at the convent or if she’ll be tracked down by the people who she is a witness against. Come see the musical and support your fellow

classmates!!! Congrats to this year’s cast! Cast: Deloris Van Cartier: Mary- Elizabeth Brooks Mother Superior: Alexis Szymczyk Sister Mary Robert: Bridgette Ben-nett Sister Mary Patrick: Whitney Tomes Sister Mary Lazarus: Haley George Monsignor O’Hara: Donald Ballou Curtis: Bailey Ammons Eddie: Dan Koch TJ: Max Troutman Joey: Reinhold Louis Pablo: Willie Stevenson Sister Mary Martin-of-Tours: Hallie Jacobs Sister Mary Theresa: Carissa Trievel Michelle: Layomi Adeojo Tina: Tehinnah Louis Ernie: Josh Calancea Ensemble: Allison Ammarell Jonathan Bernet- Aponte MacKenzie Bossier

Elizabeth Clement Meghan Cook Rosaly Diaz Sarah Edris Emily Hoffert Ella Jenkins Madison Kepner Antonio Kucera Heather LaFaver Kayla Madden Olivia McNeal Starr Neidlinger Kahlee Perera Cecily Ramirez Izzy Romig Arlenys Sanchez Byron Searle Hannah Seltzer Briana Silasav-age Autumn Snyder Kaitlynn Way-man Molly Weidner Molly Wenzel Lily Whitmoyer Lillian Wiley Austin Witinski Rebecca Zeiner

Vanessa Jones ‘21 During the snow days, I had to go to my grand-parents’ house. While there, my grandmother told me about snow days in the 1950’s. When she was little, her family did not get a call that school was cancelled; they had to listen to the radio to find out. Her sister and brother would sit by the radio in shifts to hear the list

of schools that were cancelled. One would sit by the radio while the other would get ready for school. If they missed the list the first time, they had to wait 15 min-utes for the list to play again. Like us, they were happy when they got a snow day!

Snow Days From Days Gone By Join Lit Mag for a lovely Valen-tine’s coffeehouse on February 9th from 2:45 to 5pm in the LGI. For just $3, you’ll have all the student writing, performance, and snacks you could need to fill your heart this Val-entine’s Day.

SVHS Welcomes Dr. Shreeyash Palshikar Mike Shott ‘18

On January 10th, Dr. Shreeyash Palshikar, Assistant Professor of His-tory at Albright College, made the trip to SVHS in the company of former SV Superintendent Dr. Solomon Lausch. Dr. Palshikar came to speak to the World Affairs Club about the relation-ship between India and Pakistan, both historically and contemporaneously. In the past, he received a Fulbright fellow-ship from the University of Chicago, which allowed him to conduct research in India. Afterwards, he served in the US intelligence community as a South Asia political analyst. He had many in-teresting things to say, and his full pres-e n t a t i o n i s a v a i l a b l e a t www.wacreading.org. Schuylkill Valley’s own Mr. Witman heads the initiative to get SV students involved in the global commu-nity, and Dr. Palshikar’s visit is a result of the partnership between Schuylkill Valley and the World Affairs Council of

Reading. Mr. Witman takes stu-dents to the council’s monthly luncheon to hear world-renowned

speakers talk about topics crucial to the political and social climate of the world. If you are interested in attend-ing one of these luncheons, get in touch with Mr. Witman or members of the World Affairs Club to see if you can reserve a spot. Otherwise, all of the presentations are available on the website mentioned previously In today’s age, where we are connected with all corners of the globe through various forms of media, we aren’t just American citizens any-more; we are global citizens. However, citizenship implies a sense of civic responsibility -- part of that responsi-bility is staying informed. Dr. Palshi-kar’s visit is proof that even in a small school like SV, it’s possible to stay connected to the world. So, on behalf of Schuylkill Valley, I’d like to thank Dr. Palshikar, Dr. Lausch, Mr. Wit-man, and the World Affairs Council of Reading for helping us do just that.

Love Yourself

Jessie Shomo ‘19

Every time you think of Val-entine’s Day, you probably think of couples or how much you love someone, right? Well, it is also im-portant to remember to show love to yourself. If we remind ourselves it is okay to have flaws and imper-fections, we all can learn to embrace who we are. This year for Valen-tine’s Day, remind yourself that you love who you are and make sure you treat yourself that way as well.

The football team would like to recognize those players who have

earned post-season honors. Logan Grauer has been named a

first-team all section wide re-ceiver and Mason Riegel is first-

team all section at linebacker. Grauer also was selected as sec-

ond-team all section at defensive back. Second-team all section

players include Luke Ammarell at defensive end, Shane Newell at

offensive tackle, and Joe Jardine at both wide receiver and kicker.

Congratulations to these players!

Congratulations!

Page 5

Jake N’ Ally

Dear Jake n’ Ally, I recently got in a relationship but don’t know what to get my girlfriend. I want our first Val-entine’s Day to be special and I don’t want her to think I am a total loser. What should I do?

