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I NS I DE T H I S I S S UE :

It’s A Wonderful Life!

Concerts: Behind the Scenes

2

Holiday Blues

Top 5 Christmas Gifts

4

Seals Bowling 5

Selinsgrove Wrestling

Lady Seals Basketball

6

Real Tree vs Arti ficial 7

Top Christmas Movies

Comic

8

Over the Thanksgiving break, the Selins-

grove Area Marching band was given the

opportunity to travel to Florida.

On Tuesday November 26th at 5pm the

band drove 27 hours to the Travelodge

hotel in Florida. At 7pm on November

27th they had an all you can eat Thanks-

giving dinner at the Golden Corral. After

they ate they went to the hotel and had

time to swim and relax before room

checks.

On the next day the band went to Key

West. At Key West they swam at the fort

used during the Cuban Missile Crisis and

the students had an opportunity to tour

the fort. After Key West they went to the

southernmost point and got a group pho-

to. At 3pm that day they performed at

Mallory Square. At Mallory square there

were many street performers. The band

got to watch Will’s Magic. He did many

tricks from juggling to using fire.

When asked about the trip, junior Josh

Mckinney said, “The trip was interesting

and fun.”

In the morning of the next day they went

to the Everglades National Park, where

they got to travel the Anhinga and Gum-

bo Trails. The students saw lots of black

vultures in the parking lot. They saw

many different animals while walking the

trails. Around 10:30 that morning they left

for Orlando to perform at the Orlando

Magic BB game. That night they went to

the Seralago hotel.

On Saturday and Sunday, the band went

to Universal Studios. The first day they

had time to walk in groups and in the

afternoon, they performed in the parade.

After the parade they stayed at universal

for a few hours. On Sunday they went to

December 2019

Continued on page 2

NEWS

By Kelly Schmidt

Florida Trip

News Editors: Aliana Burns and Asli

Lawrence

Opinion Editor: Maiya Eberly

Circulation Editor: Lonna Temple

Social Media Editor: Renee Long

Contributing Authors: Cierra Adams,

Evelyn Hostetter, Adeline Leason, Sarah

Leason, Hannah Reichenbach, JaSayle

Rivera, Tori Ross, Madeline Rowan, An-

drea Ruhl, Kelly Schmidt, Riley Sullivan

Contest: Find the Wicked Dog Logo!

Located in this month's edition is the Wicked Dog Grille logo.

The first three people to find the logo and email back either a

written description or a screenshot of where the logo is to Lonna

Temple, 21templesalterlonn@seal-pa.org, will win a prize.  

If you are selected as a winner, you are ineligible to be a winner

the next month. Good luck to those who participate! 

2

the Islands of Adventures where they had a free day at the

park. That night they also went to the City Walk for a few

hours to shop.

On Monday they went to St. Augustine where they got a

group picture by the fort. For the rest of the afternoon they got

time to walk around and shop at St. Augustine. At 4pm that

day the band departed Florida to go home. During this trip,

many students created life long memories and were intro-

duced to new cultures and lifestyles.

Continued from page 1

By JaSayle Rivera

It’s A Wonderful Life!

The cast of the Selinsgrove Area High School came together

this December to bring “It’s a Wonderful Life” to the stage.

They performed on the 13th, 14th, and 15th this month at the

Selinsgrove Area High School.

Riley Keefer, a senior at Selinsgrove Area High School, per-

formed in this production. She starred as Clarence Odbody

Angel second class.

Her favorite thing about acting is “the enjoyment it brings to

audiences of all ages.”

Her favorite scene of the play was when Clarence approaches

George after he finds out what happened to his mother, say-

ing the line, “Strange isn’t it each man’s life touches so many

other lives and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole,

doesn’t he?”

Aiyanna Scott, a senior at Selinsgrove Area High School, also

performed in this production. She starred as Mrs. Thomas.

Her favorite scene part of acting is “making another family”

and her favorite scene was when “we all sing around the

Christmas tree.”

Aleigha Heimbach, a junior at Selinsgrove Area High School,

came to see the show on Saturday, December 14th.

