Renovations continue at NeshaminyThe Students’ Newspaper of Neshaminy High School 2001 Old Lincoln Highway Langhorne, Pa. 19047

Issue 1 Friday, October 27, 2006 www.playwickian.com

see RIBBON on page 3

Editorials 4 Features 8 Special Features 10 Entertainment 14 Sports 18

Life in the mods- Editorials 4

Does Pluto still exist? - Editorials 5

Yellow Ribbon Week promotes optimism

Dar and Dale Emme (L to R) join adviser Tara Ring and her SADD/SAVE officers topromote Suicide Prevention Week. Photo/Courtesy of Justin Fortmeier

By Stephanie TakachEditor in Chief

Neshaminy High School underwent

major renovations beginning last summerthat will continue until the 2009-2010 schoolyear. Although the renovations are in thebeginning stages, they are on schedule andhave been moving along exceptionally. As

principal of Neshaminy High School, AlexMenio recognizes that his position requiresgood listening skills and the time to take inboth comments and concerns from the stu-dents and faculty in their adjustment to lifein our high school. One of the major concerns regard-ing the renovations was how it would af-fect education in the classroom and extra-

Neshaminy students walk to the Fred Gerst Gymnasium using newly paved walkways to avoid construction due to the ongoingrenovations which will continue until the 2009-2010 school year. Photo/ Michele Lestochi

KOB showcasesmarching band

By Carol MannixNews Editor

Neshaminy High School’s 14thannual “Kaleidoscope of Bands” compe-tition will be held in the Harry E. Franksstadium on Saturday Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Along with Neshaminy’s marching band,six other area high school bands will beperforming at the show. They will includeCentral Bucks East, Council Rock North,Council Rock South, Pennridge,Pennsbury and William Tennant. At this event, each band is judgedand given a rating of “excellent,” “out-standing” or “superior.” The bands arecritiqued on their musical quality, march-ing ability and overall visual effect. Cov-eted superlative awards are also distrib-uted to recognize outstanding sectionssuch as woodwinds, brass, percussionand color guard. Because Neshaminy is the hostschool, they will not receive officialawards, but they will perform as an ex-hibition group. They will be closing theshow by performing their entire set andwill receive a private score along withcomments from the judges. Neshaminy’s theme this year is en-titled “Scenes From Oz.” The show willfeature songs from “The Wizard of Oz,”“The Wiz” and “Wicked.” Their reper-toire will include medleys from “The Wiz-ard of Oz” and “Wicked” along with “EaseOn Down the Road” and “Over the Rain-bow.” Throughout the season, theNeshaminy marching band performs atall Redskin football games and competesin four other shows including prestigiousevents such as the Boyertown Cavalcadeof Bands where they received a rating ofoutstanding and other awards such as out-standing marching and maneuvering andoutstanding drum major. Tickets for the Kaleidoscope ofBands competition will be available at thedoor and will cost $7 for adults and $5for students and senior citizens.

By Meghan BrownStaff Writer

Neshaminy High School’s S.A.D.D. /S.A.V.E. Club held it’s own Suicide Pre-vention Week from Oct. 12 to Oct. 20. Oneof the most impacting events of the weekwas a visit from the Emmes’, the foundersof the Yellow Ribbon Program. Dar andDale Emme, from Westminster, Col. talkedto the students of Neshaminy on Oct. 12-13 about suicide and shared their personalexperience concerning the suicide of a lovedone. The Emmes’ told the story of theirson Mike, a 17-year-old high school stu-dent who committed suicide one night whenthe pain in his life was too much for him tohandle. “Suicide is not about death,” Darsaid in her compelling presentation. “That’sjust the end result. Suicide is about pain.” The Emmes’ preached that suicide affects“good” kids, like the students ofNeshaminy. They desperately urged overand over again that “it’s okay to ask forhelp.” This powerful statement became the

see RENOVATIONS on page 2

curricular activities. A prominent goal of theadministration is to maintain all of the pro-grams, clubs and organizations here atNeshaminy. They have successfully pre-served all programs and to answer all of therumors: Gym Night is definitely happening

Index: News 1

Boys’ soccer teamsecure playoff spot- Sports 18

Today’s WeatherToday’s WeatherToday’s WeatherToday’s WeatherToday’s WeatherRain and overnight shower:high 53, low 42Chance of precipitation:70 percent

Page 2 NewsThe Playwickian October 27, 2006

Kadri assumes role of Neshaminy superintendent

RENOVATIONS from page 1this year.

The key to the success of therenovations is cooperation. With the coop-eration of the students as a whole, the fullfaculty and the different contractors work-ing together, the Neshaminy renovationswill be a smooth procedure.

“It is a balancing act between whatis best for the students and what is in thebest interest of the overall project,” Meniostated.

To assist Menio, Richard Morattowas brought back to the Neshaminy ad-ministration to act as the liaison betweenthe student body, the faculty and the con-tractors.

“The transition will be tough, butthe students and staff have been great andit is clear that a lot of learning is takingplace throughout the building.” Morattostated. Last year, Neshaminy accom-plished its major goal of obtaining themodular classrooms. They are a tempo-rary environment containing both air con-ditioning and heating systems and will con-tinue to be used next year as the projectcontinues. The students have been throughthe worst of the renovations this year.“There will be no more demolition thisyear,” Menio said. “The main focus is onthe new building components.” In the bigcourtyard (formally C hall and A11-A24),the concentration will be directed towardsbuilding what will be ‘Main Street’ or themain hallway in the new high school. In

addition, contractors will begin workingon the new two-story physical educationcomplex to the West side of Gym 3. Many new implementations haveresulted due to the new schedules andhallway space as changes unfold. Out-side of the modular classrooms, newwalkways have been paved and as theadministration continues to observe halltraffic patterns, new walkways will arise. Although it is obvious that thecurrent renovations are affecting ourschool, they are also effecting our envi-ronment. The various air pumps that areplaced throughout the school measure theair quality which must be maintainedabove a certain base line which was cal-culated before the beginning of the reno-vations. A water control system has beenbuilt underneath the senior student park-ing lot and more will be built in the fu-ture. Regarding Idlewood, there will beno more removal of trees and the Envi-ronmental Action Club has taken the ini-tiative to provide a beautiful flower gar-den outside of the modular classrooms.Menio has taken all of the necessary stepsto assure that the environment will not beharmed in any way due to the renova-tions. The month of September alsoacted as an experimental month regard-ing fire alarms and the intercom and bellsystems. In our first fire drill, studentsbecame quickly aware of the less thanfully functioning alarm system, but shouldbe reassured that all has been repaired.

This misfortune was caused bybad connections due to the elimi-nations of C Hall and J Hall. Inthe future, students in the rearof the school will be lined up inthe senior parking lot that willbe labeled to avoid any confu-sion. Menio and the adminis-tration also acknowledge theramifications that may result dueto the ongoing construction, butamiably request that the studentsand faculty be as patient as pos-sible.

ing project on time and on budget. Thismay prove very helpful with the ongoingNHS reconstruction project, as many com-munity members are growing worried aboutcompleting it on schedule.

Kadri is an advocate for commu-nity and school district interaction. He seeshis role of superintendent as the “principalof the community,” so it is only fitting thatthe two join together.

“I think it is a two way street,”Kadri said. He believes that if the schooldistrict gets in-volved with itssurrounding com-munity, the com-munity will dedi-cate more timeand effort to theschool district.

K a d r ialso influenced ahuge percentageof student partici-pation in co-cur-ricular activities atM o o r e s t o w nTownship. Hehopes to do thesame forNeshaminy. “It isvery important forevery student tofeel engaged insome activity inschool,” Kadrisaid. He plans onfocusing on the

Sanctuary Room providessafe haven for students

By Nicole CroydenNews Editor

This year, Neshaminy High School has created the Sanctuary Room, an officialplace for students to go when they need a safe place or someone to turn to when suffer-ing from an emotional crisis.

This idea of a “drop in” center for students was formulated by district socialworkers Joe Kelly and Jaime Troxell, along with the school’s consulting psychiatristMark Langman. The Sanctuary Room, located in Guidance, is an outgrowth of the TeenSuicide Prevention Task Force because both students and staff saw a need to createsomething the students could benefit from.

“What we hope to do is create a network of connections between kids and stafffor communication and honest disclosure,” Kelly said. He also believes that a good rela-tionship between staff members and students is important not only for the students them-selves, but also for the entire school.

Usually, students need to make an appointment withtheir guidance counselors to talk about difficult situations,but if a student is in need of immediate attention and his orher guidance counselor is not available, the Sanctuary Roomis.

“Quite a few students have been able to find thehelp they’ve been looking for,” Troxell said. She sees ap-proximately two students every period and 15 students perday.

Kelly and Troxell have collaborated with each otherto form relationships with the students that visit them. “Ittakes more than one period to get over difficult times,” Troxell stated. “These things taketime.” Students that have visited the Sanctuary Room on previous instances, occasionallypop in to let the counselors know how they are doing.

When students come visit the Sanctuary Room, they can expect a caring envi-ronment where it is safe to talk about personal issues. All sessions are completely confi-dential. Troxell is also planning on making the room feel more like home to make thestudents feel more comfortable about being there, and Kelly wants to install a white noisemachine to help with privacy.

Along with the Sanctuary Room, a video was developed to spread the wordthroughout the Neshaminy community about the steps being taken to prevent suicide.The idea came from students who were in need of a place to go when dealing with roughtimes.

“We hope to work to help students with celebrating life,” Troxell said. They arealso planning to permanently memorialize the students Neshaminy has lost, either fromsuicide or other tragedies. Most of these ideas were started by the graduating class of2006, but many students in the school are still connected to these people and want to help.

Both Kelly and Troxell want students to know that the best thing they can do is totake a risk and trust someone. “Tell somebody who you think can get you to the right kindof help,” Kelly said.

Students need to ask for an appointment with their guidance counselor, and if thecounselor is not available, the student can tell the secretary that they need to talk tosomeone immediately. The video can also been seen on Neshaminy Network Television(channel 27) at 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. every day.

Paul Kadri was namedNeshaminy School District super-intendent in June after P. HowardWilson retired.

In light of events over the past few years, a Sanctuary Room has beendeveloped to help students cope with difficult situations at anytimeduring the school year.

By Ari Lipsky Managing Editor

Paul J. Kadri, former superinten-dent of the Moorestown Township SchoolDistrict in New Jersey, was named Super-intendent of the Neshaminy School Districtin June of 2006 in a unanimous vote fromthe school board. Kadri replaced P. HowardWilson upon Wilson’s retirement at thecompletion of the 2005-2006 school year.

Kadri received a B.S. in ElectricalEngineering and Computer Science fromJohn Hopkins University and an MBA in fi-nance from the University of Pennsylvania.While studying at Penn, he enrolled in mul-tiple classes at the Graduate School of Edu-cation because he knew that he wanted tohave some future in the field. He also com-pleted some doctoral credits at Penn but hadto gain experience in the work force beforehe could finish. He is currently finishinghis Ph.D. at the University of Delaware.

After deciding to leave MoorestownTownship after four years of work, Kadriapplied to Neshaminy as well as other dis-tricts. “Applying to a school district is likeapplying to college,” Kadri said. He wroteessays, attended meetings, talked to com-munity members and, before long, theNeshaminy School Board members realizedthat he was the right man for the job.

Kadri also felt that Neshaminy wasa good match for him. He likes to focus onthe students before anything else, said thateveryone he spoke to really cares about thestudents. He spoke at all three of NeshaminyHigh School’s Yellow Ribbon assemblies andoften attends co-curricular events such asNeshaminy Summer Stock’s presentationof “The Wizard of Oz,” as well as varioussporting events.

Kadri believes that to be success-ful, “you have to have the heart to succeed.”He likes the phrase, “the more I practice,the luckier I get.” In his eyes, luck plays asmall role in success. He believes that ittakes a tremendous amount of work to po-sition oneself for success.

One of the successes of Kadri’s ca-reer as Superintendent of MoorestownTownship was finishing a high school build-

students who are currently not involved inany co-curricular activities and figuring outtheir interests so that he can implement newprograms which are appealing to them.

As far as academics go, Kadri hasclear-cut goals for boosting the district’sPSSA scores. “As one goes through life,he is linked to institutions, strong or weak.”Weak PSSA scores reflect poorly uponNeshaminy alumni who are looking to ap-ply for jobs, to college, etc. Kadri wants toimplement scientific research tools to tar-get the areas of the district’s strengths and

weaknesses sothat the weak-nesses can bebetter ad-dressed. Healso wishes totalk to studentsand facultymembers one-on-one to seehow they feelp e r s o n a l l yabout the testand how to bet-ter prepare forit.

K a d r ispends as muchtime as he canwith his wife ofnine years, his 3year-old daugh-ter Corrine andhis dog Bunker.

A new Neshaminy paradise is in the making forthe 2009-2010 school year.

Photo/Courtesy of neshaminy.org

Paul Kadri became Neshaminy’s new superinten-dent with a unanimous vote from the school boardin June. Photo/ Courtesy of neshaminy.org

“What we hope to do iscreate a network ofconnections between kidsand staff for communica-tion and honest disclo-sure.” - Joe Kelly

Page 3NewsThe PlaywickianOctober 27, 2006

RIBBON from page 1

By Steve JiwanmallFeatures Editor

Three deadly school shootings across the nation took place over a span of sixdays, influencing President Bush to hold a conference addressing the issue of schoolsecurity on Oct. 10.

“In many ways, I’m sorry we’re having this meeting,” Bush said, according tothe Washington Post. “In other ways, we know how important it is that we’re having thismeeting.”

The first attack occurred Wednesday,Sept. 27, when a gunman entered Platte CanyonHigh School in Bailey, Col., and took six femalestudents hostage in a classroom, as reported byCNN. The school was quickly surrounded by abomb squad and SWAT team.

The gunman eventually released four ofthe females, one at a time, holding the other twohostages with him in the classroom. After threegrueling hours, the man fatally shot and killed 16-year-old Emily Keyes and then himself,while the other hostage was able to run out of the building safely.

Two days later, on Sept. 29, Eric Hainstock, a freshman at Weston High Schoolin Cazenovia, Wisc., brought two weapons to school and shot his principal John Klangthree times, eventually killing him.

The Associated Press reported that the shooting came the day after Klang gaveHainstock a “disciplinary warning” for bringing tobacco to school. Many students andparents believe that the shooting was an act of revenge.

The final school shooting happened on Monday, Oct. 2, in the generally peacefulAmish community in Lancaster County, Pa. Charles Carl Roberts IV, a 32-year-old fatherof three, left several notes for his family with strong implications of suicide, before hemade his way to the one-room Nickel Mines Schoolhouse.

Carrying a collection of weapons and firearms, Roberts barricaded himself in theschoolhouse with the students ranging in age from six to 13 years old.

After allowing the 15 boys and four adult females to leave the schoolhouse safely,Roberts apparently ordered the other 11 schoolgirls to line up in front of the blackboard,where he began to bind their feet together.

He then proceeded to shoot the girls execution-style, which is in the back of thehead, killing five and wounding the other six. Afterwards, he turned the gun on himselfand committed suicide.

According to CNN, Roberts’ wife Marie released a statement that explained thatthe man she married was “loving, supportive, thoughtful,” and “an exceptional father.”

“Our hearts are broken, our lives are shattered, and we grieve for the innocentsand lives that were lost today,” the statement said. “Above all, please pray…for thefamilies who lost children today, and please pray, too, for our family and children.”