- Dreaded Date Dear Dreaded Date,

I know how much stress Valentine’s Day can put on a guy, which is why you should try to stress less about creating the “perfect” Valentine’s Day. What-ever you do, make sure to let your girlfriend know that you appreci-ate her. If you put too much

thought into something, or over analyze, you will paralyze yourself. That being said, be yourself dur-ing Valentine’s Day. Most of the time, guys will try to impress their girlfriends by doing dumb stuff. Believe me when I say this: girls HATE that! If you want a “perfect” Valentine’s Day, don’t overanalyze the date and the gifts and be your-self. You’ll do great!

- Ally

Dear Dreaded Date, You worry too much. Honestly, it is great you want her to have the best Valentine’s Day ever, but don’t lose sight of what’s really

i m p o r t a n t : spending time with your girl-friend and offering her the best you can be. Don’t be wrapped up in all of the roses, chocolates, and teddy bears, and definitely don’t change yourself for her. If she really likes you, she will like whatever you plan for her! I recommend not throwing yourself at her every chance you get, and don’t be too desperate. Good luck!

- Jake

Four’s A Crowd As course selection rolls around, I’m a bit sad that, as a sen-ior, I don’t get to partake in any of the fun, so instead, I’m going to give you some advice: Take Advanced Placement Litera-ture (AP Lit for short). The picture you see alongside this article shows the entire class. Yes, Noah Romig and I. Two people. Eigth period. Every day. If you think that’s awk-ward, imagine what it is like when one of us is out sick. What makes me even more sad, however, is that AP Lit is one of the most useful courses I’ve taken, but many people shy away from taking it. The name may sound intimidating, and while the course is challenging, it is also enriching and (say it with me) fun. It even has lit in the title; how can that not be fun? (Yeah, I’m a loser; I know) AP Lit is a little dif-ferent than a typical classroom set-up because it is a discussion-based class. You get to read beautiful and classic pieces of literature and then

Plus, you read some of the most well known pieces of literature like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Invisible Man by

Ralph Ellison, The Adven-tures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and so many more! My favorite book was The Help for a very long time, but after seeing how craftily Ellison com-bines metaphor and im-agery, Invisible Man quickly took its place. As did AP Lit in my list of fa-vorite courses. Lastly, Mrs. Kramer is a pretty amazing teacher. Who wouldn’t want a good teacher? You don’t have to take my advice; you could

just take regular ole’ English 12H. But you’ll miss the opportunity of a life time. NOTE: If you decide to take the course make sure you have an abundance of post-it notes.

talk about not only your emotions but also how the novel relates to or re-flects society of the time and society now. That discussion is what makes

AP Lit so special. You learn to think big picture. You have to put a bunch of small pieces together to see how they connect to an overarching theme. Not to mention, reading is a amazing stress-reliever. Having to read for AP Lit is the only way I can squeeze any relaxation into my day.

Ellen Robinson ‘18

Questions asked: 1. What’s an odd job you’ve had in the past? 2. What is a hobby you had/have that stands out from the rest? 3. What is your craziest/scariest experience? 4. What is you favorite SV memory? 5. Any sport you play/played? 6. Is there anything else SV might be surprised to know about you?

Miss De Mott 1. Bungee Jump Master for one sum-mer 3. Fav Memory: During Interna-tional Women’s Day a male student borrowed clothes from his female students and gave a presentation wearing them (including the bra). 4. Was a Gymnast for several years 4. Also played tennis, kickball, and hardball in playground leagues 6. Pet Shamu the Orca Mrs. Kramer 3. Rode a camel in the Sahara Desert during a thunderstorm Miss Heffner 1. Used to work at a mushroom

plant digging through soil to pick out the worms (nematodes)

Mrs. Schultz 5. Played softball and field hockey Mrs. Moran 1. Sold snacks at a golf course 2. Helps at Animal Rescue League 6. Owns 4 dogs and 6 cats (two are foster kitties) Mr. Horrell 1. Sold newspapers and lottery tick-ets at a news stand 2. Interested in Astronomy and watches stars 3. Performed with teachers as vil-lage people in front of Muhlenberg High School; he was a construction worker 5. Played Baseball Mr. Evans 1. Worked as a pin setter at a bowl-ing alley 2. Hunting and Fishing 3. Got lost hunting turkeys 4. Coached football and made it to the district playoffs 5. Played baseball in college 5. Played football against Mr. Chil-lot Mr. Mogford 1. Worked as a toilet painter in col-lege 2. Is a fly fisherman 3. Was held at knifepoint in Naples, Italy on a train 4. Favorite memory is of every SV theatre production he has been a part of 5. Played soccer 6. His daughter Molly has Doc Mar-tens with a british flag on them 6. Daughter Hannah can fake a cockney accent really well Mr. Reed 1. Washed school buses inside and out for a summer 2. Off road drives with a Toyota

Land Cruiser 2. Restored two Toyota LC’s 3. James Henderson accidentally tripped over him in the audience of a world championship power-lifting meet and was totally apologetic 4. Favorite recurring time is Thanksgiving break 6. Wants to be a Mahout (a life-long elephant trainer) 6. Favorite animal is an elephant 6. Would like to drive across Australia in a Toyota Land Cruiser Mr. Bagenstose 1. Party Rental Delivery Guy 2. Collected bouncy balls 3. Neighbor’s dog bit his hand and almost broke it 4. Winning Berks’ County Girls’ Basketball Championship in 2005 5. Played soccer and basketball 5. Plays tennis 6. Been to almost 250 concerts Miss Lu Wang 2. Watches snake documentaries 3. When she was 10, she was in a garden when 2 snakes attacked her and she had to kill them with stones 5. Used to swim 6. Dislikes butterflies Mr. Kissinger 3. Predicted the purchase of his