Her favorite scene was when the town collected money to

save George’s business because it was “so heartfelt and posi-

tive.”

She added, “The cast and crew did a really wonderful job and

I really enjoyed seeing the play’s story unfold.”

By Tori Ross

Band and Chorus Concerts: Behind the Scenes

Every December, hundreds of students and community mem-

bers pack the middle school auditorium for a night of entertain-

ment from the Mixed Chorus and Honors Choir or the concert

band and stage band; from their seats they can see the stu-

dents gathered on a stage flooded with light and crowded with

microphones and more for singers, dancers, and instrumental-

ists. As described by choral director Rachel Ulsh and band

director Ed Smith, while audience members and even chorus

or band members may observe the most noticeable compo-

nents of a concert, a lot more goes into making concerts hap-

pen than they may believe.

For Mrs. Ulsh, preparation for the winter and spring chorus

concerts begins before the school even opens its doors to stu-

dents, when she selects music from a storage room crammed

with boxes. She details, “I usually am in the music library once

a week during the summer sorting through music, playing

through it, [and] singing through it. Sometimes I have pieces in

mind that I would like the choral department to perform, and

sometimes it takes a while sorting through music to decide

which ones would be the best for the ensembles.”

Mr. Smith agrees. He begins preparing for concerts two to four

months before they occur—closer to the concert for the winter

concert, which is shorter with less challenging literature, since

it immediately follows the marching band season; and further

away from the concert for the main spring concert, which is

longer with more challenging literature.

Unlike Mrs. Ulsh, Mr. Smith changes the program up until one

or two weeks before a concert. He explains, “The way I do it is

I usually pick out one or two songs, go through it with the kids,

and get a feel for it. Sometimes I throw out those two songs

[and] pick out different songs, and it kind of morphs into a con-

cert program.”

Music that makes the cut must Continued on page 3

3

meet specific standards. Mrs. Ulsh comments, “I choose

music that shows a variety of genres (Jazz, Classical, Poly-

phonic, Rock, Pop), in is different languages, is enjoyable for

the listen[ers] and performers and challenges us as musi-

cians. […] We […] need to feel a connection to the pieces

through the history of the pieces […] I also try to balance

between secular and sacred pieces, energetic and slow/

lyrical, etc. […] [and] need to consider the amount of time we

have to prepare the music.”

Mr. Smith chooses music “after a couple of weeks,” once he

has some understanding of his band. His choices depend on

the band’s instrumentation, personnel, and number of stu-

dents. He describes, “You don’t want to pick something with

an oboe solo with no oboe player or pick something with a

big percussion if you only have one percussionist, or vice

versa, you don’t want to pick something with just a timpani

part if you have twenty percussionists. […] Luckily, here at

Selinsgrove that is not much of a problem.”

When the school year starts, practicing the music begins

immediately. Mrs. Ulsh begins rehearsing her winter concert

music within the first week of the school year. After the con-

cert, there is no time for rest—music for both of the spring

concerts is distributed and practiced the day after the winter

concert. This is similar with Mr. Smith, except that in the be-

ginning of the year, up to half of the block is dedicated to

marching band, and after concerts, there is a day or two con-

sisting only of practicing fundamentals and doing sight-

reading exercises.

Preparation extends into both teachers’ after-school hours,

too. Mrs. Ulsh outlines, "If we have extra instrumentalists to

accompany the chorus, dancers, soloists, etc., I will [meet]

with those people to rehearse prior to accompanying the

chorus […] either before, during, or after school. […] I also

come to school early, prepare during school, or am on my

laptop at night researching the history of the pieces and

planning for the concert a couple of times a week—That is

part of the planning process. Not everything can be accom-

plished during the school day.”

This also applies to Mr. Smith, who says that “Believe it or

not, the non-musical things take much longer than musical

things. Putting a concert together, it’s not really brain sur-

gery, but it’s just tedious work because everything has to be

accounted for, every ‘t’ has to be crossed, every ‘i’ has to be

dotted […] So, [it takes] a lot of time.”