At the school safety summit, Bush said, “Hopefully, out of these tragedies willcome the sense of communal obligation all throughout our country, for people to take anextra effort to comfort the lonely.”

Although Bush did not announce new funding or policy plans to counter thethreat of school violence, he believed that the conference would develop “concrete ac-tions to help people understand what’s possible and what’s working.”

A series of nationwide shootings in one week threaten school securityand student safety.

slogan of the Yellow Ribbon Program. The program was founded in 1994after Mike’s death. Surprisingly, theEmmes’ didn’t have much to do with thestart of the program. In fact, they barelyknew there was a program until severalweeks after it started. The program began with one simplequestion: “What can we do to help?” Thequestion, asked by Mike’s friends, wasanswered by Dar. “I wasn’t sure whatthey were asking, or how I was supposedto answer. I just spoke from my heartand said ‘please don’t do this. Don’t letthis happen again.’” The Emmes’ repeatedly insistedduring the days following Mike’s deaththat it’s okay to ask for help. Mike’sfriends got the message and decided totake suicide prevention into their ownhands. Hundreds of bright yellow slips of pa-per, in honor of Mike’s bright yellow FordMustang, with the words “It’s okay toask for help,” were printed and handedout in the days following Mike’s death.

In amazement to the Emmes’,the teens continued to distribute the pa-pers, mailing them to places much far-ther than Colorado. “The card can be used as a toolto help those who don’t know what tosay but need help. You can simply handthe card to somebody and they’ll know,”Dale said. The Yellow Ribbon Program hasgrown tremendously since 1994. It haschapters in over 47 countries, with over100 chapters in the United States. Thou-

sands of Yellow Ribbon Clubs are in U.S.schools and over 10 million known Yel-low Ribbon Cards have been distributed-including a few thousand given to the stu-dents of Neshaminy High School. Every hour and 40 minutes, a teenis lost to suicide. The Emmes’ have madea career out of decreasing this statistic. They want adults to be able to talk to theirchildren about suicide and they work dayto day trying desperately to break the si-lence. The students and staff ofNeshaminy High School have proved thatthey also want to break the silence. TaraRing, adviser of the S.A.D.D. / S.A.V.E.Club, preaches the same message as theEmmes’. “It’s the same as having a cold,”Ring said. “When you are sick, you go tothe doctor. When you feel pain, you needto get help.” Inspired by the pain of losing afew of her own students to suicide, Ringis an active participant and leader of Sui-cide Prevention Week. Although themembers of Student Council also holdtheir own Suicide Prevention Week, Ringand the S.A.D.D. / S.A.V.E. officers feltthat suicide is a destructive decision thatneeds to be addressed more than once.

“We want to promote asking forhelp and hopefully get kids to realize thatsomeone does love them and that thereare people who care,” she explained. The students of Neshaminy can getinvolved with Suicide Prevention and theYellow Ribbon Program by attending thenext S.A.D.D. / S.A.V.E. meeting or log-ging onto yellowribbon.org.

“Hopefully, out of all thesetradgedies will come the sense ofcommunal obligation throughoutour country, for people to take anextra effort to comfort the lonely.”

-President Bush

School shootings raise awareness

Neshaminy students adapt to six day scheduleNeshaminy instituted a six day rotation schedule to accomodate aPSSA remediation for students.

By Alex KlineStaff Writer

This year, Neshaminy High School changed from a Monday through Friday sched-ule to a six-day rotation schedule to allow time for students who need help for the PSSA’sin the form of the PSSA prep class.

Three people were instrumental in the decision making process for changing tothe six-day schedule: Neshaminy High School Principal Alexander Menio, along with theDirector of Secondary Education Bruce Wyatt and the Director for Curriculum and In-struction Sandra Costanzo.

Although the full-year courses remain unchanged, half-credit courses are af-fected by the change of schedule. “The system is problematic with the semester courses,especially drama because students switch their partner every day if they elected to takedrama as a full year course instead of a half year,” drama instructor Gina Chiolan said.

The PSSA prep classes are half-credit courses, which meet three times per cyclefor the entire year. The course focuses on math and reading. If a student needs remediationin one of the areas, they do not give up an elective class spot because the elective courseis half credit and therefore eligible to be scheduled with the PSSA prep class. They areeligible to take a half credit course that fits in the other three days that they don’t have thePSSA prep course. If a student has a need for both courses, they only lose one of theirelective time slots.

“We wanted the students to have the prep class up until the time of the PSSA,”Menio said. “If the class was in the format of the old semester course, the class wouldend well before the test time.” The schedule was changed to six-day to accommodate notonly the student but the test date as well. The test is in mid-March.

The course is for students who scored basic or below basic on the PSSA test atthe 8th grade level. Students are able to be removed from the program if they and theirparent or guardian believe that the course is not the right place for them. “The single mostimportant factor is student performance on the PSSA’s,” Menio said. “The school wantskids to do well on this test and has put a lot of time and careful planning into the scheduleto accomplish that goal.”

This schedule is in the developmental stages. Though too early to form a com-ment, Menio said that he thought the schedule was working well so far.

“This rotation allows us to give more instructional time to the students,” Meniosaid with a smile. The new schedule at Neshaminy is now syncronized with the rest of thedistrict on the six-day rotation.

“My lab class doesn’t meet as often as it would with the old schedule, but I stillget the same information but at a faster pace,” senior Sarah Nelson commented.

Although some lab and health classes miss a few class periods due to the newschedule, the benefits greatly outweigh the consequences.

With this schedule it doesn’t matter what day the students have off from school,the schedule picks up where it left off the next day back in school. For example, a studentmight have a lab period on a Monday during the old system, and every Monday the schoolwould have off, that student would miss lab. With the six-day rotation that same studentmight have lab on Day 2. With this system it does not matter what day of the week it is,just what number.

The main reason for the institution of this class and subsequent schedule changeis the students. The administration wants the students to have a better understanding ofthe concepts tested by the PSSAs. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, by 2014the goal is to have 100 percent of students at the proficient level of testing. Neshaminy’sscores were approximately 67 percent at proficient or above for reading, 49 percent atproficient or above for math, and the 88 percent at proficient or above for the new writingsection.

The PSSA prep classes in conjunction with other initiatives are focused on help-ing the scores of the PSSA test.

P.O. Box 1145, Southampton, PA 189661080 Industrial Hwy., Southampton, PA 18966

215-364-1665800-662-3380fax 215-364-9676

Page 4 EditorialsThe Playwickian October 27, 2006

Policy Statement Policy Statement Policy Statement Policy Statement Policy StatementPublished monthly, the student newspaper of Neshaminy High School is a publicforum, with its student editorial board making all decisions concerning its contents.The P laywickian refers to the "Associated Press Stylebook" on matters of grammar,punctuation, spelling, style and usage. Unsigned editorials express the views of themajority of the editorial board. Letters to the editors will be published as spaceallows. Letters must be signed and of appropriate subject matter. The paper reservesthe right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to lawsgoverning obscenity, libel, privacy and disruption of the school's educational pro-cess. Opinions in letters or commentaries are attributed to the author. Such viewsare not neccessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a publicforum be construed as the opinion or the policy of the adviser or administration,unless so attributed.

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Editorial Board Editorial Board Editorial Board Editorial Board Editorial BoardEditor In Chief............................................................................................................................................................Stephanie TakachManaging Editor.........................................................................................................................................................................Ari LipskyBusiness Editor..............................................................................................................................................................Shannon SimcoxEditorials Editors...........................................................Evan Hennessy, Drew Kalbach, Irene KipervasserNews Editors............................................................................................................................Nicole Croyden, Carol MannixFeatures Editors...............................................................Derek Donnelly, Steve Jiwanmall, Kelsey RuffingSports Editors:..............................................................................................................Joe Fida, Julie Morcate, Matt ShareEntertainment Editors.................................................................Ashlyn Coyne, Tracie Dossick, Matt HustonSpecial Features Editors............................................................................................Lauren Keller, Jillian MacMathPhotography Editors .....................................................................................................Adam Hribar, Michele LestochiGraphics Editor.................................................................................................................................................................................. Joe FidaExpressions Editor.................................................................................................................................................................Alex LiptonArchives/Exhange Editor..................................................................................................................................................Sam UrdaCopy Editors...............................................................................................................Maggie Gallagher, Alison KriesherArt Editors..................................................................................................................Maggie Gallagher, Michele LestochiAdvisers.......................................................................................................................................................Sarah Buziak, Tara Gould

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Mission StatementMission StatementMission StatementMission StatementMission StatementThe Playwickian, the voice of Neshaminy High School, is the student-produced

monthly publication dedicated to reporting to the Neshaminy community hard-hitting news,enticing features and thought-provoking editorials in order to inform, enlighten and edu-cate.

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The modulars are Neshaminy’s solution to the construction problem.Although placed at the far end of the school, the mods may not be asbad as some students believe.

By Lauren KellerSpecial Features Editor

What does Neshaminy High School have that other high schools in the area do not?Fifteen big, luxurious, clean, heated and air-conditioned modules, that’s what. But howhave they been affecting the daily endeavors of Neshaminy students? Some believe thatbecause they’re distanced on an opposite side of the school, they are a hassle for peopleto get from places like Gym 1 and the Art Center, to places like F-hall, the cafeteria and the“mods.” However, most teachers and students seem to appreciate the considerably largerrooms, new desks (in some rooms), and the air system. Instead of the grass covered vacant lot of land behind G-hall that previous Neshaminystudents overlooked, stands an oversized trailer that some students spend more of theirtime in than the actual school. Honestly, I can’t begin toimagine the chaotic state Neshaminy would be in if themodulars weren’t around to replace A-Hall. The only down side to the “mods” is the immense dis-tance they are from the other side of the school. While the

school is undergoing these temporary renovations wherecertain rooms must be torn down, it is only natural that

a new place must be built to make up for the loss.However, this place did not have to be all the wayon one corner of the school where it is next toimpossible to get there within seven, eight or hey,

even nine minutes from other classrooms likethe Art Center and B-hall.

I almost thought that wandering outside in the courtyards during classchanges was no longer an option, but found that I was terribly wrong. If Ihappen to have some dawdling time after a class in a modular, I’ll go outsidefor a bit of construction air. Sure, I don’t get the same tranquility I used todue to an insanely loud machine named Bencardino and the smells of tarand gas, but nonetheless, the escape is beneficial more than it is not.

I found it amusing how two hall-aids would guard the doors oneach side of the modular building at the very beginning of theyear, and write up students who were “walking the wrong way.”If I’m not mistaken, a student can only walk in and out of themods two ways. Who is to say which one? If a student’s nextclass is near F-hall, the student makes the decision to exit at theback entrance of the modular and if a student’s next class innear G-hall or the library, they make the decision to exit at thefront entrance. End of story. There’s no use overanalyzing it. Ibelieve that issue was cleared when someone’s mother calledthe school and complained, and now it is only a memory. It is nice to see that the school considers the students whenthey decide to ask construction workers to pave little paths

from the “mods” to the cafeteria. Not only is it nice to be able to walk away from themodules on a rainy day and not have my shoes covered in mud, but nothing beats beingfree to move my arms, as opposed to being slapped in the face in the mosh-pit hallways(not that I would mind if I was at a good show). The mini boardwalks outside of G andF-halls are the passageways to something so new, so non-rat infested and so comfortablethat one might call it paradise. But definitely not Neshaminy Paradise.

Living, learning in mods

“Look at it our way” represents the majority opinion of the “Playwickian” editorial board.

Students didn’t know what to expect of the construction when they stepped offthe school bus on the first day of school. We had only a vague idea as to what may havebecome of our beloved High School. A white wall to an artist must seem insulting. The purpose is there; they make surestudents are minimally exposed to the construction. However before everyone decides totag the wall, and what was once white becomes not-so-white, why not give some of thefine artists that attend Neshaminy High School the chance to express themselves? Thebeautiful murals that were once found around the library and the connection to A hall thatused to make our learning environment so much homier, are gone forever. Neshaminyneeds a little color.

Teachers and students alike live in fear of traveling through the school in theseven minute intervals between classes. Because of the stand-stills and traffic jams thatare going to happen with construction, there are always those people who, most likely outof their concern for being late to class, will throw elbows to get through thecrowd. Students aren’t the only people getting pushed around, teachers are too.In an unfortunate reversal of roles, teachers are now being pushed around bystudents. Anyone who dares to venture into the halls during rush hour(anytime between periods) is fair game. It helps that teachers are more forgiving about students being late toclass, but now we are coming down to those little things that make orbreak this school year. Being late to class is cutting off minutes of ourvaluable learning time, and unless the entire student population is mis-taken, only a certain amount of lateness is allowed until a student losesprivileges. Not only do classes then lose time, but they are also inter-rupted. The interruption of a student coming in late causes chaos.There’s the original disruption of the door, and then the teacher mustknow exactly why the person was late which always follows by astory. By the time everyone is ready to get back to class, no one re-members where they left off.

Students would be more than happy to lose class timeevery once in a while, but our misgivings do accumulate. Con-stantly missing class time because of things like this is ultimatelyfor the worst.

The reasoning behind not having teachers in certain class-rooms is also unclear. Study halls located in B hall are known tohave a teacher on day one but not on the proceeding days threeand five.

The infamous B hall is also known for the massagesone might receive while having a class there. Frequently, whilesitting in a class, the room will shake resulting in the stimulus ofone’s backside. Some find this to be quite pleasant while othersfind it annoying. The fact of the matter is if one has time to think about how they feelabout these vibrations, they are not thinking about class.

Of course, everyone knows this is all for a good cause. Future students will nowhave better classrooms, proper ventilation, more organized schedules; because of thiswe’re happy to do it. But exceptions must be made if they don’t always have a smile ontheir face when they lose focus while taking a test and suffer a multitude of other griev-ances, all for the next generation.

Renovations impedestudents’ education

“Nothing beats beingfree to move my arms,as opposed to beingslapped in the face inthe mosh-pithallways .”

-Lauren Keller

Page 6 EditorialsThe Playwickian October 27, 2006

Illustration/Allison Flescher

Evan: The little planetthat could

Growing up, we were all taught thepneumonic device My Very ExcellentMother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Thesewords provided us with a way to remem-ber the planets and their order. Now thatPluto is gone, there is no way to know whatmy excellent mother is serving. Nine what?Without Pluto, my world has been turnedupsided down.

Recently, Pluto, the little planet thatcould, was stripped of its planetary status.It is now affectionately known as a “dwarfplanet.” Apparently, there are several dwarfplanets in our solar system. Ceres, Xena,and 2003 UB 313 all fall under this category.Personally, I was not aware of such struc-tures. And if I was, I probably wouldn’tcall one of them 2003 UB whatever.

It’s a good thing that the best andbrightest have time in their busy scheduleto argue over what is and what isn’t a planet.I can now rest easy at night knowing thatrocket scientists have put avoiding impactwith an asteroid the size of Texas and sav-ing us from Armageddon on the backburner,and made sure that only big rocks in spacethat deserve to be dubbed “planet” are re-ferred to as such.

In lieu of the debate over Pluto’sstatus, planets, as defined, must: orbit theSun, be big enough so that gravity makesthem round, and have its own orbital path.So that’s what they teach you in rocket sci-entist school? I’ve drawn more intelligentconclusions while brushing my teeth. Butleave it to the Einsteins of the world to statethe obvious.

There are two basic principles oflife that I stand firm by. One, duct tape isman’s second best friend, and two, if it ain’tbroke, don’t fix it. If the scientific com-munity would just listen to the latter thenmaybe the world would be a better place.Until then, we should leave Pluto alone.