You May Be Surprised To Know... Lillian Wiley ‘20 and Emily Hoffert ‘20

Page 7

family house four years prior to the sale 4. Favorite SV memories are the laughter in the classroom everyday 5. Played football and basketball 5. Ran track Ms. Harle 2. Hunts 3. Was lost in Costa Rica and was unable to read the map due to a language barrier 5. Did cheer 5. Played field hockey in HS and college 6. Has guinea fowl (chickens) Mr. Deininger 1. Worked third shift at a post of-fice sorting mail 4. Favorite SV memories are the success and excitement of students after performances 5. Played soccer, football, basket-ball, hockey 6. Loves to follow and discuss sports Mr. Piergrossi 1. Worked in the toys section at Walmart 2. Collects vintage Star Wars memorabilia 4. Favorite SV memory is working with Mr. Mogford and cast during Amadeus 5. Skis currently and played tennis and ran cross country 6. Is a national pie judge

6. Played a concert with about 4000 people 6. Was frightened by a rubber snake in his outdoor wood pile Mr. Chillot 1. Worked as a cement worker 2. Reads comics 3. Scariest experience is the first time he rode the Rock n’ Roller Coaster at Disney World 4. Favorite SV memory is when SV beat Berks’ Catholic in the football playoffs 5. Played football, basketball, baseball, and rugby 6. Ran three marathons Mr. Andrew 1. Worked as a brakeman on the Railroad 2. Hybridizes motor engines 3. Craziest experience is when he jumped off a “RR tressing” into a river 5. Used to wrestle 6. Lived in Cali in a beach hut Mr. Heffner 1. Worked at Burger King 2. Raises horses 4. Seeing completion of SV track and turf field (SV) 5. Played volleyball, ran track and field 6. Knows how to shoe a horse Mrs. Musket 1. Lifeguard in high school 2. Enjoys sudoku and crossword 3. First time she went on the Claw at Hershey 4. Faculty madness 5. Soccer and basketball 6. Currently has her brothers, sis-ters, niece and nephew living with her

Mrs. Chillot 1. Was a dishwasher at a church bingo hall 2. Reads comics 4. Favorite SV memories are when Mrs. Barrett ran into her class think-ing she would die because she drank spoiled milk and when SV beat Berks’ Catholic in the football play-offs and the student section stormed the field 6. Ran two marathons, one in Nova Scotia and one on the Jersey Shore Ms. Rowles 1. Babysat a girl who had a pet skunk 4. Favorite SV memory is when the swim team won districts 5. Swam in HS and college 6. Knows sign language Mrs. Barrett 1. Was a llama trainer 1. Wrote obituaries 2. Runs and does woodworking 3. Had a large bear on her deck 4. Favorite SV memory is during the first underclassmen awards cere-mony when students that would have not usually been recognized were recognized and when Mr. Wit-man kidnapped her teaching cart and decorated it with princess para-phernalia 5. Currently skis 6. Played tuba 6. Was a majorette Mr. Smith 1. Worked security at the Reading Airport 2. Is a semi-professional musician 4. Favorite SV memory is when Ms. Heffner and her “gang” covered his room in pictures of Michael Jackson

Mr. Gampe 1. Engineer at nuclear power plant construction site 2. Shoots pistols at the range 4. Winning boys volleyball county championships 5. Played volleyball 6. Has 6 kids and 16 grandkids 6. Once fell off a ladder when painting Ms. Lane 1. Cleaning and deveining shrimp 3. Driving through a neighborhood after a huge hail storm 5. Was a cheerleader and played rugby Mr. Hagy 1. Worked at a mushroom farm 2. Astronomy 3. Was on an airplane in a bad storm 4. Seeing Jacob Jerdan become Spirit King 5. Football and track 6. Likes classical music Mrs. Koehler 1. Receptionist at Copy World

4. Coaching b a s k e t b a l l and beat Daniel Boone 5. Played field hockey and basket-ball and ran

track Mrs. Boyer 1. Bank teller 2. Ran Cross Country 3. Over Christmas break, she was cooking food on the stove. She left to shower with the food still on. When she came back to check on the food, the belt of her bathrobe caught on fire. She put the flame out quickly. 4. Giving her kids their graduation diplomas Mrs. Bond 1. Checking car registrations 2. Hunting 3. Riding Tower of Terror 4. Graduation 2 years ago 5. Played field hockey 6. Is a grandmother Mrs. French 1. Cleaning party supplies 2. Softball, coaches and played 3. When she was 12 or 13 years old, she crashed her bike and was in the hospital for two days be-cause they believed she had bro-ken her neck. 6. Married when she was 18 Sra. Koller 1. Worked in a pretzel factory mix-ing dough 2. Enjoys reading 3. Missing plane to come home from Mexico 4. First time she got the child of a former student in class and listen-ing to the child say she had their parent 6. She has never been to Spain de-spite studying in Mexico Sra. Pawling 1. Bank teller 2. Manager for field hockey and swimming 6. Goes to Disney all the time Mr. Auker 1. Worked at Berringer’s Ice Cream