In addition to this effort, managing the prices of these en-

deavors is a constant focus. The choral department has a

given budget from the school that is used to buy music, and

ticket sales by both the band and the chorus cover payment

for the lighting technicians, sound technicians, and profes-

sional accompanists; ticket sales for the chorus concerts pay

for cabinets used to store chorus folders during the year and

colorful t-shirts worn by chorus students in the spring Caba-

ret Concert. Additional money donated to the Chorus and

Band Boosters is put toward additional performances like

this year’s chorus performance at the Penguins Hockey

Game and band trip to Florida and next year’s possible cho-

rus performances at Hershey Park and Carnegie Hall and

band trip to Canada.

When concert time arrives, the rest of Mrs. Ulsh’s and Mr.

Smith’s responsibilities come into play. Before the concert,

they must design the program and tickets, have them print-

ed, find ushers, write speaking parts to introduce pieces,

select students to read them, write press releases, figure out

what equipment is needed, give the students a dress code,

and coordinate the spacing of the stage and placement of

the dividers, the coat racks, and the ticket table in the lobby

as well as microphones, risers, and students on the stage. At

the start of the concert and during the concert, they must

arrange times to warm up, tune, line up, and walk on, and

make sure the students line up, get to their seats if neces-

sary, and enter the stage correctly.

In addition to all of this, they must be on stage for the dura-

tion of the concert to conduct the chorus or band, accompa-

ny soloists, and speak to the audience, and they must be

prepared for mishaps. One time, a thunderstorm drowned

out the singing during one of Mrs. Ulsh’s concerts and creat-

ed a power outage that caused the auditorium to be lit only

by emergency lights. The accompanist could not see her

music, so the chorus continued a cappella while the audi-

ence, according to Mrs. Ulsh, ‘“freaked out!’” Another time,

Mrs. Ulsh “had a student completely pass out on stage dur-

ing a song, and it created a ‘bowling ball’ effect, taking out

the entire 5-foot radius around the students. […] We laugh

about it now, though! ‘Remember the time when Anna took

out the entire Soprano section…’”

According to a laughing Mr. Smith, “During a concert, I was

doing a dramatic cutoff in my pompous style and [hit] the

stand [and had] the baton break off and go right into a girl’s

head! It drew blood!”

While Mrs. Ulsh and Mr. Smith do bear a considerable

amount of these responsibilities’ weight, Mrs. Ulsh stresses

that people like herself and Mr. Smith are never alone. She

says, ‘“These things happen with a great team of students

and colleagues helping out. […] It takes a village! I also learn

about how to make these things more efficient and gain

more knowledge in concert flow through […] more experi-

ence—which happens more and more as I gain more

years!”

Continued from page 2

4

Christmas vacation is coming up. Do you know what you are

going to get people for Christmas? First of all, what should

you consider when choosing a gift? Guidance Counselor Mrs.

Lynn Aurand said, “I think you should definitely consider if the

person will like it. Would it be something they don’t expect. Is

it practical? Or can they and/or you afford it? Would it be fun

to get or do?” Well here are some ideas:

5) Trips or activities

Giving someone a ticket for a trip or an activity can create

tons of new memories with family and friends. According to

Katie Wells from wellnessmama.com, “People tend to get

less happy with material purchases and more happy with ex-

periences.” Some ideas of trips and activities could be bands

to go see and a trip for a vacation or a family experience to-

gether.

4) Gift cards

Don’t know exactly what the person wants or the person their

self doesn’t know? Then a gift card is the way to go. Accord-

ing to Lauren Piro and Katie Bourque in goodhousekeep-

ing.com, “When you give someone money, they can buy

something that they actually want and will use, instead of

feeling obligated to keep or that they will secretly return.” If

you even want to be creative, you can make a gift card holder

to go with it.

3) New phone

Many people want the newest version of a phone all the time.

A lot of people want to keep up on what is new and popular.

According to Niall McCarthy in forbes.com, “51 percent of

iPhone owners would upgrade to a new model as soon as

their provider allows it.” Using these statistics, I think getting a

new phone for a person would be a great gift.