The illusive Yardley Yeti continues to grow as a myth throughout BucksCounty. Many eyewitness accounts have been filed, yet it seems as ifthe Yeti may not be a myth after all.

By Evan HennessyEditorials Editor

What is a yeti, anyway? Many would believe yeti to be synonymous with abomi-nable snowman. Yet, it seems that there is a creature, dubbed the “Yardley Yeti” lurkingaround Bucks County. Thanks to J.D. Mullane of the Bucks County Courier Times, weare identifying the thing by a name so corny that one feels like an idiot every time itcrosses the lips. From the descriptions, the beast seems to be a red fox with a bad caseof mange. It is, in fact, not a yeti at all.

The Yardley Yeti is the size of a fox with many fox like features, yet it seems sobadly deformed that one is led to believe that it must have fallen out of the ugly tree and hitevery branch on the way down. Some have even described it as a cross between a dog,a fox, a chipmunk, and a kangaroo. Now, that’s a mouthful. As far as the relatedness toa kangaroo is concerned, all I have to say is, wrong continent. If the pictures found onthe internet are plausible, then I hope that this poor guy is not alone; I don’t see any ladyyetis possibly showing interest in this bachelor any time soon. Let’s just hope he’s in hisawkward stage.

Several sightings of the yeti were reported in the Bucks County Courier Times. Idid a little research and discovered that each sighting had a close proximity to Core CreekPark. Such a habitat would provide excellent resources for almost any creature. A smallcarnivorous animal such as a fox, which are abundant in Bucks County, would find CoreCreek as a superb place to live.

Now, what makes me so well informed on this subject? Well, last November, Iwas on my way home from the NAC when I saw, in front of the corn fields across fromthe George School, a doglike creature standing in the brush. I had my dad slow down sowe could get a better look. It seemed like a small dog, yet it could not possibly have beentame. The pictures I have seen are an accurate representation of the creature I saw.

Of course, with any mystery, facts tend to stretch and stories get tall. Once thestory started to make headlines, all of the Bigfoot hunters began to get excited and activitybegan to stir. A sudden frenzy erupted as online forums filled with questions for the selfproclaimed “experts.” Flaunting their vast knowledge of paranormal occurrences, thesepeople immediately jumped on the bandwagon and milked the sightings for all they wereworth. Keep in mind, these are the same mid life men that live at home with their moth-ers, certain that they have been abducted by aliens and play Warcraft all day (not thatthere is anything wrong with that). Now, I am not saying that they don’t know what theyare talking about; I am simply stating that some people are more interested in falsities thanothers. Everyone is different.

Frankly I don’t see what the big deal is. So maybe there is a crazy looking foxthing running around Bucks County. Just think of how weird we look to it. I would

probably be freaked out if I saw me for the first time. I justdon’t think that finding out what it is for sure

is absolutely necessary. I’mpretty sure that

whatever kind ofanimal it is isn’t the miss-

ing link between humans and chimpanzees.Anyway, mysteries are much more interest-ing if they stay mysterious. Maybe we canthink of a different name for the creature

like “the Newtown Nuisance.” “YardleyYe t i ” is getting kind of old.

Hopefully, humansand yeti/demented fox

things can peacefullycoexist in the same habitat.

Yardley Yeti roams wild

Superdome rebuilt, residents’ lives still left in pieces

Drew: Picked lastfor phys. ed. class

Over the summer, Pluto was re-classified as a “dwarf planet” according tothe scientific community. Much like theCatholic church, which recently decided toremove limbo from their religion, the scien-tific community seems to make changes tolong established beliefs all willy-nilly. Howthe Catholics can suddenly decide that a di-vine and God-created place no longer ex-ists, I cannot say; but what’s worse is howthe scientific community can suddenly de-cide that Pluto just isn’t good enough anylonger.

Unfortunately Pluto got the bootand third graders all over the world are inan uproar. How will they explain the tinyblue orb in the back of their candy solarsystem models to their future children ifPluto isn’t recognized any longer? Assign-ment books will have to be reprinted, andDisney’s loveable dog named after the planetwill no longer make sense. Fortunately, Ura-nus jokes will still go on.

Pluto is the child who got pickedlast for physical education class. We allknow the one. He picks his nose and can’trun to save his own pudgy hide. Duringkickball games, the outfielders yell out,“Move in!” when he’s up to bat. He has animaginary friend named Mr. Winkles. Hesmells vaguely of urine. And we certainlydon’t want him on our team.

That’s how the scientific commu-nity felt about Pluto. After years of embar-rassment every time it came up to bat, theyfinally decided to be the proverbial play-ground bully and kick him off the team.

Don’t feel too bad for Pluto. Forthe most part, those kids who couldn’t kicka ball emerged as business leaders and com-puter programming millionaires. HopefullyPluto will crash into Neptune one day andcreate a media stir likened to that of the dis-covery of velcro, just so it can feel impor-tant once again.

attendance last year, is what will instill hope in these citizens who have lost nearly every-thing. These players have done little to help the residents, when Warrick Dunn of the AtlantaFalcons challenged every player in the league to donated $5,000 each, in a league wherethe average salary is 1.4 million a year, 76 out of a possible 1800 donated as SI.comstated. A .04 percent, these are the men we celebrate, our supposed role models who weadmire for their commitment to their craft and excellence on the field, prove they coulddo very little here.

While, I am not criticizing what players do in other areas of charity, which manyhave, this tragedy was something they all could contribute to. Many claim to be “posouthern boyz” but when push comes to shove, too many came up short when theiraudience needed them most. Taking in to account that I’m only blaming the private sector and I do realize this, butare we supposed to believe that our incompetent government is supposed to handle any-thing; President Bush was obviously too tied up in spreading democracy around theworld, to prove he actually had any idea how a democratic country takes care of itspeople. Ray Nagin, the city’s mayor, had run away to Baton Rouge before the hurricanelanded on shore. It’s truly the old adage that the government just does not care about itspeople but solely its cash and obviously Iraq could get Halliburton a better bottom linethan a few million dead impoverished blacks. New Orleans has been mishandled and mismanaged. A city that holds a festival eachyear to unite people in happiness, has been sunk and left to rot. As our own displaced New

Orleans, Andrew Lissey says of his experi-ence “Sitting in a hotel room, knowing thatmy house and parish were under at least 10feet of water, it’s a feeling that I just can’treally explain, I was feeling too much emo-tion to even be sad.” New Orleans will not go away, contraryto popular belief; it’s not Atlantis and will beswallowed into the sea, America needs to helpout, people with opportunity need to give itto citizens of the city. A football stadium won’thelp the poor get power, or food, or even ahouse, nor will the players even help the re-building process, for this city has such a soulthat it can’t be silenced.

Priorities are being criticized as New Orleans officials pour money intothe rebuilding of the Superdome while thousands of people still havenot received aid.

The Superdome underwent renovations in lieu of the devastation caused by hurricaneKatrina in New Orleans. Photo/Courtesy of www.superdome.com

By Bryan KolbesStaff Writer

As the black cloud rolled over the horizon of New Orleans, a city that flourished with lifefor so long was swept in a moment into a fitful hurricane of biblical proportions.

Now that Katrina has come, but not yet past, and Michal Brown and FEMAmishandling is behind us, the residents are trying to return some normality to their lives.But, what normality can they enjoy?

Few of the streets have been cleaned, with debris and bodies still canvassedthrough the city, a living morgue of sorts. Normality for these people has changed, and asCNN.com reports an estimated 645,000 to over 1.1 million have been displaced from theGreater New Orleans Area. The city is a ruin of its prior self.

What the government sectors have decided is that they will forgo rebuilding thehardest hit areas, incidentally the poorest areas, and put the initial funding into rebuildingthe Superdome. Yes, the Superdome, the place that housed tens of thousands of residentsduring Katrina, a living remembrance to the idiotic way in which the disaster was handled.

But one must listen to the argument that the social critics profess is the reason ahuge dome was constructed before housing, or any sort of utilities: inspiration. This iswhat you are made to believe, this T.V. fluff.People without power and food do not careabout the score of the Saints game; they careabout whether they will survive. The affluentbuy the tickets, the poor are left to rot in thiscity, because the republicans realized early onthat little money will come from this so, oneof the worst disasters in US history waspushed to the bottom of their agenda.

The real reason though was football.Football, as we all know is exactly the thingthat will give everyone in New Orleans hope,because pampered millionaires preening arounda field are what inspire us all. A team with anall time 238-357-5 record, and last place in

Recently, the Amish community was shaken by a horrific school shooting. The Amish, inaccordance with their religious beliefs, have decided to forgive the shooter, and wish therest of the world would as well.

to worry instead,” she explained. “Schools are more focused on how their football teamis going to do then whether it’s safe to be there. Evacuation drills don’t do us any good.If there is an act of violence or a shooting, no one is going to remember to form a straightline to the stadium. We’re all going to be running for our lives.”

As horrible as the school shootings have been, many believe it won’t stop. Therehave been many school shootings that happened before Columbine, but that one stoodout. It was strategically planned, taking place on Hitler’s birthday. Many different peoplewere targeted with weapons consisting of not only guns, but home made bombs. As aresult, many were found dead that day.

The three shootings that recently happened were certainly wake up calls.Shootings can happen anytime anywhere, and unless schools go to more trouble to keeptheir territory safe, it can and will happen again.

.

Some crimes peoplejust can’t forgive...

Amish acceptance mustbe the only way to live

By Alison KriesherCopy Editor

Over the past few years, violence hasbecome a huge concern in the media. ManyAmericans have been affected by the trendof school shootings since the Columbinemassacre in 1999 and other traumas, andare searching for ways to grieve and move

on withoutfeeling hauntedby tragedy.The Amish,however, afterthe schoolhouse shootingon Oct. 2,have alreadyshown that for-giveness is theonly way tomove on, andnot just in theAmish Com-munity.

S i n c ethe shooting,which took thelives of five stu-dents agesseven through13, the Amishhave focusedmore on griev-

ing their losses rather than being angry overwhat actually happened. This is because theAmish interpret the bible literally and be-lieve that forgiveness is the only way to heal.

Dorothy King, a 17-year-old Amishgirl from the surrounding area, as stated byABCnews.com, explained, “[The Amish]think it’s all in God’s hand. If this wouldn’thave happened, something still would havehappened… because their time was up.

God’s hand was in control.”Members of the Amish community

have since welcomed the shooter’s familyto stay in the community and even invitedthem to the funeral of those whose liveswere taken by this event. Though many ofthose forgiving are taught by their religionthat it is essential to do so, those of otherfaiths have also realized the benefits of for-giving and the weight that is lifted in doingso, such as those who were affected by theColumbine massacre seven years ago.

According to Christina M.Puchalski, founder and director of theGeorge Washington Institute for Spiritual-ity and Health, as stated by http://info.med.yale.edu, “Unforgiving personshave increased anxiety symptoms, increasedparanoia, increased narcissism, increasedfrequency of psychosomatic complications,increased incidence of heart disease and lessresistance to physical illness.”

By forgiving the shooter and ac-cepting his family the Amish have taken astep forward in healing and have learned toaccept what has happened without angerand vengeance. Even though most Ameri-cans don’t practice the Amish faith, if theAmish are willing to forgive, the rest ofAmerica should as well.

After all, the shooter came intotheir school and killed five girls of theircommunity. Why is it the rest of Americawho still holds a grudge against Roberts?Not only should we respect the Amish fortheir forgiveness, we should learn fromthem.

Though many Americans may notbe ready to disown their TV’s, electronics,and motor vehicles to follow the Amish wayof life, taking another look at the Amish be-lief on wrongdoing and forgiveness is some-thing, we, as Americans, could all benefitfrom.

By Jillian MacMathSpecial Features Editor

Forgiveness is an essential virtuein the Amish community, but in a situationsuch as the murder of five innocent girls, itis something that shouldn’t be expected.Charles Carl Roberts IV entered an Amishschool on Oct. 2, 2006 with intentions ofmolesting and murdering young children,yet the Amish community wishes for himto be forgiven. It’s almost unthinkable thatsomeone from the outside world wouldeven think to forgive a crime of this magni-tude, let alone members of the Amish com-munity.

The Amish are separated from therest of world and live a simple life with agreat devotion to God. How can people soinnocent be threatened with something sohorrific, and be expected to forgive? Itwould be more than unreasonable to sayanyone in the world deserved a tragedy suchas this, but the Amish seem to be the mostunlikely victims. Roberts purposely targetedthe Amish due to obvious lack of securityin their school’s system. Yet the Amish arewilling to forgive despite such a blatant at-tack. The murders were a mockery to theirway of life and an insult to the Amish com-munity. It’s almost ironic that a group that’sso focused around forgiveness would befaced with such an extreme betrayal fromthe outside society.

People of the Amish community feelas if Roberts should be forgiven because itwasn’t a personal vengeance, but rather a“battle between good and evil.” “If you areliving in Jesus, as these Amish families are,you must forgive the shooter because Jesusforgave us our sins.” Rita Rhoads, a motherof two of the girls who died, said. Just be-cause they feel they are obligated to for-give, it doesn’t change the damage the

shooter has done. It’s morally wrong tocommit murder, and most non-Amish peoplehave a hard time comprehending such acrime, despite the idea of mercy for thecrime.

It’s understood that the Amish livetheir lives by God, and forgiveness is whatthey stand for, but despite morals, it’s alsoagainst the law. Murder is a crime, and ifsomeone can’t be ex-cused by the law, it’shard to say individu-als should truly beable to forgive. It’smuch different whenyou bring emotionand personal senti-ment into the idea ofwhether or not Rob-erts should be for-given. Even if some-one claims forgive-ness has been given,individuals of theAmish communitymost likely have vari-ous thoughts andfeelings.

Despite reli-gious beliefs and de-cree, there is alwaysgoing to be a differ-ence of personalopinion. It doesn’tmatter how religious someone is, whatthey’re way of life may declare may notalways be how they feel. It has nothing todo with whether or not a person is good orbad, feelings cannot be controlled. To saythat the Amish will forgive Roberts as awhole is one thing, but individually it’s hardto come to terms with what has been done,and honestly say that such an offense hasbeen truly forgiven.

School shootings: becoming reality close to homeBy Danielle Krusch

School shootings have become more common in recent years. Canthe students at Neshaminy feel safe from this horrible threat?

Staff Writer

Over the past 14 years, there have been 18 school shootings. Despite these star-tling figures, security in schools seems to have relaxed.

Photo/Courtesy of www.cnn.com. Graphic/ Evan Hennessy

Imagine sitting in English class doing the usual monotonous class work. Time isdragging on here at Neshaminy High School. Boom! The loud noise makes everyoneshudder in their seats. Suddenly screams are becoming louder and time seems to standstill. Questions trace the airwaves. “What happened?” and “Is everybody alright?” Onthe floor in the hallway is a fellow student crying out for help. More shots are fired.Frantically everyone is running to try to find a safe place to hide.

Could this happen at Neshaminy High School? What can anyone do to preventsuch a horrible monstrosity known as a “high school shooting?” Schools have been

dealing with school shootings for a long time, but the deathtoll continues to grow.

After Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold tore through Col-umbine High School in Littleton, Colo. in 1999, schoolswere eager to heighten their safety standards in order toeliminate the possibility of more school shootings.

For a while some schools were taking severe action bynot allowing students to carry book bags through the halls.