Shop 2. Can ride a unicycle and plays guitar 5. Ran XC and track distance Mrs. Cammauf 1. Worked at the Leesport auction as a waitress 2. Plays 3 instruments (flute, tenor sax, tuba) 4. Presenting 4 of her brothers with their graduation diploma 5. Played volleyball, basketball, and ran track and field 6. Is the oldest of 7 kids 6. Grew up on a farm Ms. DeStefano 1. Worked at Leesport Pool 2. Running 3. Getting luggage lost in Europe 5. Played tennis Mrs. Sassaman 1. Worked at Home Depot 4. Talent show “It’s Raining Men” 5. Played field hockey and softball 6. Both sons were born under 2 lbs. 6. Has a varsity letter in college badminton

Mr. Binkley 1. Worked in Boscov’s in embroi-dering 2. Collects signed baseballs 3. Stole a store sign in Colonial Wil-liamsburg (he gave it back before anyone noticed it was missing) 4. Academic Challenge Team won the county title 5. Played basketball, golf, baseball, bowling, volleyball, softball, tennis 6. Although he is a math teacher, he

Cont’d from page 7

Questions asked: 1. What’s an odd job you’ve had in the past? 2. What is a hobby you had/have that stands out from the rest? 3. What is your craziest/scariest experience? 4. What is you favorite SV memory? 5. Any sport you play/played? 6. Is there anything else SV might be surprised to know about you?

Page 9

David Allen Turpin (born October 17, 1971) and Louise Anna Turpin (born May 24, 1968) married in 1985 in Pearisburg, Virginia when David was 23 and Louise was 16. They rented a postal box in Burleson, Texas from 1986 to 2003. They owned property in Rio Vista and Fort Worth and left the area in 2010.

After they moved out of the house, neighbors visited and found feces, beds with ropes tied to them, dead cats and dogs in the trailer, and large piles of garbage surrounding the p r o p e r t y . T h e neighbors, however, did not report their findings to the po-lice. David and Louise had thirteen children, ranging from 2 to 29. According to David’s parents, “God called on them” to have a large number of children. The couple claimed to be Pentecostal. Neighbors in California recalled seeing the children, stat-ing that they would freeze or stay silent when spoken to. They also appeared malnourished and pale. Still, they did not report any of these red flags to the authorities. According to Louise’s sister, the children were forbidden to talk to guests and relatives without ask-ing for permission.

On January 14, 2018, David and Louise were arrested for imprisoning and torturing their thirteen children; the tor-ture included shackling them to beds for long periods of time,

beating and strangling them, and starving them.

One of the Turpin children, age 17, managed to escape after 11 years and many attempts in Texas. He used a disconnected phone to call 911. Upon arriving to the house, police were shown photos of the conditions in the home. Deputies of

the Riverside County Sheriff's De-partment, the local police service, went inside the house. They found the other twelve siblings, one of whom (age 22) was chained to a bed. The police described the chil-dren’s appearances, stating that they looked younger than their ac-tual ages. The police also stated that "the parents were unable to immediately provide a logical rea-son why their children were re-strained in [the manner that they were].”

The six minors, ranging from ages 2 to 17, were transported to Riverside County Regional Medi-cal Center from the sheriff's depart-ment where they were admitted to the pediatrics unit for treatment.

Corona Regional Medical Center said that the facility was treating

the seven adult children. There, the thirteen children

shared some personal stories and explained what their parents had done to them at home.

They were not allowed to take shower. They recalled taking one shower a year. They were not allowed to go to the bathroom so

the children were forced to urinate wherever they were. They urinated in their bedroom. They ate one meal a day, if they were lucky. When found by the police, they were extremely malnourished - the oldest daughter (29 years old) weighed 89 pounds. They were forced to spend most of the day in their locked rooms and were repeatedly tor-tured. They were even shackled to their beds when they went to sleep! After their arrest, the

parents were sent to Riverside County jail on a $9 million bail. They are due back to court on Feb-ruary 24, 2018. The Turpins are facing an uncertain future, but all points lead to life in prison.

Despite the underage chil-dren asking if they could stay to-gether, the seven adult children will be sent to an assisted living facility. Meanwhile, the six minors will be split up between two foster homes.

The children could have es-caped violence much earlier if the neighbors had just told the authori-ties their findings.