2) New electronics

Continued on page 5

The holiday season is a time of joy, warmth,

and love, or so you thought.

The holidays bring feelings of joy, warmth,

and love to some, but it is hardly ever dis-

cussed how the holiday season can cause

the holiday blues.

“The holidays are one of the worst times of

the year for me. It reminds me of all the peo-

ple I lost and all the people I'm leaving be-

hind and not taking to the New Year. The

holiday blues hit me hard. I hardly want to celebrate anymore,

even though I use to love it. I used to love the holidays. Now I

just don’t,” said anonymous.

The holidays are generally spent with family. Military families,

families that have lost members due to any number of rea-

sons, or even families that are just too far apart are not lucky

enough to get to spend the holidays together. Communication

and being around people, especially people you love, are a

huge part of your life, and without those parts of your life, you

are more likely to fall into the holiday blues.

Many people believe the holiday blues to be a

phenomenon that causes a spike in suicide

rates, but that’s not the case according

to cdc.org. According to SAHS Hybrid Teacher

Matthew Lehman, it is not the happy Hallmark

movie holidays that you want, it is the opposite.

The holiday blues are being sad and upset dur-

ing the holidays.

You have been told at one point in your life or

another, that if you love someone, tell them. You might not

get another chance to, whether it's only for a short period or

for forever.

During the holidays, you need to make it known to all the

loved ones in your life how much they mean to you and how

much you appreciate everything they do. Not only could it

save them from the holiday blues, but it could save them from

the blues of life.

By Lonna Temple and Andrea Ruhl

Holiday Blues

By Evelyn Hostetter

Top Five Christmas Gifts

5

Continued from page 4

Speaking of keeping up with what is popular and new, many

people want new electronic devices too like game systems

and laptops. According to theesa.com, “75% of Americans

have at least one gamer in their household.” These statis-

tics show that there are many people, who play video games

and would enjoy a new system or laptop to play those games.

1) Handmade gift

The best gift you could give a person is a gift you made your-

self. All the thought and care you can put in the gift will make

it very special to that person. According to Robyn Jost in theo-

dysseyonline.com, “When you make or buy a handmade gift,

it is specific to the person receiving the item.” This shows that

the person will feel special receiving the item and they will

treasure the item, so I believe this is the best gift you can get

anyone.

There are so many gift ideas that are creative and useful to

many different types of people. Any gift you get a person, they

will be happy but giving them a special gift will make this holi-

day time extra special.

By Madeline Rowan

Seals Bowling

As the glossy new storm hy-road is sliding down the lane, it

makes a sharp turn into the pocket and…yes! A strike!

The Selinsgrove bowling team is looking for a shot at the re-

gional championship. The girls team would be returning for

another year while the boys team would be looking to join the

girls. Last year, two girls went to singles at the regional cham-

pion, Isabel Heimbach, and Maddie Rowan, who hope

to return.

There are many freshmen amongst the boys’ team looking for

a shot on the varsity roster. This includes Dylan Arnold,

Jerimiah Girton, and Owen Hoot, who all made their High

School debut in the bowling team’s first scrimmage against

Columbia Montoursville tech school. The girls and boys both

lost; nevertheless, they are looking forward to their next match

on Saturday, the 21st, against their rivals, Mid-West.

Kayleigh Snyder, a sophomore that just joined the team, says

she “enjoys the atmosphere of the bowling team.” She said,

“It’s a great learning experience and it encourages me to do

my best for the team.”

Although it is early in the season, the team has hit a roadblock

with the coaching staff. This year, Midd-West coach Cory

Wert joined the team and has high hopes for the team. Unfor-

tunately, he was taken to the hospital because of a blood clot

in his leg. He is now in a rehabilitation center learning how to

walk again but hopes to rejoin the team soon.

The team plans on making a card for him and wishes the

Selinsgrove area to keep him in everyone’s prayers.