Some even went as far as not allowing winter coats to be worn. Many inner city schoolsstepped up, too. They purchased metal detectors and had frequent locker checks.

But have schools suddenly become less worried about violence lately? Are schoolsstarting to slack off again thinking it just can not or will not happen around here? Withinone week, there were three schools shootings spread across the country.

On Sept. 27, Duane Morrison, 53, took six girls hostage at Platte Canyon HighSchool in Bailey, Co. Morrison sexually assaulted them before fatally shooting one girland then himself. On Sept. 29, 15-year-old Eric Hainstock brought two guns to school inCazenovia, Wis. He fatally shot his principal, a day after he gave the student a warning forhaving tobacco on school grounds. On Oct. 2, a gunman took a dozen girls hostage,killing at least five of them, in a one room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa.The gunman not only harmed the girls, but a number of police officers were hurt beforehe shot himself to death.

Michelle Kraus, a senior at Neshaminy, had much to say about the issue. “After,Columbine schools were on every student’s back about safety. In the past couple years,they’ve seemed to let it slip under the radar.”

Senior Erica Moore had a strong opinion as well. “Schools have become lessworried about school shootings or any types of violence because they find other reasons

This homeless man believes in the message ofthe Amish. Graphic/Drew Kalbach and Evan Hennessy

Page 5EditorialsThe PlaywickianOctober 27, 2006

“We’re all going to berunning for our lives.” - Erica Moore

Page 7AdvertisementOctober 27, 2006 The Playwickian

Page 8 FeaturesThe Playwickian October 27, 2006

Teachers welcomed with open arms to paradise

Dave Calderbank is a PSSA Prepclass’s teacher, a new class at Neshaminy

making this his firstyear teaching atNeshaminy. He gradu-ated from Neshaminybefore moving on toDelaware Valley Col-lege. Calderbank’s in-spiration to teachstemmed from hisdaughter.

“When she camealong I realized it wastime to become a

teacher,” he said. To keep the students in-terested he tries to make math an enjoyableexperience.

-Joe Fida

Dave Calderbank

Rakhi Chowdhury

Myrna DeAngelis is a Child Develop-ment and Independent Living teacher atNeshaminy High School. She has abachelor’s and master’s degree in homeeconomics from Brad-ley University and Indi-ana University, respec-tively.

DeAngelis hasbeen in the district since2002, her first year atthe high school was in2006.

“Education isnot about filling thebucket,” DeAngelis expressed. “It’s aboutigniting the fire.”

DeAngelis enjoys seeing her highschool students put into action whatthey’ve learned in the classroom when theyget hands on experience in the Nurseryschool. “Our nursery school provides foropportunities for kids to interact withyoung ones,” DeAngelis explained.

-Shannon Simcox

Myrna DeAngelis

Jennifer Howie began teaching 11and 12 grade English at Neshaminy HighSchool in 2001. She then taught 9th gradeEnglish at Sandburg.

Howieearned a bachelor’sdegree in communica-tions and a master’sdegree in English fromthe University of Pitts-burgh and WidenerUniversity, respec-

Jennifer Howie

Joan McGinleyJoan McGinley has been a Spanish

teacher at Neshaminy since the fall of 2005.“I enjoy sharing the love of the Spanish cul-ture and language,” McGinley said. This shesays is her reason for wanting to be ateacher.

She receivedher bachelor’s degreein Spanish at De SalesUniversity, and Mas-ter of Education atHoly Family Univer-sity. Prior to her po-sition at NeshaminyJoan McGinley taughtSpanish at the BristolTownship School District for eight years.

McGinley feels that the most re-warding aspect of her job as a teacher iswhen her students teach her something, andshe says that one of the things her studentshave taught her is to keep an open mind. -Alison Kriesher

Loree Mormello is a Special Edu-cation English teacher at Neshaminy HighSchool and began her Neshaminy career just

Loree Mormello

Maria PerezMaria Perez was born in Mexico

City and received her B.A. in Architectureat the Instituto Politectnico Nacional inMexico City. Perez first started in education by vol-unteering at theCouncil RockSchool District, andlater became ateacher’s assistantin Special Educationfor Math and Span-ish. After complet-ing her Master inEducation at HolyFamily University,she worked for twoyears teachingSpanish at Council Rock while also con-tributing to their swim team and band as astaff supporter. Currently she teaches Spanish forNeshaminy. “I became a teacher because Iwanted to make a positive contribution inour children’s education,” Perez said. Sheenjoys biking, walking, and traveling.

-Drew Kalbach

Robert BoffaRobert Boffa is a first-year English

teacher at Neshaminy High School. Hecomes to the high school with experience

from NeshaminyMiddle School. Heteaches 11th and12th grade English.Prior to coming to theNeshaminy SchoolDistrict, he spentfour years in the Pali-sades School Districtin New Jersey.

Timothy Patterson Timothy James Patterson was born inHowell, N.J. and went to high school atFreehold Township High School. He re-ceived his bachelor’s degree from TempleUniversity andwent on to com-plete his Master inHistory from theUniversity ofPennsylvania. Thisis his first year atNeshaminy inwhich he teachesAmerican Studiesand Western Civi-lization. “I would like to be remembered asa teacher who taught his students how toask the right questions about history,” hesaid. “That way they can teach themselvesin the future.”

-Drew Kalbach

This is Christine Wimmersberger’sfirst year of teaching and has no complaintsabout settling at Neshaminy.

Wimmersbergeris a graduatefrom Holy Fam-ily Universitywith a Master ofEducation Certi-fication in Spe-cial Education.She teachesTransition, WorkExperience and Western Civilization.Wimmersberger aspires to help students be-come all they can be.

“To some degree I always wantedto teach because I enjoy working with ado-lescents,” Wimmersberger said. “I like tohelp and challenge students to be the bestthey can be and become productive mem-bers of society.”

-Kelsey Ruffing

Rakhi Chowdhury’s interest in Spe-cial Education began with her cousin in In-dia who is mentally retarded. Due to an un-derdeveloped special education program inIndia. She earned a bachelor’s and a

master’s degree inEnglish while in In-dia, then moved toConnecticut whereshe earned a master’sin special educationfrom the Universityof Hartford.

This isChowdhury’s firstyear teaching specialeducation classes at

Neshaminy High School, but she previouslytaught in Connecticut, Maryland and thePhiladelphia, Bensalem and Pennridge schooldistricts.

Teaching is her life passion. “I en-joy the interaction with the students,” shestated.

-Nicole Croyden

Christine Wimmersberger

Jessica KrenzelJessica Krenzel began teaching En-

glish at Neshaminy for the 2006-2007school year. She received her bachelor’sdegree from the University of Maryland forEnglish with a concentration of British Lit-erature and her masters’ degree fromArcadia University inSecondary Educationfor English.

Accordingto Krenzel, fivewords that best de-scribe her are enthu-siastic, genuine, intel-ligent, patient andwitty. Krenzel is ex-tremely family ori-ented. “Stay focused, ask for help when youneed it, remember that there is a great bigworld outside of these halls and the best isyet to come.”

-Lauren Keller

Sara Ann Hetrick is a new mem-ber to theNeshaminy facultyas of 2006. Previ-ously, she taught atWordsworth Acad-emy in Fort Wash-ington, Pa, sincethe year 2002.

“ M a t h -ematics is such anintegral and impor-tant part of our world, “she said. “I justwanted to be able to inspire a love of mathto students.” Hetrick is not only passion-ate about teaching, but she is also an avidfigure skated and skier. She enjoys a widerange of activities including tennis,kayaking, visits to the beach on sunny days,traveling, and cooking.

Sara Ann Hetrick

tively. She most recently received an En-glish as a Second Language certificationfrom Immaculata University.

This year, Howie is back at the highschool teaching a PSSA Prep course in thelibrary. It is a one year placement that in-volves helping students identify reading is-sues and develop strategies to become bet-ter readers and writers.

-Nicole Croyden

this year. Before attending college, Mormellograduated from Neshaminy.

After high school she went toBloomsburg University and eventually gradu-ated from St.Joseph’s University.

She chosesecondary educationbecause workingwith older studentstends to fit her bet-ter. “It’s a more ma-ture atmospherehere,” Mormellosaid. “I came from amiddle school inBristol.” She seemed very enthusiastic to getstarted here at Neshaminy. “The kids seemfantastic so far,” she said.

-Joe Fida

Page 9Features The PlaywickianOctober 27, 2006

Several students at NHS areparticpating in Kendo, a type ofJapanese martial arts, descendingfrom the ancient art of JapaneseSamurai swordsmanship.

By Brittani RossStaff Writer

Several students at Neshaminy HighSchool are actively participating in Japa-nese swordsmanship classes called Kendo,held every Thursday night atTamenend Park. Kendo is a type of Japanese mar-tial arts, descending from the an-cient art of Japanese Samuraiswordsmanship. It takes a lot ofendurance and concentration tolearn just the basics of Kendo,which you have to practice overand over and may never truly mas-ter. There are two different practiceweapons used when training: theshinai and the bokken. The shinai is made of four longshaves of bamboo with its hiltwrapped in leather. It’s usedwhen striking each other inpractice, full-contact hits, andin tournaments. The bokken is a polishedwooden sword that is usu-ally made of oak, or anotherkind of hard wood. Thebokken are used for katas andin demonstrations. “I prefer the bokken,” jun-ior, Corey Ross said. “It’smore realistic. The shape andhilt are more realistic, and itswings easier, too.”

Sword-wielding students explore ancient Japanese art The uniform worn in Kendo classes ismade of two parts; the shirt and the trou-sers. The shirt, called a keigoki, is made ofcotton. The trousers are a sort of long andpleated pair of pants called the hakuma. Ross commented on the uniform, “It canget hot at times, but it’s pretty loose andcomfortable; easy to move around in.” There’s a lot of fun to be had in Kendo,too. “My favorite part of Kendo class,” jun-ior, Kristen Noell said, “was the fans! Aballoon got stuck in a fan on the ceilingand it was beating like music. People starteddancing.”

Noell also expresses her shock aboutthe absurdity of the fact that fournew people (the Neshaminy stu-dents) were asked to sweep thefloors and they still couldn’t man-age to do it by themselves.

“Hey, guys!” Noell said with alaugh. “How many newbs does ittake to sweep a dojo?” Kendo also tests your enduranceand skills, along with your pa-tience. Marisa Rigby, a junior, remem-bers a sensei, Japanese for instruc-tor, saying, “Kendo involves prac-ticing the same basics over andover and over again. And after that?

You’re going to do them overand over.” The basics of Kendo in-clude proper foot stance,which is the right foot infront of the left with theleft’s heal raised slightly offof the floor. “My favorite thing aboutKendo class,” Ross said,“was when I hit my sisterwith a shinai.” There are several main

points on the body to which one mainly aims,including these three: men, kote, and do. The men is a strike to the head and is astraight hit form above your head and down.Kote is a blow to the wrists. Do is a striketo the side that is performed by swingingthe bokken or shinai from above your head,curving it sideways, and then hitting youropponent’s side. A combination of footwork and strikes

are used in katas, which are set sequencesof moves used for practice and to demon-strate the art of it. There are ten different kata in Kendo, allranging from easiest to hardest, one throughten respectively. To these four students, kendo is a chal-lenging experience that they can look for-ward to in the week, and well worth thehours spent in practice.

’06 Halloween must-havesNeed last mintue costume ideas or want to make sure that your costumemakes the cut? Find out in Michele Lestochi’s and Steph Takach’s topguy and girl costumes for 2006. (I hope you realize that you’re too old totrick-or-treat once in high school.)

Gentlemen, need a cos-tume to grab the atten-

tion in the room, orjust looking for a few

laughs, then the giantbanana costume isperfect for you.

Ladies, looking toprove your inno-cence and spreadyour wings? Ifso, this short but ohso sweet angel cos-tume is just right foryou.

Gay aGay aGay aGay aGay and Straight nd Straight nd Straight nd Straight nd Straight AlliaAlliaAlliaAlliaAlliancencencencenceFirst meeting: Thursday, Nov. 2

2:25 p.m. in G-8

Come and help support fairness and justice foreveryone at Neshaminy High School.

All students and faculty welcome.

For all of you boys whospent your summer at LA

Fitness, show off yourcurves with this manly,hiphugging, socially

unacceptable ensemblesported by fashion icon WillFerrell in the movie Elf.

For those girls notlooking to fit into a size1 anytime soon, andare more worriedabout hiding that ba-donka-donk, thisChewbacca costume isthe figure flatteringcostume that you need.

Ross demonstrates the menby striking from above thehead, straight down.

Photo/ Brittani Ross

Page 10 Special Features October 27, 2006The Playwickian

HHHHHHomHomHomHomHom

Homecoming Queen and King, Jackie Bianchino and Kitt Anderson

Page 11Special FeaturesThe PlaywickianOctober 27, 2006

HomecomingHomecomingHomecomingHomecomingHomecoming2006200620062006200620062006200620062006

Background Photo/ Becca Jacob

mecomingmecomingmecomingmecomingmecoming

Photos/ Joe Geddes, Becca Jacob and Michele Lestochi

Neshaminy held its annual Homecoming game against Central Bucks South on Saturday,

Oct. 14 in Harry E. Franks stadium. Many of the spectators were pleased that although it was cold, the weather stayed nice compared to last year’s rainy Homecoming. The gates were opened for spectators at 1:30 p.m. to enjoy the booths around the

track, and the game officially started at 3:30 p.m.Before the game started Neshaminy’s Concert Choir performed the “Star Spangled Banner” and the

“Alma Mater” for the crowd. After the choir finished, the Homecoming Court was announced. The court included Kitt Anderson, Joey Norton, Bobby Moore, Jeff Brunermer, Andrew Flogel, Jackie Bianchino, Jordan Dripps, Brittany

Smith, Ashley Jones and Kelly Kadish.The game started slowly for the Redskins with CB South scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter. By halftime the

score was 26-14, CB South. This made many of the Skins fans nervous. However, that did not stop the Neshaminy fans’ spirits. The fans cheered, if possible, louder for their team from the stands. The students organized a “red out” in previous weeks to help support the Redskins. Student Council sold red t-shirts with “Red Out” written on the front for five dollars.

“The cheering made the impact. The fans cheering could be heard really far away,” senior Arielle Whitehurst said. During halftime the band and color guard performed their halftime show, “Scenes from Oz,” and the Varsity and Junior Varsity

Cheerleaders also performed a routine. After the performances, Jackie Bianchino and Kitt Anderson were crowned Homecoming Queen and King.

During the second half, the Redskins managed to catch up and eventually pass CB South, winning the game 43-29. Senior Nora Skochinsky says that the fans help impact the game. “The fans give the players support and then they go out there and play

their best so they don’t disappoint us,” Skochinsky said. Throughout the game different clubs and teams such as Art Club, Stage Crew, Science Club, the Girls Lacrosse

team, World Language, World Affairs, Student Council, Swim Team, Nature Club, Culture Club, Choir, Band andeach class office had a booth for fundraising for the year to be able to get supplies or new uniforms for the club or team.

Although the tradition of the Homecoming Dance was unable to be carried out due to the SAT being taken that morning, the game and booths still made for an eventful Homecoming.

The student council is planning on hosting a winter ball in place of the Homecoming Dance.

- Shannon Sweeney

Page 12 FeaturesThe Playwickian October 27, 2006

The Environmental Action Clubplants flowers around NHS.