If you see anything weird, it probably is. Report it to the au-thorities or an adult, even if turns out to be nothing. It could save a life… or thirteen. Photo taken from ABC news

The Shocking Case of the Turpins Emily Zaharia ‘21

Many of us know about the states that seceded from the Union during the Civil War. However, do any of us truly understand how many attempts have been made at seceding from the United States, or even making new states? Recently, Robert Paul Preston and Tom Reed have launched a movement called the “New California” move-ment. They want to di-vide rural California from the coastal cities, which they claim are ruled under a tyranny that does-n’t follow either the U.S. Consti-tution or the state constitution. On January 15, 2018, New Cali-fornia released their independ-

ence declaration. This was not the first time that someone tried to declare independence. In 1982, the

mayor of Key West, Florida de-clared independence from the United States, calling the nation “The Conch Republic,” after a roadblock was set up by the federal

government. The roadblock was to combat drug smuggling through Flor-ida. Additionally, he declared war on

the United States with the only “shots” fired being pieces of stale bread that were thrown at US federal agents, US Navy members, and the Coast Guard. The Conch Republic surren-dered after one minute of “war” and demanded one billion dollars in foreign aid from the US. The US did not give them foreign aid, but took away the road-

block. Other places that have thought about leaving their previous state, or the Union, include New York City and Texas. Photo taken from ABC News

Fifty-First State? Addison Angstadt ‘21

All around the world, horri-ble events have been happening. Slaves are being sold, and Los An-geles was on fire for the longest time. Those are just two of the many news stories. In Libya, a country in Africa, migrants and refugees are being sold into slavery. Libya is the main point where refugees and migrants come to reach Europe by sea. When they are out in sea, though, the Libyan Coast Guard cracks down on the boats who are smuggling people. In four years, the amount of refugees who have died hit 3,000 and there’s estimates of 400,000 to one million people stuck in Libya, which may have lead to de-tention centers being overrun. In those centers, there are reports of murder, rape, and robbery amongst the migrants. The meaning of this is mainly said to be the expulsion in 2011 of the leader who was running Libya for

four decades. After, the country went into a civil war. After that, the country didn’t implement rules set by the gov-ernment which set forth of militias,

tribes, and gangs. Because of the rules not being administered, slave trade and smuggling has turned into a lu-crative business. To solve the humani-tarian crisis, it will take international assistance. Libya is trying to reach a deal with E.U. and African leaders may allow the refugees and migrants

to go back to their home country since they’re being abused in the detention centers. From December 4, 2017 to Janu-

ary 18, 2018, the Thomas fire in California burned acres of land ruthlessly. 281,893 acres were in-cinerated, and at least 1,063 struc-tures were destroyed completely while 280 were damaged. It was the largest wildfire California has ever experienced. The fire went from the urban edge all the way to Los Padre National Forest, cover-ing 422 square miles. Although the fire caused lots of building damage, there was only one life taken, and it was a firefighter’s. The cause of the fire was years of drought, the wet-test winter on record, then the heat

waves baking the state, drying out the vegetation, followed by the unusually stiff seasonal winds. Global warming also contributed to the fire as well as brush fires around L.A. Altogether, the fire in Los Angeles, California was the worst forest fire Cali has on record. Photo taken from USA Today

World Events Jasmine Stoudt ‘19

Every February, people all over America celebrate Black His-tory Month. What many people don’t know is that it actually started as “Negro History Week” in 1926. Carter G. Woodson, a n A f r i c a n -American scholar and historian, no-ticed the lack of Af-rican-American rep-r e s e n t a t io n i n American history. In 1915, he founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) to promote the study of black history and celebrate the accomplishments of black peo-ple. The ASALH and Woodson then started Black History Week in Feb-ruary of 1926. Woodson originally chose the second week in February be-

cause it covered the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14),

two people who play a large part in black history. However, it became evident that a week wasn’t enough; with the rise of the civil rights move-ment came an expansion of black cul-ture and literature. The week was later increased to a month in college campuses across America during the

1960s. It wasn’t until 1976 that President Gerald Ford decreed

Black History Month an offi-cial obser-vance. In his message, Ford declared, “In c e l e b r a t i n g Black History Month, we can seize the op-portunity to honor the too-often neglected a c c o m p l i s h -ments of black Americans in

every area of endeavor through-out our history.” Every year since 1976, each president has issued a national decree, along with each year’s theme. Photo taken from Huffington Post Sources: time.com History.com Blackpast.org

Black History Month

Page 11

Layomi Adeojo ‘20

The Forbidden Fruit Tatum Brown ‘20 According to the American

Association of Poison

Control Centers, 39

cases of teenagers in-

tentionally ingesting

detergent pods have

been handled in the

first half of January;

that’s as many cases as

all of 2016. Tide pods have recently been referred to as “the forbid-den fruit.” Like most household cleaning items, tide pods are

very toxic if consumed. However, teens have been performing the

“Tide Pod Challenge,” a challenge where they attempt to eat a whole Tide pod. There have been several reports of death from this chal-

lenge. If a you consume a Tide pod, it will first irritate your

mouth. As it makes it was down the esophagus and into the stomach, it will cause burns in both areas. The most deadly part of consuming a tide pod is if the detergent is inhaled; you will experience respiratory dis-tress, making it very hard to breath. Many posts have been circulating the internet that joke about eating Tide pods as a meal. While most people don't actually eat them, some stores

have gone as far as to lock them up on the shelves. Though this may seem silly, it is beginning to turn into a serious matter.

The country is caught in a whirlwind of an opioid epidemic, largely caused by the prescription of pain medication for legitimate ill-nesses that left users hooked after-wards. Overdose fatalities are now the leading cause of death in Americans under the age of 50. In 2016, more than 60,000 people were estimated to have died from drug overdoses. Of those victims, 3,500 were from Pennsylvania. The majority of the deaths are attributed to opioids — heroin and prescription painkillers like Oxycontin and Vicodin. In 2017, there were about 5,260 drug related deaths in our state. Some short term effects of heroin and other injectable drugs include nausea, vomiting, low body temperature, and light sensitivity. Long term effects include poor appe-tite/malnutrition, diminished immune system, and sleeping problems. Pennsylvania's toll of 26.3 over-dose deaths per 100,000 people was the sixth highest rate in the nation. Teens in America have easy access to heroin and opioids; 29.7% of 12th grad-

ers say that it is easy to buy. Even 8th graders say that they can easily pur-chase the drug. Generally, when peo-

ple use heroin for the first time, it is at a party or social gathering where someone brings a stash and offers it to others. In 2012, the National Sur-vey on Drug Use and Health Informa-tion (NSDUH) discovered that about 91,000 people over the age of 12 used heroin for the first time. The average age of first time users is 20, which implies that many heroin users wait until they are no longer teenagers to start using the drug.

On January 11, 2018, governor Tom Wolf declared the opening of an Opioid Operations Command Center

to help reduce casualties caused by the increasingly growing opioid epidemic. On October 5, 2017, the governor announced that the $5 million in the 2017-18 budget used to provide 60,000 naloxone kits over the next two years is now available to all 67 counties in this state. It is also now available to first responders. In that time, naloxone saved ap-proximately 5,000 people who overdosed. Naloxone is a fast act-ing antidote in the event of an

overdose. As a matter of fact, two Berks County high schools have lost six students to heroin overdose in only the past two years; throughout all of Berks county, there have been 261 deaths. Because of these inci-dents, those two high schools now stock naloxone. Reading has also lost 119 citizens due to opioid overdose; over half of those victims were under the age of 21.

The Heroin Addiction Epidemic Skylar Weddle ‘20 and Vito Zazo ‘19

Opiates, mainly heroin, account for 18% of drug and alcohol abuse admissions

in the U.S. Drugfreeworld.org

Getting Personal... My family had a cousin named Mike; he was 19 years old. He was funny, smart, and a star basketball player on his high school team. He also loved to write. However, he had a troubled childhood and his home situation wasn’t the best. He became hooked on heroin during his junior year of high school. He told every-one that knew about his addiction that he felt like it gave him some sort of con-trol. His mom and sisters tried to con-vince him to stop and get help, but he refused any treatment. Finally, he de-cided to go to rehab after his parents told him that he couldn't live with them if he continued that way. He left home to end his addiction and was in rehab for nine months. After being released from rehab, he was sober for 6 months and seemed happier and healthier. Then, a few months later, his friend passed in a car accident; this left

him depressed for a long time, and he refused any therapy or help from anyone. The depression was so severe that he started taking oxycodone, a strong pain-killer. Furthermore, he broke his leg play-ing basketball and was given narcotics to ease the pain; the doctors didn't know about his drug abuse. Two weeks later, he injected heroin while taking a dose of his prescribed pain medication, causing him to overdose. The police believed that he injected himself, forgotten that he had heroin in his system, then took the pain medication while unaware of what he was doing. In 2011, my sister went to a reha-bilitation center in Florida to get over a substance abuse problem. While she was there, she met a recovering heroin addict who she fell in love with and ended up marrying. In the span of five years, they had two kids and a third on the way. Sud-denly, my brother-in-law started doing

heroin again. After a while, regular her-oin wasn’t enough anymore, so he bought a more dangerous drug: fen-tanyl. My sister found out that he was doing drugs again, but did not know that he was doing fentanyl. She eventu-ally told him to stop, but he didn’t. A few days later my sister came home from work and found him dead on the kitchen floor; the autopsy found that he died from a fentanyl overdose. My brother-in-law was a kind-hearted, hard-working, funny man who unfortu-nately, made one bad choice. He left behind three children, a step daughter and a whole lot of emotional damage for them. I urge everyone who reads this to, please, tell someone if you or some-one you know is battling with substance abuse. Losing someone to an addiction is something that no one should ever have to go through.

Page 13

I’m sure that you know the whole controversy regarding Logan Paul and the Suicide Forest Video. For those of you who are living under a rock, Logan Paul traveled to Japan. While he was there, he greatly disrespected Japa-nese culture. For instance, he repeatedly made a joke of Japanese people by walking around the city holding sushi. He also visited one of Japan’s churches, “played around with Holy Water,” and simply ran around the church. He also dressed up as Pikachu, mocking Japa-nese culture. Things got so bad that he was escorted from the church by a police officer! However, he did not stop there. He visited Forest Aoki-gahara, also nicknamed “Suicide Forest,” and stumbled upon a sui-cide victim (age 21) hanging from a tree. Still intending to vlog, Logan Paul repeatedly laughed and replied, “This is not a joke.” He uploaded the video and the body was put in the thumbnail. As a result, Logan Paul was cut from YouTube Red and lost many subscribers and fans. He claimed he made the video to raise awareness of suicide. No one accepted this, including infamous Danielle Bre-goli (The Cash Me Ousside Girl), who said it was disgusting that Logan Paul would do such a thing. Logan Paul decided to “take a break” from vlogging for a while but recently uploaded a new video titled “Suicide: Be Here Tomorrow.” The video includes an interview with a man who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge and survived. He also mentioned that he would donate $1 million to various sui-cide prevention organizations with the first $250,000 going directly to the Na-tional Suicide Prevention Hotline. The real controversy starts when deciding if Logan Paul was being sincere or if he did this for attention, subscribers, or views. You decide. Is Logan Paul finally learning from his immaturity? BUT WAIT!! There is another possible “thing” involving Logan Paul; it has not yet been confirmed. It is the conspiracy including one of my favorite conspiracy theorists/Youtubers: Shane Dawson.

A video uploaded by a chan-nel called Pop Blast went viral. It was titled, “shane dawson is a pedophile. here’s the proof.” (Later, Pop Blast changed it to “I think shane dawson is a pedophile. here’s the proof.”). Before I say anything, keep in mind that you absolutely can not ac-cuse someone of something without actual proof. The video by Pop Blast did not show any evidence that Shane Dawson was involved with pedophilia. Some of the “evidence” Pop Blast found included some rather in-

appropriate remarks by Shane Daw-son on his Podcast from 6 years ago. For example, he admitted to search-ing “naked babies” on the Internet and called an underage girl sexy. While these were extremely inappro-priate remarks, Shane Dawson up-loaded a video on his channel titled “Regarding the rumors about me to-day.” In the video, he stated that he was not a pedophile and that the jokes’ purposes were merely to make his co-host laugh. It is also important to know that much of the context from the Podcast was taken out. For example, if Shane Dawson said something inap-propriate, he usually immediately said he was joking afterwards. Pop Blast purposely left out Shane Daw-son’s “just kiddings.” Don’t believe me? Watch the Podcast yourself. It is amazing how much of the Podcast was ignored. The rest of the evidence was purely stupid. For example, one of the pieces of so-called “evidence” was that Shane Dawson’s ex-girlfriend, Lisa Schwartz, and his current boyfriend,

Ryland Adams, had “baby faces” which apparently proves that Shane Dawson is a pedophile! (No. It does-n’t). After the video, Pop Blast uploaded some very disturbing vid-eos. These included children getting hurt or even killed. Three videos really stood out from the bunch. They were title “apology.” “they made me do it.” and “receipts.” In these videos, a set of num-bers were shown or said that were later translated. The “they made me

do it” video translated to “Hollywood.” The “apology.” video translates to “I am return-ing the money. It was not worth it. I’m sorry.” Lastly, the “receipts” video translates to “They are distracting you.” There was also a note that was mostly blurred. How-ever, the visible words said, “As you know, his comments have cause another expedient uproar in the general public. Make a video (around 4 to 7 minutes

long) and use the following footage we have collected of Shane “Dawson” Yaw to label him as a paedophile.” What makes this interesting is that the word paedophile (compared to pedophile) originates from Britain. Is that a clue? Along with these translations, a Pay-Pal screenshot of $6500 indicated that Logan Paul’s manager, Jeffrey Oscar Levin, paid Pop Blast to make a video accusing Shane Dawson of pe-dophilia. And why? Most conspiracy theorists believe that Logan Paul and/or Jeffrey Oscar Levin wanted the media to forget about Logan Paul’s infamous Suicide Video. Of course, this is a theory. It might not be true. But it is still fun to think about. Shane Dawson’s response to the theory: he believes that it was just a random guy who wanted to start a conspiracy theory about him and ab-solutely does not believe it relates to Logan Paul.

Logan Paul Conspiracy? Emily Zaharia ‘21

For those of you loners out there without a significant other right now, fear not: You are not alone. While the majority of the world snuggles up for a romantic evening or hits the town for a luxurious dinner with “the one,” singles are alone, curled up on the couch with a pint of ice cream while binging Netflix with the fam (ie, your cat or dog). And you know what? That’s okay. Who says peo-ple need to be in a relationship to feel good about themselves? What’s wrong with staying home Friday nights, or being the only one in your friend group who doesn’t have a part-ner? ...Yeah, okay, who am I kidding? We can tell ourselves that stuff all we want, but when the stuffed animals and over-priced dark chocolate hit the shelves, most of us feel a little let down if we’re alone. If you find yourself in that situation

this Valentine Day, here’s some advice to help make life a little less miserable.

Hang out with friends - Don’t sit at home all by yourself! Hang out with other singles and go bowling or have a little get to-gether. Do things to take your mind off all the romance (or lack thereof) Netflix - If getting away is-n’t an option, this one’s for you. We all know Netflix has some pretty good stuff. “Stranger Things” and “The Crown” can provide some worthwhile enter-tainment if you’re trying to brush

off those Singles Awareness Day blues.) Don’t third wheel - If

you do hang out with others, don’t be a third wheel. Even if they’re your friends, chances are the couple wants some alone time, and you’ll only end up feel-ing awkward and a little embarrassed while they’re snuggling with each other and all you’ve got are Snapchat filters. Or maybe you want to sit at home all

alone and harp on your seem-ingly chronic solitariness. That’s okay too! Why not turn on a totally atypical Hallmark love story and curl up with that Halo Top ($4.99 at Redner’s guys) so you don’t feel quite so alone. If you’re single, don’t worry too much about it. That means the right person is wait-ing for you somewhere. You just have to find them.

Valentine’s Day (Singles’ Edition) Mary Brooks ‘18

No one to kiss this Valentine’s Day? Pantherette

has the solution! For just $1, you can send your-

self (or your secret crush) a bag of Hugs n’

Kisses! They are on sale during all 3 lunch until

February 13th.

Page 15

As Valentine’s Day ap-proaches, you may be stuck at home wondering what you and your significant other may be able to do for it. Don’t fret, here’s a list of 15 date ideas for you and your partner. Go on a picnic - grab a blanket, a basket of some good food, and go sit at a park or by the Onte-launee lake and eat Have a game night - whether it be board games, video games, or arcade games, a little competi-tion never hurt anyone

Go to a museum - s u p p o r t t h e Reading Mu-seum: it’s beauti-ful. Paint together - try to paint each other from mem-ory. Go on a hike together - Pennsyl-vania has many hiking trails from the one by the Leesport Library to Neversink Mountain. Go roller skating - laugh at each other while you fall and race each other around the rink. Go ice skating - same reason as before. Binge watch movies all day - watch the first movie you saw to-gether, then watch a bunch of corny rom-coms. Play HQ and try to win money. Take a walk in the park. See a movie in theaters - the cin-ema at the Fairgrounds Mall has $5 Tuesdays. Dinner date - classic and always iconic Go rock climbing - Reading Rocks has courses for every skill level and belay lessons are in-cluded with admission. Play at a park - release your inner child while swinging on a swing

set or trying to do the monkey bars. Go on a double date - team up with a close pair of friends who also are willing to go out and go mini golfing or some-thing cute .

Date Ideas for Valentine’s Day (Or Any Time of the Year) Gabby Rider ‘20 and Hope Rozycki ‘20

Prom tick-

ets are on

sale from

Monday,

February

26 to Fri-

day, March

2 in all

three

lunches.

Prom is

April 27th

from 6-

10pm, and

tickets are

$50.

Do develop emotional intimacy. Being able to pick up on your partner’s feeling allows a relation-ship to develop trust, honesty, and sensitivity to their needs.

Do make your partner comfortable.

Talking about all of your prob-lems or bring-ing up an old argument every time you and your partner hang out creates a sense of nar-cissism that can spoil a relation-ship. Try to make equal c o n v e r s a t i o n back and forth b e c a u s e i t makes your partner feel safe and comfortable sharing their thoughts.

Do act in the right time.

Forcing your partner into some-thing they aren't ready for causes uneasiness within a relationship. Just recognize when you should act or wait.

Do show Respect. Respect your partner, as well as their

parents. If your partner’s parents have set some rules, do not go against them. These could bring a friction between you and his/her

parents, which is not a healthy sign. However, if you think that they are being unfair, you need to voice your opinion and say what you feel about it. Finally, let your date decide what he/she thinks is right

and let him/her make the final call.

Don’t play on their weaknesses.

Negative energy doesn’t help relationships prosper, so re-member to reiterate their strengths. Don’t constantly scold your partner because they could lose their motiva-tion to keep up a healthy rela-tionship.

Don’t get even. Treat your partner the way you want to be treated, re-gardless of the way the treat you. Don’t get back at them for wronging you, in the end, revenge always turns to

guilt. Don’t assume or blow things out of proportion. Don’t let your feel-ings and thoughts sit until you burst. Instead, talk to your partner about what’s bothering you. Many times our fears and inse-curities increase the severity of a situation. Don’t talk nega-tively about your partner. Don’t talk nega-tively about your

partner, even in front of your friends. Even though you may have moments when you want to vent to someone who is really close to you, you should try not to. Every relationship goes through bad times, and you need to know how to solve them between the two and not call for external help.

Relationship Do’s and Don’t’s Hallie Jacobs ‘18

The Elementary School joined in on the fun, and you

should too! Go to the Faculty Madness games on

March 16th, starting at 6pm!

Valentine’s Day Word Search

Page 17

Calendar February 1st- Hugs N’ Kisses sale

February 8th- Kit Flying Day

February 9th- Coffeehouse

February 14th- Valentine’s Day

February 15th- NHS Induction

February 16th- Chinese New Year

February 19th- Snow Make-Up

March 2nd- Powder Puff Game

March 9th- Movie Night

March 15th- Ides of March

March 16th-Faculty Madness

March 17th- St. Patrick’s Day

March 25th- Waffle Day

April 13th- Sister Act

April 27th- Prom

MLK Jr. Day Vanessa Jones ‘21

Celebrated on the third Monday of January every year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed in 1983. It is cele-brated in honor of all Martin Lu-ther King Jr. accomplished for the Civil Rights Movement. He was a preacher who spoke against racial

oppression, especially segregation; he went to jail 29 times within his lifetime for doing so. With his powerful message, he helped teach our nation that people are people, no matter their color. Also, he helped abolish segrega-

tion by supporting and par-ticipating in movements like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and giving sermons and fiery speeches that promoted equality. He is a revolutionary who helped Americans come closer to finding equality. Photo taken from bipography.com