SPORTS

6

In the Selinsgrove High School gymnasium, the pressure rises

as the Lady Seals are down by six with sixteen seconds to

go. Coach Ashley Kolak calls a time out to bring the team to-

gether. They set up a play while Avery DeFazio shoots a three

and makes it! Will they come back, or will they crumble under

the pressure?

In the town of Selinsgrove, the girls' basketball team has a

record of two wins and four losses.

According to Emma Atwood, a senior forward, she believes

that the team has had "a more positive productive season so

far and is improving with every game we play."

Even though she believes that this season has been better

than last season, she believes that there could be many im-

provements as the season goes on. Atwood believes that the

third quarter is "crucial in every game we play." During this

quarter, the team has hit a roadblock with scoring. Atwood say

that "lately we have had some issues in coming out strong

after halftime."

There is still hope for the Lady Seals to make it to dis-

tricts. With that, they set several goals to achieve this. Atwood

agrees that one of the goals should be going to districts. To

achieve that, Atwood believes that the team needs to keep

"playing and working hard."

By Cierra Adams

Lady Seals Basketball

By Alaina Burns and Riley Sullivan

Selinsgrove Wrestling

Since the end of their successful season last year, the wres-

tling team has been working hard to prepare for this season.

After the success of now junior Nate Schon at wrestling states

last year, the team had a boost of confidence to keep the en-

ergy alive.

The team began its season on December 13th with the Penn

Manor Tournament. The team placed seventh out of twenty-

eight total teams. Several of the wrestlers placed individually

as well. Juniors Schon and Coy Bastian both placed first in

their divisions, and classmate Ryan Aument placed fifth. Also,

sophomore Aiden Gaugler placed first and freshman Steven

Miller placed sixth.

The first official meet was at home against Juniata. Selins-

grove beat the team 59-14, with only three wrestlers from

Selinsgrove losing their matches.

The boys ended December with the Trojan Wars Tournament

held in Chambersburg.

With only 9 meets left until districts, the team has limited time

to prepare. Also, this year, the Selinsgrove wrestling team is

represented on varsity by 7 returning starters and 7 first-year

starters, creating a balance of experienced and inexperi-

enced wrestlers.

“The season’s success will depend on how they all step up

and perform,” said head coach Seth Martin, “As a team we

look to win a district title again this year in the post season.

Obviously beating Shikellamy is and has been a priority for

many years now.”

Senior Trey Baney is also excited for districts and other po-

tential accomplishments the team may achieve. He said,

“We’re looking forward to carrying on the Selinsgrove name

and to be the most dominant team in the area by winning dis-

tricts for the second time in school history.”

7

The dark green pine needles brush you on your shoulder as

you stride through the light landscape, dotted with a tree eve-ry five square feet or so. They are about your height and smell richly of winter, fun, and overall Christmas. You are here for one sole mission, to pick the perfect tree. It’s hard and takes a while, but it’s fun. And in the end, you can pick a tree unique from the rest, with its own quirks and character.

All in all, it’s worth it. It’s Christmas time, and Christmas time comes with many traditions. One of the most popular traditions here in the US is buying a Christmas tree in which to decorate and put your presents under. But there is some debate on whether to buy a

real tree or a fake tree is better overall. The answer to this is to buy a real tree. If I were to talk to someone who hunted, although I do not hunt, we would conclude that hunting is good for the environ-ment and needs to continue. This is because, although by

hunting there is the death of one or two animals, in the long run the law regulations on hunting seasons and the money going towards the many environmental associations from the selling of hunting and fishing licenses, helps keep the environ-ment healthy and save more animals in the long run (this was all from an NPR session I was listening to).

This situation is similar to the conundrum to buy real or fake trees for Christmas. Although there is a killing of one tree when one is bought, in the long run, it is beneficial to the envi-ronment and to the economy.