By Maria KelmanskyStaff Writer

             Learning about the environment, try-ing to conserve it, and making a differenceis what  the  Environmental Action Club(EAC) does all in one meeting.             The EAC recently planted flowersaround Neshaminy High School in order toliven  up  the  campus.   “The  students  saidthat they wanted to see some color aroundhere.  They were sick of just seeing the con-struction and grey walls,”  three year clubadvisor, Michael Hoy said.       Two club members also moved bulbsfrom Physical  Education  teacher,  SheilaHoffman’s memorial garden, which had tobe  removed  because  of  construction,  and

planted them around the school.  “It’s re-ally nice walking by flowers on my way tothe gym.  They look really good,” sopho-more  Alexa Doyle, said.      The EAC participates in many events,including the yearly tire clean up at Styer’sOrchards.  They have removed about fiveto six thousand tires in the past.       The club hopes to improve NeshaminyHigh School’s recycling program by releas-ing a public service announcement that willteach  students  the  appropriate way  to  re-cycle.  It is also possible that the EAC willtake part in the Adopt-A-Highway Program;they will clean Old Lincoln Highway .         “It is a great club to be apart of.  I amreally looking forward to learning and ac-complishing  a  lot  this  year,”  memberAmanda Gavin said.  Members of the EAChope to raise awareness about environmen-tal issues, and are looking forward to trav-eling to Longwood Gardens, and hiking the

Delaware Water Gap.             New members  andideas are always welcome. “If the students have an ideaI’ll try my hardest to makeit happen,” Hoy said.      The EAC is not the onlyclub that tries to make a dif-ference  and  help  out. Greater Philadelphia and theNature Club  participate  inmany walks and clean ups. Students Against Destruc-tive Decisions (SADD) edu-cates  students  on  the  con-sequences of their decisions,while Stop Aids Via Educa-tion  (SAVE)  tries  to mini-mize the spread of AIDS.

Shaffer’s fight with cancer impacts communitySenior Jenna Shaffer makes themost of her fight with cancer.

By Bridget FowlerStaff Writer

       Cancer  is a scary word for anybody tohear, especially when you are 17. In AugustJenna  Shaffer was  diagnosed with  non-Hodgkin’s  lymphoma  cancer  sending  herfamily’s world to pieces.  Adult Hodgkin’slymphoma is a disease in which malignant(cancer)  cells  form  in  the  lymph  system.There  are  5  different  types  of Hodgkin’slymphoma.   “At first when I found out I did the whole‘why me’? But then I kind of just realizedwhat I had to do to get better, and throwingmyself a pity party wasn’t the trick,” Shaffersaid. And she has done just that, she neversits and feels sorry for herself, instead shemakes the best of it.

      Jenna  is undergoing chemotherapy  thatrequires  her  to  go  to Children’s Hospitalevery Wednesday and receive the treatment.“Chemo is basically a routine now. I go intoCHOP  every Wednes-day. Then I go  into  tri-age where they take mytemp  and  blood  pres-sure. Then I wait againto  get  blood  taken  andthen I see the doctor andthen chemo time. I couldseriously  do  it  in  mysleep,” Shaffer said. Thechemo is used to shrinkthe grape fruit sizedmassin her chest.   The two to three daysafter Chemo  is  usually  the worst  for  her,causing her to be tired and achy. But Shafferfeels the hardest thing is not being able todo  the  things  she  used  to  do.  “Not  beingable to go out and do normal teenage things,

like  the mall and movies  is really  tough,”Jenna said. “Not being able to cheer my se-nior year has been really tough I also missall my cheering ladies.”

    The cheerleaders havebeen  a  huge  help,  eachsigning up for a night  tomake  dinner  for  theShaffer  family and orga-nizing a fundraiser selling“Jump  for  Jenna” brace-lets, sold at homecoming.Proceeds from the brace-lets  are  going  to  theShaffer family to aid in thechemotherapy  costs.         All the Chemo andpain Shaffer goes through

everyday hasn’t  changed her  in  the  least.She is still the exact same person, laughingand smiling all the time. “I don’t want peopleto pity me or feel sorry for me because I’mnot the only person going through it, a lot

of people deal with this stuff everyday tooif not worse, so I make the best of it.” Shesaid        Shaffer  and  her mom constantly  jokeabout her having cancer, which is kind ofscary for people to hear at first. “We do itto make everybody more comfortable withthe  situation, because at  first people haveno  idea what  to  say or how  to act,  so wemake it a little more comfortable for them.”Pattijo Shaffer, Jenna’s mother, said. “It alsohelps everybody realize that it is going to beok.”     Everybody in the community has madea  huge  impact  on Shaffer  and  her  familyand has made them stronger. People are con-stantly in and out of her house, always pop-ping in to say hi and seeing how everythingis. Family, friends and even teachers comeby to see her. “I feel that everyone aroundme has made me stronger, not necessarilythe cancer but the crazy amount of peoplehelping out and giving me support.”

EAC strives to beautify

Two Neshamniy juniors participated in a Pennsylvania scholasticpageant, where they learned that brains are more important thanbeauty.

By Derek DonnellyFeatures Editor

On July 21 – 23 two Neshaminy juniors, Jess Jarelsburg and Susan Lee com-peted in a scholastic competition “Miss Teen of Pennsylvania Scholarship and Recogni-tion Pageant,” held at Bloomsburg University. The competition wasn’t based on looks.

The  students were  chosen    for  academic  reasons which  included  several  cat-egories:  recommendations  from  teachers  and  coaches  and  public  announcements  ofachievements.

The pageant was  about  learning  leadership  and making new  friends who  aredetermined to “make a difference” in their school communities. Trained staff  gave point-ers on how to handle the interview, and the stage.             Lee was happy with her  accomplishment  in getting  to  the competition.  “It wasdefinitely a humbling experience, meeting people who were each beautiful in their ownway,” Lee said. “I learned you need to get to know someone before you judge them,” shesaid ,recalling the competition.      The competition was comprised of their interview, grades, hobbies, and accomplish-ments in and out of school. The interview included questions about what they want topursue  as  a  career, what  color  they would be,    their  resumes,  and  achievements  theyhave made.

Judging  criteria was  broken    into  sections.  Service  and  achievement was  15

Pageant judges weigh grades more than appearance

Evening of twisted Shakespeare

percent, along with their scholastic record, personal development, general awareness orknowledge of  the world,  personality  projection  and poise  in  formal wear. The  judgesinterview was 25 percent of the points,and  weighed the most.              It wasn’t  all  concentrated  on  the  present  competition. The  real work was  donealready;  the  judges based a  lot of  the  scoring on what  the competitors previously haddone.       The judging allowed the girls to be “human”; the organization wanted it to be fair tothose who might not have had a major strength in a  category.              “A  lot of girls had community service, which  I didn’t have much of,  they wereinvolved more than I was, but Iscored  very well  on  the  inter-view and the speech. The othergirls didn’t seem as prepared inpresenting themselves and talk-ing on stage,” Jarelsburg said.

Jarelsburg advanced tothe top ten out of the 155 par-ticipants who were there. Onceshe reached the top ten, the girlswere  judged  on  a whole  newlevel.              Everything  that  wasjudged before was erased, andthey started on a new slate. Thegirls  were  asked  impromptuquestions  on  stage,  and werejudged all over again.              “It was  a  great  accom-plishment to come in the top ten,but  once  I  got  in  the  group,  Iwanted to go further, but I triedmy best,” Jarelsburg said.      All top ten finishers received recognition, the top five got medals, and the winner ofthe competition  earned a sash instead of a crown . She received the title of Miss Teen ofPennsylvania, and was awarded money for college, savings bonds, and her school. Shewould then advance to compete for the national title of Miss Teen of America.      In the end, Jarelsburg and Lee came home, learning from a weekend of judgmentsnot just based on who had the best smile or hair, but on the real things that matter, whatthey do with their lives.

The flowers give a pleasant visual relief from the otherwisedismal appearance of the high school reconstruction.

Photo/Kelsey Ruffing

Two plays will be performed in one night as “MmmBeth” and “Drop Dead,Juliet” take to the stage for an evening of laughter.

Everything seems to be going wrong in “MmmBeth” when the witches takeover the storytelling and Queen Duncan would rather open a donut franchise than die.

Juliet  has  had  enough with  poison,  stabbing,  and dying. She wants  a  newstory with more romance. Not everyone is up for a change though, and why is Romeosneaking off with Rosaline?

When? Nov. 16,17 and 18  Where?  Performing Arts Center  How much? $3 forstudents, $5 for adults

Jarelsburg (center) and Lee (right) smile at the con-clusion of the competition with accomplishment.

Photo/Courtesy of Jarelsburg’s parents

I don’t want people to pity meor feel sorry for me becauseI’m not the only person goingthrough it, a lot of people dealwith this stuff everyday too ifnot worse. So I make the bestof it.

- Jenna Shaffer

Page 13FeaturesThe PlaywickianOctober 27, 2006

By Kelsey RuffingFeatures Editor

Jenn Tedesco, an 18-year-old se-nior, may not seem so random because ofher efforts with student forum, but thereare mysterious little quirks that most don’tknow about this ambitious ‘mean girl.’

Q: If your friends could describe you us-ing three words, what would they be?A: Determined, reliable, and trustworthy.

Q: What are some of your favorite hob-bies?A: Hanging out with friends.

Q: Do you do anything to help out thecommunity?A: I do some helping with student forum.

Q: If you could be anything in the worldwhat would you be?A: Probably an event planner.

Q: Where would you like to attend col-lege?A: I’m interested in West Chester Univer-sity.

Q: If you could play any role in a moviewhat role would you choose? Why?A: Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls to showmean girls how mean they actually are andchange the clique.

Q: What is one song that you can relateto? Why?A: John Mayer “Waiting on the World toChange.” It is pretty self explanatory.

Q: If you could pick any celebrity to beyour teacher, who would it be and why?A: I would have to go with Jessica Simpson.She has been through a lot and people some-times don’t think highly of her in ways, herself esteem would be good to try to learnfrom.

Q: What is your favorite saying?A: “Celebrate we will, for life is short butsweet for certain.”

Q: What is your biggest fear?A: Drowning.

Q: What are three things you absolutelycould never live without?A: My cell phone, the internet, and defi-nitely my friends.

Q: If you had to choose one thing to eatfor the rest of your life, what would it be?

A: Pasta.

Q: What is your favorite movie?A: Mean Girls.

Q: Glass half full or half empty?A: Half full.

Q: Do you have any nicknames?A: Jenn, Jenny, Bugg and Trude.

Q: What’s the grossest thing you ever ate?A: Catfish…EW.

Q: Real World or Road Rules?A: Real World.

Q: Real icing or the whip cream stuff?A: Real icing.

Q: What do you think is the most annoy-ing thing ever?A: When people chew with their mouthopen.

Q: What is your fondest memory of NHS?A: Gym Night. I had the best time.

The 2006 World Scholar-AthleteGames proved to be a life-chang-ing experience for one participantfrom Neshaminy.

By Steve JiwanmallFeatures Editor

When a once-in-a-lifetime oppor-tunity comes along, it’s hard to say no. Forme, that opportunity was life-changing.

I received an invitation to attend the2006 World Scholar-Athlete Games(WSAG), which ran from June 24 to July2. That didn’t mean I was an automaticparticipant; I had to apply to get in.

Out of approximately 20,000 ap-plicants, I found out that I was one of justabout 2,000 selected to participate. I didn’trealize how much that meant until I walkedinto the doors of the University of RhodeIsland, where the Games were held.

The title World Scholar-AthleteGames is misleading, because participantswere either scholar-athlete or scholar-art-ists, and the artists didn’t have competitions.As a Playwickian editor, I was a scholar-artist and chose to participate in the Writingand Poetry program.

But writing wasn’t the only thing Iwas looking forward to. This was theWORLD Scholar-Athlete Games, whichboasted over 2,000 scholars from all 50U.S. states and over 150 countries aroundthe world.

I wasn’t the only one who wasawestruck by such diversity. This was thefirst time that many of the delegates had toleave their native nations.

Shane Gerbert, a fellow writer fromLas Vegas, remarked, “The WSAG is anexperience that is unparalleled by any otherevent in the world. To interact with so manydiverse people in such a small amount ofspace and time is unequivocally amazing.”

Jasmin Hansohm, a writer from theAfrican country of Namibia, agreed. “Atfirst, it [WSAG] was a little intimidating,coming all the way from a practically un-known country, but everyone was reallygreat.”

The sports and arts weren’t theonly exciting activities at the Games. Therewas an amazing schedule full of prominentmen and women from across the globe todiscuss many important issues facing ourworld, such as world peace, global hunger,

and the environment.The Games began with a brilliant

speech from Claes Nobel, a senior memberof the Nobel Prize family and founder ofThe National Society of High School Schol-ars. Fox News analyst Bill O’Reilly fol-lowed with a controversial lecture on im-migration.

But the favorite speaker at theGames was U.S. President WilliamJefferson Clinton, who gave a powerful pre-sentation on world peace. Valentina Jean-Claude of Haiti commented, “My all-timefavorite part [of the Games was] when wegot to hear Bill Clinton speak.”

Other renowned speakers includedSenator George Mitchell from Maine, formerConnecticut Governor John Rowland, Chi-nese poet Xue Di, and Olympic skier BodeMiller, as well as many representatives fromthe United Nations.

Some delegates had the opportu-nity to address the other participants in theassemblies at the Games. Having that kind

of chance is very rare, and I wanted to makemyself known to all of the delegates fromaround the world, representing over 150 na-tions.

At first, I washesitant to get thatchance, because I’m apretty shy guy, but aftermuch encouragement, Italked to both the com-missioner and thefounder of the Games,and they gave me mychance to speak to thedelegates.

On the finalday, I spoke to all ofthose delegates. Sincewriting is my passion, Iread two of my ownpoems, which nicelytied into the mood of theGames.

“My favorite

Unique, international experience out of this world

Q: What is a piece of advice you wouldgive to the new sophomore class?A: Do your graduation project now and getit over with.

Q: What is one thing you actually likeabout Neshaminy High School?A: The spirit from the students.

Senior Tedesco hates catfish

Jenn Tedesco lives her dream role of beingLindsay Lohan in “Mean Girls.”

Graphic/Michelle Lestochi

Over 2,000 scholars from over 150 countries particpated inthe World Scholar-Athlete Games this summer.

Photo/www.wsag.com

aspect of the Games [was] the wonderfulrelationships that [were] created with peopleof different cultures and ethnicities. It wassuch a great opportunity for me to learnand create long-lasting friendships.”

Page 14 Ocotber 27, 2006EntertainmentThe Playwickian

Blues band Box rocks hard with unique style, experience

New season of Survivor stirs racial controversy

true story, the one of author Ellen Hopkins’daughter herself.

It is the story of Kristina GeorgiaSnow, perfect daughter and straight “A”student who barely got into any sort oftrouble. Then, on her way to Albuquer-que, NM to visit her absentee and way-ward father, she metwhat she refers to as“The Monster,” other-wise known as CrystalMethamphetamine.

Kristina soondisappears, and confi-dent, sexy, alter-ego,Bree, takes her place andstrolls her through thewild, ecstatic ride of herlife.

Bree will do just about anythingthat good girl Kristina would never evenimagine pursuing, such as grabbing the at-tention of dangerous boys and establishinga steady flow relationship with “The Mon-ster.” While the relationship with Crankgrows stronger everyday, Kristina seemsto lose interest in the things and the people

she used to hold so dearly in her heart.Her blissful journey turns into an in-

disputable nightmare when Kristina is rapedby one of her crushes. She strives to breakfree from the struggle that holds so firmly hermind, her soul and her life when the result ofher rape is one that could turn things around

forever.To keep the baby or

not, Kristina now mustdecide. If she keeps it,she must put to halt all hernew, nasty habits but willthat last for only a shortwhile? Readers are left onthe edge of their seats, asthey wait and wonderwhat will become of

Kristina’s young life.“Crank” has been called the

“Go Ask Alice” of the 21st Century, and in thehistory of such novels, Hopkins warns that“nothing in these stories is impossible.”

This powerful, exhilarating,four-turkey read is one that will transfix yourmind forever. Once you pick it up, you won’tbe able to put it back down.

Soul grasping “Crank” has readers addicted

The 13th season of the ever popular “Survivor” has viewers question-ing whether or not division by race is acceptable.

By Chase GrierStaff Writer

As the new season of the hit show “Survivor”began this fall, held on the Cook Islands in the South Pa-cific, controversy surrounded the show’s newest way ofdividing contestants into their four respective tribes - race.

In past years, the show divided contestants rang-ing in age from 18 to 70 randomly, by sex, age, or nodivision at all. Never in past shows was there controversyor disbelief as to the methods of producers until “Survivor:Cook Islands” premiered.

With a new cast of 20 survivors, producers havechosen to divide the contestants into four groups, or“tribes” as they are called in the show: Asian-American(Puka), Caucasian (Raro), Latino (Aitu) and African Ameri-can (Hiki). Producers hope to dispel stereotypes of physi-cal ability, intelligence and behavior by their ethnicallycharged divisions. “I feel the ‘experiment’ was not successful,” Englishteacher and avid watcher Gina Chiolan said. “They didn’tactually dispel any stereotypes. In the past, the divisionswere just that: divisions, a way to divide the teams. Theshow’s [producers] are probably running out of ideas and

guitarist Chen.“We wrote a funk instrumental

called ‘The Blimp’ and we incorporatedsome Spanish-type feel in the ‘Mr. Con-ductor’ song,” he explained. “It’s alwaysgood to draw from a wide range of influ-ences.” Chen has, surprisingly, only beenplaying guitar for two years. But there’s acatch. “Most of my skill is derived fromplaying the violin, which I’ve been playingfor 11 years,” Chensaid, who occupiesthe first-chair violinposition inNeshaminy’s orches-tra. Several membersof Box have utilizedpast, traditional in-strumental experiencein the creation of theirown contemporary sound. Drummer Fialho practices regularlywith the school’s drumline and symphonicband. Cole belongs to Neshaminy’s sym-phonic and marching bands as well. “School band has taught me the ‘insand outs’ of music,” he said. In addition,the bassist belongs to a local youth orches-tra, with which he plans to tour Italy in acouple of years. “I started in third gradeon contrabass (upright bass), which is theexact same thing as bass in regards to handposition.”

These four musicians are seriousabout what they do, but above all else,they’re in it for a good time.

“Once you’re in an ensemble group,you really get a chance to improve your musi-cal abilities,” stated Chen. His motivation inBox is to “get together with friends and writesome good music.”

“I am the youngest in the band,” Colesaid. “The others are in 12th grade. I wouldlike to take it as far as possible within this year.”

“The goal of Box was always to havefun, not to become rich and famous,” saidFialho. “What’s the point in being in a band if

you aren’t having fun?”Rhythm guitarist Harrsch is

particularly modest about hiscontribution to the band (“mu-sically I don’t provide much”),yet the tunes Box has posted ontheir online site simply wouldn’tbe complete without his well-placed progressions.

Box’s live debut took placeat Sacred Grounds in Fallsington on St.Patrick’s Day, 2006.

“It was wild!” Cole exclaimed. “I wasreally energetic and spazzing.”

Though the venue wasn’t his typicalhangout, Harrsch admitted “the show was verygood” in the company of friends.

Since then, Box has been in the pro-cess of songwriting and honing their talents.A selection of their songs can be heard atwww.myspace.com/boxmusic05.

So what’s with the name?Chen clarified, “(It’s) from back when

we were poor- very poor- and used boxes toconstruct our drum set.”

These guys have come a long way

dividing contestants by race is all they have left.”“Survivor” has proved its worth for the past seven years and 12 seasons, main-

taining its status in television top ten ever since its premier in 2000. The battle to outwit,outlast and outplay the other contestants for $1 million has held viewers attention as “Sur-vivor: Cook Islands” is still strong in the top ten.

“I love the show, and the fact that they are dividing peopleby race isn’t a big deal,” junior Ashley Karmels said of theshow. “It’s all just for the ratings.”

For the most part, the show has stayed the same andaudiences have watched the show like it was any of theother past 12 seasons. “It’s all the same,” junior Patricia Conners stated. “Theshow has stayed the same, and the race issue only lastedlike two episodes. Big deal.” Host Jeff Probst and the $1 million dollar cash prizeare still the same. Contestants are marooned on an islandfor 39 days, in which they must survive harsh outdoor con-ditions, lack of food and constant physical and mental chal-lenges to win the top prize. With the fall television schedule in full swing, it becomesapparent that the newest season of “Survivor” is essentiallythe same. By dividing contestants by race, hopes to tackletough stereotypical issues went nowhere. The only contro-versy seems to stem from critic’s reviews, and viewershave no concerns. The show looks, feels, and sounds likeany other season, with only a slightly more obvious ‘melt-ing pot’ of survivors.

since then. Now Box is attracting newears and interests, and deservedly; they’reshowcasing a style of music that, amonghigh school bands, isn’t easy to find thesedays.

“The goal of Box was alwaysto have fun, not to become richand famous.”

- James Fialho

In its 13th season, “Survivor’s” producers have intro-duced a controversial racial division. Photo/ Courtesy of CBS.com

It is written in a poetic, almostepic, form which, Hopkins says, allowsher to be a greater voice for the people andis a great way to get into her character’sstate of mind and surroundings. Hopkins,who also wrote the books “Burned” and“Impulse,” is scheduled to release her fourthnovel, “Glass,” in the Summer/Fall of 2007.“Glass” will pick up where “Crank” leavesoff, only getting more compelling.

The book “Crank” is one thatreaches out to readers on many levels butaccording to Hopkins on her web page,she has received a main comment of hon-esty. She felt that was the only way to gether main point across: that Crank is in-deed a monster- one that is tough to leavebehind once you invite it into your life.Hopkins tells us to think twice, then, thinkagain.

By Matt HustonEntertainment Editor

Listening to the crunchy guitarriffs and tight rhythm arrangement open-ing “Anymore,” one might be fooled intothinking the local rock quartet Box hasplenty of years’ experience under its belt.The truth is that this spirited blues-rockgroup is barely two-years-old, and makingits best effort to take its unique repertoireto the local music scene.

Three of the members areNeshaminy seniors: Sean Chen provides theomnipresent lead guitars and Paul Harrschthe rhythm guitars, backed by James Fialhoon drums (and vocals, in some songs). BenCole, bassist, completes the formula asBox’s lone junior.

While Box’s sound is most easilycharacterized as blues or classic-rock, itsmembers strive to incorporate a variety ofstyles. Box is “not really just blues,” said

Blues-rock band Box utilizes tra-ditional instrumental experienceand an array of musical influencesin the creation of its own catchy anddiverse repertoire.

Two-year old Box is taking its hard-rock style to the local band scene. Photo/Courtesy of myspace.com

New read “Crank” spotlightsKristina, a Crystal Methamphet-amine addict who would stop atnothing to indulge in her need for“The Monster.”

By Melissa MarshallStaff Writer

Though the 537 page novel maylook intimidating to the naked eye, it is onethat will take hold of great interest and for-ever grasp the feeding soul.

It is the story of a young woman’sfall from grace and into the world of un-bearable addiction. While “Crank” is merelya work of fiction, it is loosely based upon a

Turkey Rating:

Look for Box online at:www.myspace.com/boxmusic05Check outSacred Grounds1 Meetinghouse SquareFallsington, Pa. 19054

“This powerful, exhilarating,four-turkey read is one that willtransfix your mind forever.”

- Melissa Marshall

AfterBefore

Page 15EntertainmentThe PlaywickianOctober 27, 2006

After attending Neshaminy forthree years, we have seen too many fash-ion mistakes. Personally, we’ve had enough.It’s time for someone to put their foot downand tell those fashion victims what is up.

This month’s crime of fashion isthe infamous spandex under a skirt, espe-cially the jean skirts. Roaming the halls ofNeshaminy, it is likely to see the numerousgirls erroneously sporting this 80s trend.Since it is 2006, it is our goal to try and help

Citizen Cope disappoints fans

Housewives creator promises satisfying season

New season brings more drama to LB

By Samantha UrdaBusiness Manager

The anticipated third season pre-mier of ABC’s Desperate Housewivesaired at 9 p.m. on Sept. 24, hoping toappeal to fans that, after last year’s re-portedly “ho-hum” season, were everybit as desperate as the featured house-wives.

Despite the fact that the ratingswere not as sky-high as those from thepremiers of the two previous seasons,Desperate Housewives creator MarcCherry has not lost faith in this comedicsatire of life in suburbia.

“I feel like I really just started learn-ing how to write,” Cherry informed, accord-ing to www.getdesperate.com. “I really knowa lot about dramatic structure and how to paintcharacters . . . now I would love the time toreally dig deep and do something great. Andseason three is where it begins.”

Actually, it all truly begun at the houseof Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), theshow’s narrator. Mary Alice was a womanwho lived the seemingly perfect suburban lifeon Wisteria Lane, where the constantly shin-ing sun and smiling faces mask the sheer des-peration of its inhabitants. She differed fromher neighbors, however, in that her despera-tion led to her suicide, as did the heavy bur-den of a family secret.

The character of Mary Alice Young,however, never completely disappeared; shecontinues to reveal from upon the grave thesecrets of her neighbors, not as a way of life,but as a way of death.

Spoiled former model GabrielleSolis (Eva Longoria), lovelorn single momSusan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), perfectionistBree Van de Camp (Marcia Cross), andsavvy, but frustrated career woman LynetteScavo (Felicity Huffman) encounter face-to-face experiences with infidelity, crimeand heartbreaks, all to prove that the livesof housewives are not always what theyseem.

This season kicked off with a dra-matic change in the life of Bree Van deCamp. Bree had it tough during the lasttwo seasons, separating from her husbandRex (Steven Culp), and then reconciling withhim only days before he died of poisoning.

His death led to her brutal episodeof alcoholism and her abandonment of hertroubled son, but in the end, it led to herdiscovery of Orson Hodge (KyleMacLachlan), a dentist who has a charm-ing smile but a questionable past.

“Orson has a secret, but I am pray-ing for Bree that he is not an evil man,”Cross said in a TV Guide interview. “He’sa dream man for her. And I want her toexperience a rebirth of her femininity andyouth. But right now, she’s being pushedto ask questions about whether she can trusthim.”

It may be difficult for Bree to trusta man who put her neighbor in an intensecoma by purposely running him over on thestreet. Plumber Mike Delphino (JamesDenton), Susan’s boyfriend, still remainedin his ambiguous state in the season pre-mier, and whether Susan will wait aroundfor him on the chance that he will wake upor move on is unknown, as is Orson’s mo-tive.

ABC Entertainment PresidentStephen MacPherson promises that thesemysteries will keep Housewives fans on theedge of their seats all season and that thethird time will truly be a charm.

“Everyone, including Marc, admit-ted that at the beginning of last year hestumbled a little bit,” MacPherson said. “Heanswered so many questions at the end ofthe first season that he spent too much timesetting up the mystery, the new arcs. Thisyear, we’re going to jump right in.”

An all new season of Laguna Beach is back every Wednesday night at10 p.m. With an all new cast, LB is sure to bring more drama to the TVset.

By Ashlyn CoyneEntertainment Editor

Surf, sun and drama. All this and more is jam-packed into the third season ofLaguna Beach. The addicting show on MTV is back for its third installment every Wednes-day night at 10 p.m. With a new cast lineup, this season is bound to bring more drama toLB.

This season brings back some familiar faces on the screen. Jessica Smith isback, without the ever-popular Jason Wahler, but this time with junior Cameron Brinkman,who is a player just like Jason. Some other returning members of Laguna are AlexMurrel, Taylor Cole, Alex Hooser and Lauren Conrad, also known as “LC.” Alex M.,Alex H., Taylor and Jessica have been seen around Laguna this season dissing their ex-best friend Kristin Cavallari, who we allknow and love.

The fresh new faces throw an inter-esting twist into the third season. The narra-tor this season is a shy and gorgeous girlnamed Tessa Keller. Tessa and her best friendRacquel Donatelli are the “outcasts” of La-guna Beach. Not exactly the snobby richtype like their class- mates; they are prettygirls who stand out for being fun and kind.

The bad girls this season are mostlikely the richest, the meanest and the mostgorgeous.

K y n d r a Mayo leads the pack ofthe LB Mean Girls, with best friends Camiand Lexie follow- ing. With a not-so-softspot for being bet- ter than everyone else,these girls stop at nothing to sabotage.Kyndra and Tessa are ex-best friends andnow the two cliques will stop at nothing to win all of the boy’s hearts and make everygirl jealous.

I’m not sure what is so addicting about this show, but for some reason I haven’tmissed an episode of the past two seasons yet. Despite the ridicule I receive from manyof my friends for being an avid watcher, Laguna is the highlight of my week. All thedrama and the exciting episodes have kept me, and continue to keep me, a loyal LB fan.

“Desperate Housewives” is backfor an all new third season. Cre-ator Marc Cherry expects just asgreat a season as the last.

New season, new cast, new drama. La-guna Beach airs every Wednesdaynight at 10 p.m. on MTV.

Photo/Courtesy of MTV.com

these wayward souls back to the 21st cen-tury.

If you insist on keeping the spandex,how about trying to pair it with a dress? Tryeither wearing the spandex under a flowy col-orful dress, or a solid colored dress with aclenched belt at your waist.

Salvation Army would be more thenhappy to accept your skirts. Please take thisinto consideration tomorrow morning whengetting ready for school. Thanks for yourtime.

The housewives of Wisteria Lane re-turn for their third season. Photo/Courtesy of ABC.go .com

First offense: spandex, skirts

Clarence Greenwood, a.k.a Citi-zen Cope, releases a new albumfull of poetic lyrics that just don’tflow to his music.

By Tracie DossickEntertainment Editor

On Sept. 12, 2006 Citizen Copereleased his third album, “Every WakingMoment.” His other two albums cameout in 2002, and then he released anotherone in 2004. Citizen’s real name isClarence Greenwood and he is a guitar-ist, keyboardist, singer and DJ. He be-gan his career as a DJ for the groupBasehead. Greenwood’s music blendsmany different sounds of folk, blues, hiphop, rock and R & B. Greenwood first started out asCope Citizen, and then in September of2002, he signed with Dream WorksRecords and became Citizen Cope. Thenhe tried to promote himself by openingfor artists such as Nelly Furtado. In 2004, he released his second albun “TheClarence Greenwood Recordings,” an

album that earned him a lot of success. His latest album, “Every Waking Mo-ment,” is not such a hit though. The tracksare too boring, and the songs seem as if theycould ever reach the billboard top hits. Someof Greenwood’s lyrics actually flow very welltogether, but that is if one can stand to listento any of the songs for that long.

The best song on the album is prob-ably Greenwood’s single off of the album,“Every Waking Moment.” The ninth song onthe album, “All Dressed Up,” is very mun-dane just like most of the other songs on thealbums. Most of Greenwood’s lyrics wouldbe good in a poem, but in his songs they justdon’t flow together correctly.

Citizen Cope is coming to the Elec-tric Factory in Nov. 18 and Nov. 20. Hope-fully he will not be as boring live as his albumwas. Those who are into slow drug out songsmay want to go out and support him, othersshould not even waste their time.

Turkey Rating:

Page 16 October 27, 2006Entertainment

An aspiring tattoo artist and photographer,junior art student Tiffanie Devos hopes tomake an impact in the competitve art world.

By Leanna ValentiStaff Writer

Tiffanie Devos isn’t just an average teenagerwho attends Neshaminy High School. Ever since shewas little, she has been very interested in art.

“For some reason, I always used to like todraw lions. And I remember in second grade, I usedto draw cartoon people with my pencil sharpener,”Devos said. “Their heads were always so round andfunny, but I used to think they were so good.”

Devos is interested in many different types ofart, but she is especially interested in tattoo art andphotography. Although she’s not sure what she wouldlike to do with the rest of her life, she would like topursue a career in art such as being a tattoo artist, or

maybe a fashion photographer. “If Disney wasstill making cartoon movies, I’d definitely go forthat too.”

“Tiffanie definitely has a good chanceof making her way in the art world as long asshe stays focused,” said art teacher Terry O’Neill.

“I was her photography teacher last yearand she made some exceptional prints,” O’Neilladded, revealing also that some of Devos’ workwas entered into the Drexel University photo con-test. “Tiffanie is an inspiration to her fellow stu-dents and friends.”

Devos’ classmates have good things tosay about her as well. “I like Tiff, I sit next toher in class,” one classmate commented. “Shealways manages to get her work done.”

Devos admitted that many times, shegets a lot of inspiration from her music. HeriPod and her art are hand-in-hand. “But my big-gest inspiration when it comes to my art is myfamily, my best friend, and my boyfriend. They

never give up on me,” Devossaid. “Having people nevergive up on me makes me think‘why should I give up if theyaren’t willing to?’”

Although she has al-ways been interested in art,Devos stated that she hasnever taken any art classes out-side of school, and that shedoesn’t think she’d ever wantto. “I want to be myself, andhave my own way of creatingart,” she said. “I don’t wantto learn the molded, traditionalversion of art.”

Some advice thatDevos would give to any as-piring artists is to “take what-ever you’re feeling or what isgoing on around you and useit to your advantage, and cre-ate something to make peoplethink, wonder, and use theirminds.”

Devos works from inspiration

Skip RomanticsBy Drew Kalbach

Skip romantics, be absolved, said thefake impressionist portrait hanging in the livingroom.The piano harped on about chords, scales;something about the time being late.Voices urged the tiny hammers forward, yearning for themto smash strings. Outside, the temperature dropped.

Its mixed up inside. Dolls, old and dirty,sit in blue metal baby carriages. The chess set is missingit’s queen. The piano is out of keybut played anyway, violently.Fingers marchacross the ivory like soldiers.

Pedals are worked, glass shakes, and the cars remain silent.We turn on lights forillumination’s sake, butour eyes never quite adjust.

The painting seems to bemissing a stroke,some tiny detail lacking a dotof black or green.Confusion sets in. The queenis foundbut the king no longer wantsher back.

Late Easy NightsBy Amanda Boccuti

It was the scent of memories,It was the scent of memories,It was the scent of memories,It was the scent of memories,It was the scent of memories,Bike rides around the block,Bike rides around the block,Bike rides around the block,Bike rides around the block,Bike rides around the block,

Sidewalk chalk games,Sidewalk chalk games,Sidewalk chalk games,Sidewalk chalk games,Sidewalk chalk games,And swing set obstacle courses.And swing set obstacle courses.And swing set obstacle courses.And swing set obstacle courses.And swing set obstacle courses.

Of pink and green,Of pink and green,Of pink and green,Of pink and green,Of pink and green,And all of those wonderful colorsAnd all of those wonderful colorsAnd all of those wonderful colorsAnd all of those wonderful colorsAnd all of those wonderful colorsThat were still cheery, even afterThat were still cheery, even afterThat were still cheery, even afterThat were still cheery, even afterThat were still cheery, even after

The ice-cream truck had leftThe ice-cream truck had leftThe ice-cream truck had leftThe ice-cream truck had leftThe ice-cream truck had leftAnd dusk was creeping in.And dusk was creeping in.And dusk was creeping in.And dusk was creeping in.And dusk was creeping in.

Of catching firefliesOf catching firefliesOf catching firefliesOf catching firefliesOf catching firefliesIIIIIn gn gn gn gn grass-stained kneesrass-stained kneesrass-stained kneesrass-stained kneesrass-stained knees

And forgetting about our shoesAnd forgetting about our shoesAnd forgetting about our shoesAnd forgetting about our shoesAnd forgetting about our shoesIIIIIn a neighbor’n a neighbor’n a neighbor’n a neighbor’n a neighbor’s yard.s yard.s yard.s yard.s yard.

Of late easy nightsOf late easy nightsOf late easy nightsOf late easy nightsOf late easy nightsIIIIInked with pale starsnked with pale starsnked with pale starsnked with pale starsnked with pale stars

Admired from lazy breezesAdmired from lazy breezesAdmired from lazy breezesAdmired from lazy breezesAdmired from lazy breezesAgainst bare ankles.Against bare ankles.Against bare ankles.Against bare ankles.Against bare ankles.

Of memories long agoOf memories long agoOf memories long agoOf memories long agoOf memories long agoIIIIIn a time long gn a time long gn a time long gn a time long gn a time long grown out ofrown out ofrown out ofrown out ofrown out of

And knowing that they would be lostAnd knowing that they would be lostAnd knowing that they would be lostAnd knowing that they would be lostAnd knowing that they would be lostAs quickly as they were remembered.As quickly as they were remembered.As quickly as they were remembered.As quickly as they were remembered.As quickly as they were remembered.

Artist Tiffanie Devos strives to develop her own unique style in herphotography and graphic art. Photo/Michele Lestochi

You have a voice.

The Man WithinBy Steve Jiwanmall

My son, when life throws ob-stacles your wayAnd you must face the worldaloneRemember that the man withinHas a power—all of his own.

Pay no attention to peopleWho have nothing good to say.Be strong, my son, for the manwithinWill chase them all away.

Ignore the insults they will useTo break your humble spirit.The man within will strengthenyouSo you don’t have to hear it.

Keep your faith and it will growInto a mighty forceThat will be so unstoppableThat no one can change itscourse.

This is how to face adversity.This is how to persevere.Whenyou shall find the man within,You will boldly have no fear.

Expressions is Neshaminy High School’s literarymagazine. We accept submissions from students all

throughout the year and publish the compiled maga-zine in June. Please give your poetry, prose, photog-raphy and artwork to either Mr. Howie in G5 or Ms.

Gould in the Playwickian office, or send it in anemail to expressionsmag@gmail.com.

The Fray

Alice Cooper

Rolling Stones

Ciara

Toby Keith

John Legend

Skalloween

DashboardConfessional

A Static Lullaby

Lady Sovereign

Queensryche

The Black Keys

All-AmericanRejects

HelloGoodbye

RX Bandits

Papa Roach

The Concert The PlaceThe Date

Oct. 27

Oct. 27

Oct. 27

Oct. 28

Oct. 28

Oct. 28

Oct. 29

Oct. 29

Oct. 31

Nov. 1

Nov. 3

Nov. 4

Nov. 4

Nov. 5

Nov. 5

Nov. 14

Electric Factory

Sovereign Performing ArtsCenter

Boardwalk Hall

Crocodile Rock

Bryce Jordan Center

Electric Factory

Trocadero

Wachovia Arena

First Unitarian Church

Starlight Ballroom

Electric Factory

Electric Factory

Tweeter Center

Electric Factory

Theater of Living Arts

Theater of Living Arts

The Playwickian

Page 17Advertisement October 27, 2006 The Playwickian

Senior captain Rich Watson demonstrateshis superior ball handling ability.

Photo/Michele Lestochi

Page 18 SportsThe Playwickian October 27, 2006

Golf wins SOL’s, advances, comes up short in DistrictsThe Redskins had a phenomenalseason this year, coming out on topin the SOL championship and per-forming well in Districts.

By Rachael CampbellStaff Writer

Neshaminy High School’s golf teamended their season on Oct. 5 againstPennsbury with a 12-1-1 record. Overall,the ten-member team had a very success-ful season. The golf team’s third match of theseason proved to be difficult, as they tiedNorth Penn. “A success would be tying tobeat North Penn and not losing,” head coachBruce Immordino said. Unfortunately thesame could not be said about their next

match, when they lost to Central BucksSouth. However, all ended well for the ‘Skins asthey won the SOL title for the fifth con-secutive year.

“Winning SOL was one of the bestparts of the season,” said senior Ryan Win-chester, who made it to the individual Dis-tricts as well. The team’s ability to cooperate andget along as a whole was a big part of theirwinning streak. “I had fun traveling to dif-ferent courses and meeting the other teams.The whole team bonded together and thatmade it a good experience,” senior StephenCilurso said. The team, in addition to their 14-game regular season, participated inDistricts. Districts were held over a two-day period, Oct. 11-12. The first day of Districts was indi-

vidual competition. Four seniors from theNeshaminy golf team qualified: Ryan Win-chester, Matt Pesci, Zach Wehrman, andDan Charen.Winchester andWehrman didnot make thecut to continueto day two.

T h esecond day, in-dividuals whomade the cut, like Matt Pesci and DanCharen, continued in competition, whileteam Districts started as well. Wehrman, during team Districts,shot a hole in one on a par three. “I didn’tthink anything of it. It still hasn’t hit me,”Wehrman commented a few days after Dis-tricts. “I didn’t see it go in; I just bent down,picked up my tee, and walked away.”

It was a major accomplishment forthe ‘Skins golf team to make it to Districts,where the team placed fourth overall. Un-fortunately, neither the team nor individualsadvanced further in the competition. Neshaminy’s best score of the sea-son, 184, nine strokes over par, wasachieved in their match against CentralBucks South. “We had a successful season,where we accomplished almost all of ourgoals,” explained Winchester. “My favoritepart was competing and becoming friendswith players from other schools,” Wehrmansaid, who has participated in golf since hewas a sophomore.

Immordino would like to see morepeople, especially girls, participate in golf. He considers golf a great opportunity forcompeting and a possible opportunity forscholarship money.

The team had a challenging re-building season but stepped it upjust in time to qualify for playoffs.They brought home a strong recordof 12-5-2 overall and 7-5-1 in theleague.

By Julie MorcateSports Editor

The ‘Skins soccer team has reallycome together this season and has an im-pressive record to show for it. The boyssecured their place in the playoffs af-ter coming home victorious againstPennsbury on Oct. 18 to maketheir record 12-5-2 over-all and 7-5-1 in theleague on Oct. 23. “It’s beena great yearfor such ayoung team,”coach RichReice said.“We’re looking forward tothe state playoffs.”

Key players this sea-son include senior captainsTim Pfender, Matt Andersonand Rich Watson, senior new-comer Frebole Kamara, jun-ior Cody Antonini, sopho-more Kyle Soroka, andgoalkeeper Dave Brous,who has played in sixgames where he didnot let up a goal.

The guysovercame the ob-stacle of having ayoung team and ral-lied to qualify forthe playoffs thisyear.

Boys’ soccer begins playoff run

Boys’ cross country overcomes obstacles, prepares for StatesThe ‘Skins, who completed the SOL’s last week, will run again today inthe District championship and hope to send runners to compete in thestate championship.

By Mattison CurranStaff Writer

The Neshaminy boys’ cross country team wrapped up their regular season with

a 4-3 record, and is preparing to compete in Districts that will take place today. Several changes have come about this year. Given that six of their top scorers

graduated last year, the ‘Skins are a very young team compared to other league competi-tors. In addition, senior captain and number two runner Alex Irion has been slowed by asports-related injury.

Coach Horrocks made one more adjustment. “Due to construction this year, Idecided it was not in the team’s best interest to run on our home course,” he said.

Consequently, all of the meets have been away. Despite these major changes,the boys have worked hard and made great improvements during the season.

Monday through Saturday the team can be found practicing at either Neshaminyor Tyler State Park. Their practices range from one and a half to two hours. With SOL’sand Districts around the corner, practices have been more challenging for the guys.

The team is led by Irion, senior AndrewTully and juniors Ted MacDonald, Brett Schwartz,and Greg Gough. However, after Irion’s injury,MacDonald, Schwartz, Gough, and Tully weredriven to work harder to make up for this loss.

“I had a great start to the season, with alot of great times, but recently I suffered a sports-related injury. As a result, everyone on the team has stepped up and made a difference,”said Irion. Because of his injury, Irion has slipped from Neshaminy’s number two runnerto the team’s number five runner.

Neshaminy triumphed over Abington Senior High, Truman, Pennsbury, andBensalem. Unfortunately, the ‘Skins were beaten by Central Bucks South, Pennridge,and North Penn towards the end of their season.

Regardless of their losses, MacDonald is pumped for the championship. “I amdefinitely looking forward to it. I had a disappointing finish last year that I’d like toimprove, and team-wise we’d like to upset some of the teams that defeated us this sea-son,” he commented.

The team’s last meet of its regular season was an invitational held at WilliamTennent on Oct. 14. MacDonald came in eighth place with a time of 16:31.2 minutes.Schwartz took ninth place with a remarkably close time of 16:31.7 minutes. Both run-ners did exceptionally well.

There are high expectations for this year’s performance at the District and Statechampionships. The SOL’s were held at Tennent on Oct. 20. Districts will take placetonight at Lehigh, and States are to be in Hershey, Pa. on Nov. 3 and 4.

“I’m hoping our captain [Irion] is healthy and back to his number two status,”Horrocks said. He also plans to send three runners to States this year.

“Everyone on the team hasstepped up and made a differ-ence.”

-Senior captain Alex Irion

“We lost a lot of good seniors lastyear,” Pfender commented. “There are a lotof new guys, but we have great chemistry.We just take it one game at a time.”

The team traveled to Pennsbury toface off against their division rivals in thepenultimate game of the regular season. Bothteams were pumped and the game was ex-tremely competitive; however, the ‘Skinskept up the energy and secured the win witha goal in double overtime scored by Antoninia n d assisted by Dan Kennedy.

Another intense game forthe ‘Skins was the game against

Bensalem on Oct. 13. The lasttime the two teams met,

Neshaminy won convinc-ingly, with a final score of

7-1. However, the game onOct. 13 turned out to be moreof a challenge, but the ‘Skinsmanaged to come out on topby just one goal, 2-1.

The Redskins picked upthe pace recently in preparationfor the playoffs, which juststarted this week. “We want tomake sure Neshaminy brings it

home,” Kamara stated. The new seniors, like Kamara,

Joe Norton and John Donaldsonadded another unexpected

but very valuable dy-namic to the team. Allthe new players reallystepped up this sea-son to make it a suc-cessful one.

The ‘Skins re-ceived the tenth seedin the playoffs at theseading meeting thispast weekend.

They began theirpost-season run onWednesday Oct. 15against Pennwood.

“We had a successfulseason, where weaccomplished almostall of our goals.”

-Ryan Winchester

Page 19SportsThe PlaywickianOctober 27, 2006

Talented, versatile quarterback Flogel leads ‘Skins

Name: Andrew FlogelSport: Football

Position: QB, SS, PRNumber: 8

Birthday: August 16, 1988

Favorite College Team: Penn State Nittany Lions

Favorite Pro Team: Philadelphia Eagles

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Food: Crab Legs

Favorite T.V. Show: Friday Night Lights

Favorite Movie: Anything

with Will Farrell

By Taylor KreilingStaff Writer

The Neshaminy girls’ volleyball team has had a very tough season. After seniornight, Oct. 12, they were left with a record of 6-7. Since varsity lost five of their keyplayers from last season, Cassie Ebert, Juli Mowatt, Joanna Miller, Jessica Belmont, andCatie Tukdarian, the team was left trying to fill the gap.

The team captains, seniors Holly Pfeifer and Catie Keller, played key roles on thecourt this year. Both outside hitters helped the team with their efforts to win a shot atplayoffs this season.

The girls have faced many challenges this season, which made it harder for themto succeed in playoffs this year. Senior Kelsey Stoka stepped up to be setter after losingJessica Belmont last year. Stoka stepping up eliminated one of the problems varsity headcoach, Stephen Heckman, faced.

Senior Jen Diegel planned on playoffs this year along with the rest of the team.

“In order to prepare for playoffs we made practices more intense, I just don’t think wedid that soon enough. Playoffs would have been a great experience,” Diegel said.

The team started off their season strong on Sept. 5, against Pennridge, winningin five matches. They won their next two home games against Truman and Abington.

Their next home game against Pennsbury the girls wore black and orange withshirts that said “Pluck the Falcons” in efforts to pump each other up pre-game. Althoughthe enthusiasm was undoubtedly high and the girls tried their best, they fell short and lostin three games.

“They will always be our rivals, they have teams available for their middle schools,unlike Neshaminy, so they’re much more experienced and it would be an accomplishmentto beat them,” Stoka said about Pennsbury.

Junior Catie Tukdarian, a starting varsity player last year, is out due to a soccerinjury from the previous year. “Tukdarian is a very strong key player, and we could havedefinitely used her this year. She would have been a good help,” Junior Kerri Gechtcommented.

“As for the sophomores and juniors next year, the girls should be much moresuccessful, and I really hope they have learned from everything that has happened in thelast two seasons. I hope they don’t get too caught up in everything except for the game,and just have fun,” senior Lianne Stevens commented on what the outcome of nextseason might be.

On Oct. 17, the girls played Pennsbury once again at night on Pennsbury’s turf.The girls made it to the fifth match and lost in the last match. It was a very competitiveand well-played game by both schools.

The girls’ last game on Oct. 19 was away against Tennent. The girls were hopingto at least pull together to finish the season out with a win.

“This season has been like a roller-coaster. We’ve been up and down having ourgood times and hard times, wins and losses, and our share of laughter and tears. Throughall of it we’ve strengthened and made such great friendships,” Stoka concluded. Despitetheir record everyone can agree they learned a lot from this season, and that’s success.

Volleyball fights hard, concludes season with winning recordThe girls, whose record is 6-7, had a difficult time this season but jumpedto the challenge of every match and came away with plenty of experi-ence for next year.

Girls’ cross country struggled thisseason but came away with invalu-able experience to build upon.Their record for the regular seasonis 2-5.

By Brett SchwartzStaff Writer

The girls’ cross country team hasa 2-5 record as they head into the Districtchampionships today. The girls have shownnonstop energy throughout the season, es-pecially from its younger runners.

Head coach Steve Harnish has beensurprised by his younger runners’ early suc-cess. “We have a young team, and they arejust starting to learn the pace and the tacti-cal parts of running. I believe they havecaught on fast and will provide depth in thenear future,” Harnish said.

The first-year runners includefreshman Jordan Bernhard and junior AllisonFlesher. Both runners have had a signifi-cant impact and are both top five scorerson the varsity team.

The team is led by junior co-cap-tain Brooke Airey. Airey has been runningon varsity since her freshman year and af-ter a slow start has picked up the pace thisyear. She qualified for the state champion-ships last year and hopes to continue hersuccess this October.

“Brooke is working her way backinto the thick of things and I believe shecan have a successful finish to the year,”Harnish added.

Although Airey is their standoutrunner, the team is also highlighted by se-nior co-captain Meredith Randall as well asjunior Courtney Onisick. The runners are

number two and three on varsity and play akey role in scoring.

“It’s just amazing to see how bothgirls were running JV last year, and havedevelopedinto thetwo andt h r e espots onour team.With theamount ofs e n i o r slost last year, both Meredith and Courtneyhave helped add leadership,” Airey com-mented.

The trio has played an importantrole in several tough races this year. Keywins against Bensalem and Truman haveproven to be the highlight of the girls’ year.The trio came across the finish line as thefirst three runners.

The top three girls also performedwell at the Steel City Invitational on Oct. 7.Although the team placed 24 out of a pos-sible 33 teams, the girls had a good racewith the top runners finishing strong. Aireyplaced 70, Onisick came in 100, and Randallfinished in 152 out of a strong field of 222runners.

The team hopes to place high atDistricts. Many members of the team be-lieve that their improving times could play afactor at these races, especially Randall.

“Our times are consistently goingdown and we can still improve going intoDistricts. I’m really excited to see whatour team can do. The girls should bepsyched because of how big and meaning-ful this race is,” Randall stated.

The team will be up against theodds, but hopes to exceed expectations asthey go for a strong finish at Districts.

Girls’ cross country excited to com-pete in Districts today at Lehigh

“Our times are consistentlygoing down and we can stillimprove going into Districts.I’m really excited to seewhat our team can do.”

- Meredith Randall

Andrew Flogel, three year startingquaterback for the ‘Skins, shareshis aspirations and thoughts.

By Joe FidaSports Editor

“It’s third and ten, Redskins ontheir own 30 yard line, he takes the snap,looks left, pump fake, he wants his widereceiver deep down the sideline, CAUGHT!The 20, 15, 10, 5, TOUCHDOWNRedskins!” This has been all too familiarfor Redskins fans for the past three years,when senior starting quarterback AndrewFlogel began his Redskin career.

Flogel has been the starting quar-terback for the Redskins since his sopho-more year in 2003. This was the year thathe led the team to the state championship inHershey, Pa., and they went on to lose toPittsburgh Central Catholic.

Last year, in Flogel’s junior year,he led the team deep into the playoffs andto an eventual loss to Downingtown Eastled by red-shirted, Penn State quarterback,Pat Devlin. After a rough first game againstSaint Joe’s Prep, the ‘Skins and Flogel wonten straight games, including the playoffs,with three shutouts.

This year the team now sits at 5-3and awaits their final two games at Bensalemand home againstPennsbury. Flogel feelsgood about the season sofar. “We’re fighting hardand looking forwardto the playoffs,”Flogel said. “Ourmain goal is to goas far as we can.”

This yearis the first year thatFlogel consistently hasbeen playing not onlyoffense and defense butalso returning punts forspecial teams. He hasbeen playing the quarter-back position on offenseand the strongsafety position ondefense. “It’s a lotof work, but it’sall worth it,”Flogel said. “Itfeels good to goout and play as much as possible.”

Flogel, known as a running quar-terback until this year, silenced his criticsthis year. He has recently emerged as a very

strong passer rather than just running withthe football when he can’t find the openreceiver. He has changed into a more pa-tient and rhythmic quarterback with a greatoffensive line backing up his abilities. Hehas run the ball more than the average quar-terback this year, but continues to be a threatwith his arm as well. “I love passing just asmuch as I love running,” Flogel said. “Butit depends on the game situation.”

For his future, Flogel is currentlyundecided. “All I know is that I want toplay football somewhere,” Flogel said.

“I just don’t know where yet.”Off the field Flogel is a very dili-

gent student. He has recently been studyingfor the SATs. “When I’m not playing foot-

ball I’m either doing homework or sleep-ing.” Flogel said.

Flogel is ready for the remainderof the season and looking forward totheir goal of making the playoffs andcarrying his team as far as possible.

They have worked hard all seasonand they will not stop nowwith the playoffs only threeweeks away.

Should the Redskins make the play-offs they will fulfill their expectations andmaintain their reputation as the mightyNeshaminy Redskins.

Teams capture sixth consecutiveDistrict One Sportsmanship award

Neshaminy High School received the prestigious P.I.A.A. award for Sports-manship at the P.I.A.A. District One annual awards meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 13.

Athletic Director Sheila Murphy represented Neshaminy High School at themeeting where Brad Cashman, P.I.A.A. Executive Director, presented the award. Atthe completion of each sports season points are accumulated for each athletic team.

Sportsmanship of coaches, athletes and spectators is evaluated. At the endof the school year all the points are totaled. Neshaminy High School accumulated themost points in the Suburban One League—National Conference. This is the sixthconsecutive year that Neshaminy High School has received this prestigious award.Neshaminy is the only high school in District One to receive consecutive awards.

According to the study,this girl is athletic.

Photo/Joe Fida

Page 20 SportsThe Playwickian October 27, 2006

Field hockey anticipates tough SOL’sBy Alicia Eissler

Staff Writer

The Neshaminy field hockey teamhas made a name for themselves this sea-son as the team to beat, and the team’sstrength has earned them the fourth seed inthis year’s playoffs.

The team’s record is 15-4, and theyare the number one team in the SOL. Forfour consecutive years, Neshaminy’s fieldhockey team has won the SOL champion-ship, so this year’s team has a lot to live upto. “It’s a legacy really,” assistant coachMarlea Partlon said. “This team has a lot tolive up to.”

The team’s values are all aboutbonding and being a family. “We have agreat group of girls this year on both teams,”head coach Lisa Pennington stated. “Theyare always willing to work hard and be sup-portive of each other.”

The captains this year are seniorsLaura Quenzer, Jen Wrublesky and StephMcGinty.

Wrublesky has committed to playfor St. Joseph’s University next season, hasbeen the team’s leader throughout the sea-son.

“I was a little surprised with theteam this year,” Wrublesky commented. “We are a very young team, but we workhard and are very bonded.”

Even though all the members of theteam work extremely hard, sophomoreChelsea Rota has been making a name forherself as one of the key players on the var-sity team this year. “It’s exciting,” Rotacommented. “It inspires me to do bettereach week.”

Two games that were challengingfor the team this year were the CentralBucks South and Pennsbury games. “Thosetwo rival games were tough, but the girlsgave 110 percent,” assistant coach AmyKochersperger reported.

The Pennsbury game was a veryimportant SOL game to the season. Rotascored both goals in the second half to makeit a 2-1 win. The win inspired the team forthe remainder of the season.

All of the girls on the team are ex-cited for the playoffs and the chance to pos-sibly be declared the number one team in

the league. “We just need to keep our headsup, hustle, and be consistent, and then we’llhave a good chance,” McGinty said.

The ‘Skins have began their play-off run against Plymouth Whitemarsh last

The girls took charge and securedthe first place seed in the playoffs.

A recent study showed that womenwith ring fingers longer than theirindex fingers are more likely to beathletically talented.

By Julie MorcateSports Editor

Researchers from King’s CollegeLondon found that women with ring fin-

gers longer than their index fingers are morelikely to be successful in sports. The scien-tists conducted a study in which they ex-amined x-rays of the hands of 607 femaletwins in Britain. The women’s ages rangedfrom 25-79 and the average age was 53. “The volunteers also ranked their high-est level of achievement in a list of 12 sportson a questionnaire,” an article from Sept.27 on the website of BBC News stated.“The researchers found women with longerfourth fingers were significantly more likely

to be among thetop achievers in allthe sports listed.” The sportsthat showed thehighest associa-tion included run-ning, soccer andtennis, althoughthere was also aminor associationfound in swim-ming and cycling.

“In women the ring finger is com-monly shorter or the same length as the in-dex finger, while in men the ring finger isgenerally longer,” a Reuters article on Ya-hoo News reported. Additionally, “It hasbeen suggested this finger ratio is estab-lished while in the womb and that it is sub-ject to the amount of exposure to sex hor-mones, say the researchers at King’s Col-lege London,” an article on Life Style Extra’swebsite stated. “But the same group foundthat genetic factors, rather than womb en-vironment, influenced finger ratio in a re-cent twin analysis.” The ratio between finger lengths is de-termined before birth and remains constantfor the rest of one’s life, according to theBBC News article. “The report said detec-tion of sporting potential by examining theratio between the index and ring fingers‘could help identify talented individuals at apre-competitive stage,’” the Yahoo Newsarticle noted. To some, these studies may seem su-perfluous, but by conducting studies likethese we are one step closer to discoveringdefinite genetic indicators of athletic abil-ity. According to the BBC News article, thedirector of the Lucozade Sports ScienceAcademy, John Brewer, said, “It has alwaysbeen said that in order to succeed in high

level sport you need to chose your par-ents carefully, because genetic charac-teristics do play a hugerole…Identifying a single physiologicalindicator to show whether somebodyhas a predisposition for high level sportis, in effect, the holy grail of talent iden-tification programmes.”

Girls’ finger lengths may indicate athletic talent

GameWeek 8

Joe, Julie and MattSports Editors

Chris TenagliaPhysical Education Teacher

Pennington headsNeshaminy dynasty

By Matt ShareSports Editor

Lisa Pennington’s love for fieldhockey started back when she was inmiddle school, stuck with her throughhigh school and college, where she playedfor Temple University, and is still one ofher passions.

Pennington got her coachingbreak at Carl Sandburg before she becamethe head coach of the ‘Skins field hockeyteam in 1998. In 2000, she captured herfirst SOL title. Neshaminy has won theleague title for four years running.

Last year, Pennington won theFedEx Coach of the Year for Pennsylva-nia as a result of her hard work and dedi-cation to the team.

Coaches are given this awardbased on their number of years in thesport, their past season coaching recordsand their contribution to the communitythrough the sport.

This honor brought with it aplaque and a cash prize, as well as thedistinction of best coach in her sport.

Pennington’s coaching inspira-tions are her two high school coaches;Sheila Murphy and Judy Cunningham.“They taught me a lot about coaching,”she said. Pennington believes that coach-ing is about the players; she does what-ever she has to in order to make her teamsuccessful.

The 2006 ‘Skins have madePennington extremely proud. “We got offto a slow start when we lost three games,”she said. “But we have worked hard tomake the playoffs.” Pennington is proudof the fact that so many players are will-ing to step up at key moments.

Their hardwork and dedicationhas earned them a spot in the playoffs.

Pennington is more like a big sis-ter to her players than a coach. Practiceinvolves a lot of joking around and havingfun. The coaches and players even wearscrunchies on their wrists to show teamunity before big games.

One of the most memorable mo-ments of Pennington’s coaching careeroccurred this season, when the ‘Skins de-feated rival Central Bucks South by ascore of 2-1. That game stands out inPennington’s mind as the turning point ofthe season.

With Pennington at the helm, thefuture looks eternally bright for the ‘Skins.

Texans @ Titans

Seahawks @ Chiefs

Patriots @ Vikings

TITANS

Jaguars @ Eagles

Cowboys @ Panthers

Wrublesky, who will play for St. Joseph’s University next season, has been one ofthe team’s leaders throughout the season. Photo/Joe Geddes

SEAHAWKS

TEXANS

EAGLES

PANTHERS

PATRIOTS

CHIEFS

EAGLES

PANTHERS

VIKINGS

Wednesday, Oct. 25. The ‘Skins enjoyed abye in the first round while PlymouthWhitemarsh defeated Interborough to moveon to play the fourth seeded NeshaminyRedskins.