For one, Trees benefit the air quality. “One acre of Christmas trees provides enough oxygen to meet the daily requirements of 18 people,” (www.farmflavor.com). Tree farms really do help the surrounding area by providing rich oxygen all year long, because only part of their trees are gone after Christmas

season. Also, during the Christmas season, Pennsylvania and many other states across the nation get the chance to boost their local economies. According to www.vox.com, Pennsylvania is the fourth largest producer of Christmas trees in the US, with

one million trees produced. Which means it’s not that much more of a trouble to buy from a local farm than a convenience store. I talked to Greg Bonsall of Bonsall’s Tree Farm and he says that, “the benefit of buying a real Christmas tree is that it provides oxygen while it is growing. After being cut, a new

tree is planted in its place. The tree can be used as shelter for

birds after you remove it from your house. Additionally, it is biodegradable as opposed to a fake tree that sits in a landfill for decades after it is discarded. Buying a real tree also sup-ports local agriculture.” Fake Christmas trees on the other hand are not biodegrada-

ble, and although they can be used for more than one year, they do eventually wear out and need to be thrown away. Re-al Christmas trees are biodegradable and when they are thrown out it is typically in a forest or lake and it provides a small habitat for mushrooms or in the lake, protection for fish. Real Christmas trees won’t, “Clog up landfills for years to

come,” (www.farmflavor.com). Also, recycled trees in general can be turned into mulch and paper providing for another business and helping to boost the economy even more. Along with that they just help the environment in gen-eral, for trees, stabilize soil, provide natural habitats, and they can heal.

That’s right, they can heal. By that I mean, they can calm peo-ple. Many people feel stressed during the Christmas season and the smell of pine needles will make many feel less stressed, more relaxed and overall better, (www.farmflavor.com). Also, I read some articles related to

trees helping people who have ADHD and patients healing faster when surrounded by trees, although I’m not sure how strong of sources these are (TreePeople.org). Lastly, getting a real Christmas tree is a fun family experi-

ence. Most Christmas tree farms allow customers to go out and cut down a tree. The farm may also provide free hot Chocolate, and many other family friendly things. It’s even fun to go alone. This is compared to going to a store and buying a fake Christmas tree as if you were buying milk. It’s a much better experience to buy the real one.

So, why, after all this will people continue to use a fake tree and ignore the obvious reasons to buy a real one? No one can be sure. But if anyone was wondering which option to go with this holiday season, drive out to a local tree farm and enjoy the day by cutting down a tree and watching the farm-

ers wrap it up and strap it to a car, all while knowing it’s good for you, the environment, and the farmer the tree was bought from.

OPINION

By Adeline Leason

The Benefits of Buying a Real Christmas

Over a Fake One

8

Does this sound familiar: curling up on your couch with a

large bowl of popcorn and putting on a Christmas movie, one

that contains years' worth of nostalgia that puts you at ease-

you know, like Die Hard. While Die Hard doesn’t strike most

people as a typical “classic” Christmas movie, to some it is.

Throughout all four schools in the Selinsgrove School district,

there are 5 movies that come out on top as the District’s fa-

vorite Christmas movies.*

Our #1 pick was the classic Elf (2003) starring Will Ferrell,

which has become a modern tradition to watch every Christ-

mas season for many families (and individuals who are sad

and alone).

#2 was The Polar Express (2004). This movie encapsulates

the magical feeling of being a child during Christmas. A

Christmas favorite for many, The Polar Express will remain

popular for years to come.

#3 was the first Home Alone movie (1990). This is predicta-

ble, seeing as Home Alone is a comical and entertaining mas-

terpiece that is a Christmas staple in any household.

#4 was the 1966 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas

based off of the book by the same name written by the be-

loved Dr. Suess. This movie is heart-warming and sends

many back into childhood nostalgia.

Last but not least,

SASD’s final pick was

A Christmas Story

(1983). A standard

classic of Christmas

film, A Christmas Sto-

ry is a hilarious holi-

day hit that has re-

mained so for over

thirty-five years.

All in all, our school

district loves a variety

of holiday classics, so

next time you curl up

on the couch, maybe

turn on one of your

peer’s favorite movie.

Try something new

and have a very Mer-

ry Christmas!

*Information gathered

from at least one student from each grade in the district for

balanced data.

By Sarah Leason and Hannah Reichenbach

SASD’s Top Five Christmas Movies

Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash