Freedom high school is getting technical

FHS entered the twenty-first century by storm a few years ago when we received a grant from the state to purchase technology for every classroom.

Everyone knows that we used grant money to upgrade our classrooms and curriculums, but what is going to happen to all of this technology when the batteries start to fade and the pictures begin to blur? New ideas and plans are being thrown around between the head honchos on the school board and our main technology man, Mr. Hickey, about what is going to be best for the future of technology at Freedom. Here’s what we bought using over half a million dollars from the state: 500 laptops, a smart board and LCD projector for every classroom, speakers, and shared resources such as video cameras, micro-phones, and web cameras. The goal that we are trying to reach, now that we have all of this equipment, is to become a one-to-one high school. This would mean that there is at least one computer for every single student in the school. The hope is that at the beginning of the school year, all students will be as-signed a laptop that is to become theirs for the next 10 months, and they will return it at the end of the year.

Peace, love, and Freedom High reach an upset

This would allow students to have access to cer-tain programs that a course might require at all times, and to make the lives of students who might not have a computer at home a lot easier.

“We’re not the first school to do this,” Mr. Hickey said. Research has been done and it is the general consensus that giving a student access to school programs 24/7 will increase their chances for better outcomes grade-wise. “It can be done success-fully,” Mr. Hickey said.

However, the process is a lot harder than you might think. There are many different variables that contribute to this idea.

The lifespan of the laptops we have all come to know and love are anywhere from three to five years.

Having a student haul the machine to and from school everyday could decrease this lifespan, while increasing the chances for damages.

Repairs are also something that the school would have to be prepared to take on; right now there is only one Mr. Hickey, and he is already up to his elbows in problems.

If a laptop breaks, are repair attempts made, or do we just buy new ones?

All of these questions are slowly being an-swered, and the hope is that by this spring we will buy enough laptops for an entire class, and by next fall we can test the one-to-one system in Freedom.

“All of this is very much up in the air,” Mr. Hickey said. Much progress is being made though, and who knows – next year you could be taking home your very own temporary laptop.

What was supposed to be an "Aquarian Explosion" is now just about to fizzle out. Imagine this: three hours of peace and music.

Doesn’t that sound pretty far out? Feb. 26 was the original date of Freedom Area High School’s 2010 Morp, and its theme was to be Woodstock '69.

Woodstock was about love, peace, music, and fun. Yeah, we're all too young to have experienced such a his-toric and groovy event, and as it seems the chance to do so will pass us by once more.

The dance had to be cancelled due to a lack of support and participation.

Originally, Morp was Alysa Schell’s senior project; she had decided

on a Woodstock theme because it seemed like a fun one to use and she thought that it would attract more stu-dents.

However, quite the opposite actu-ally happened, as this year’s turnout was even less than last year’s, which was pushing it.

Schell had said, “I just want every-one to have fun”. The money made from Morp would have benefited the Eric Barto Memorial Foundation for Autism.

The dance was to be held from 7 to 10 p.m. and would’ve only cost $6 for a single and $10 for a couple.

It was to be held in the cafeteria. Tie-dyed threads and hemp jewelry will no longer be the appropriate dress code come Feb. 26, as Freedom’s Morp is of-ficially cancelled.

Emily Francis

Copy Editor

Jordan Kusich & Karla Knauff

Copy/Section Editor & Design Editor

NHS students Chelsea Costello and Bryan McSorley are doing

their part to aid in the relief of other countries. The club col-

lected 38 pairs of jeans from Freedom students to benefit the

people of Haiti after their recent disaster.

Freedom students take advantage of the growing

technology provided at FHS, as shown above as

Karla Knauff utilizes her computer. While there

are now more computers than there were last year,

each classroom has yet to be equipped with a cart.

Samantha Hildman, Contributing Photographer

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 2

School board talks change

Through the wind and snow of the blizzard of 2010, all nine of the Free-dom Area School District Board of Di-rectors met on Feb. 11 after four can-celled days of school.

I arrived at the middle school sur-prised to find that the entire board, as well as a few faculty members, were arranged in the dark library after the electricity went out.

The board meets regularly in both private and public meetings to discuss all issues in the district; however, do students, or even faculty, know what really happens during a school board meeting?

The first orders of business were financial issues: the mundane tasks of approving bills, salaries, and the treas-urer's report.

The entire schedule for the use of school facilities was then covered, to my surprise, quite thoroughly. Dr. Sofo, the district's superintendent, then gave a report.

Although the entire district was in focus, the high school appeared to be the major spotlight of the education por-tion of the agenda.

A key concern of the evening was senior year graduation requirements and students leaving school early, due to block scheduling and dual enrollment at Penn State Beaver and CCBC.

Dr. Staub suggested that additional required courses may be in place in the near future.

Some of these courses may include another PE credit, sexual education, and a senior seminar in which students would work on senior projects and pre-pare for college.

“We are looking at courses such as

AP English, as well as other college in high school classes," said Dr. Staub.

Although these new requirements may not make some underclassmen happy, some students may be pleased to know that Mrs. Mako was approved as a high school volunteer math coach.

A student teacher, Ann Gollapudi, was also approved to be placed with Mr. Rosa and Mr. Shephard this spring.

The last items on the agenda for the evening were operations and extra-curricular activities.

Funding for many projects were approved, including exterior lighting, new locker room stalls, the completion of practice fields, track resurfacing, a new pool cover and the most important of all: the renovation of the girl's rest-rooms on the first floor.

To the track and field members' relief, Mr. Shephard was approved for three more one-year contracts as head coach beginning in the 2010 season.

A proposal was also made for the golf team to use Shadow Lakes Golf Course at the same cost in order to keep Mr. Dirk Hartman as a coach.

Also, Mark Lyons resigned as Var-sity Head Football Coach, and inter-views were held to fill his position.

It was recently announced that our own Mr. Hernandez was chosen to lead our football team in the 2010 season.

In addition, Scott Schweiger was approved as the assistant coach for Var-sity Wrestling.

Interviews were held, and the meeting was called to an end on the late night, but members were still excited to be part of the Freedom School District.

I have found after attending just one meeting that behind students' play-ful games in the hallways and fun pro-jects in class, is a professional and well-run school district.

Major make-up days to come

Returning from the snow days, the question on everyone’s mind was whether they would be made up.

“I don’t think we should make them up, because they should be considered as a state of emergency,” says junior Jenna Bell. However, at this time, it appears that all of the missed days will have to be made up.

In order to qualify for state of emergency days, the school district would have to write a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).

No letter has been written, because it has been indicated by the PDE that bad weather is not a reason to count cancellations as state of emergency days.

Dr. Sofo said that “current school code only allows days to be 'forgiven' for lack of power, water, telephone or major physical plant failures, like a collapsed roof.”

Dr. Sofo also said that it is possible the PDE will make a regional decision regarding the cancellations taken by many schools in Pennsylvania.

They would decide upon granting schools state of emergency days once out of the snowy weather, around mid-March.

Until any decisions are made, we

will be making up the snow days, the next one being on March 15.

“It would be the rain on my parade if we had to make them up; I was looking forward to the long Easter vacation,” said junior Paige Cooper.

According to the school calendar, both the Tuesday and Thursday of Easter break are snow days. As of now, Freedom has used up all scheduled snow days, so both vacation days would be taken.

However, Dr. Sofo said that his goal is to keep Easter break intact. He says that hopefully at the next board meeting, on March 4, a decision will be made regarding the fifth snow day.

The board will look into other possibilities, such as moving a teacher in-service day.

Right now it seems that students and teachers will be in school for the snow days in March and April.

“It really stinks that we wasted all of our snow days in one week when we still have over a month of winter left,” says junior Stephanie Duez.

Now we can only hope that we get no additional cancellations.

“If we get another snow day or I have to shovel my driveway again, I am going to buy a plane ticket to Hawaii and live down there until summer comes,” said senior Jeremy Steder.

Alyssa Applequist

Staff Writer

Rosalyn Nye

Staff Writer

Freedom Area, along with most of western Pennsylvania,

faced several snowstorms, the first beginning on the night of

Feb. 5 and lasting until morning.

The storms left approximately three feet of snow on the

ground, downed lines that caused power outages, and buried

most roads, making them unusable.

Trapped in their houses, Freedom residents stuck it out not

only through the weekend, but into the week as well.

Freedom Area School District lost a total of four days to the

storms, and it is still unknown whether some of those days

will be necessary to make up. Jordan Kusich, Section/Copy Editor

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 3

Sexual Education Curriculum Explored

FHS class puts cradles in the classroom

You may have seen a few younger kids meandering through the halls the past few weeks. No, they aren’t students. They’re part of a project that Ms. Rich’s Independent Living class is doing.

For the Child Development portion of the class, the students were each assigned their own chance to see what parenthood is really like.

They were assigned a baby. Not an actual child of course: a fake baby doll that proved to be quite a challenge for some of the students.

They kept the babies for four days each, and were assigned to tend to them just like they would a real child.

These babies were programmed after real live children: they ate, burped, cried, slept, and even needed a diaper change on a regular basis.

They gave the students a hard

time, for the most part; one student had such difficulties with getting her baby to fall

asleep that she was unable to come to school the following morning.

However, one student actually found the experience to be highly rewarding.

Nicole Mutschler saw no particular “hard part” in the assignment. She believed the experience “showed exactly what having a real baby is like,” and that “it was a lot of fun.” It made her truly realize the difficulties of having a child in high school.

The goal of the assignment was to make students realize the responsibilities of having a real child.

It was a true eye-opener for them, and did its part to show the students that having a baby in high school is simply not reasonable.

Ms. Rich agrees that the project taught her students that having a baby can be great – at the right time.

Jordan Kusich

Copy/Section Editor

Steelers vs. Freedom staff:

The Pittsburgh Steelers: our home football team. While our city has many reasons to be proud, I think that anyone could agree these players may be number one. Earning a total of six Super Bowl rings over the years and being a part of the City of Champions, our Steelers have become a large part of our lives in western Pennsylvania.

There is good news for you Steelers fans here in Freedom: the men who have represented the Steel City in

the NFL for years are giving attention to other communities, and visiting yours.

As a fundraising event for the 2010 prom, the upper class student councils have arranged for one exciting game to be played in our gymnasium. On Wednesday, March 10, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be competing in a basketball game against the staff of Freedom Area School District.

The Freedom team will consist of staff, including our own Mr. Short, Mr. Hernandez, and even our Vice Principal Mr. Delp. Also Mr. Culler, Mr. Matsook, and Mr. Kelm from the middle school will be participating in the game as well as others from the district. This will be the second visit the Steelers have made to

Freedom for a money-raising game, and the prom fundraising is hoping the event will be just as successful as the last time.

"We will have people coming from the county to see the Steelers, and it will bring in a great profit," says Ian Lint, junior class president. Ticket sales began in every Freedom school office on Feb. 8 and are being sold for $7 a person.

There is limited seating and everyone is hoping for a full house. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the game will begin at 8. Among the festivities, there will be a Steelers Super Bowl jersey raffle, a 50/50 raffle, autograph signing, and a concession stand to keep all of the fans happy.

The Steelers and Freedom would also like to give back to the community during the event. Non-perishable items will be collected at the doors and donated to our local food banks. With charity, fundraising, food, fans and fun, the night is looking like it will be a success, with the help of the Freedom and surrounding communities.

"I'm hoping that everyone will have a great time," says Lint. Will our staff hold their own against the professional athletes? Will the football players fail to deliver on a different playing field? Find out on March 10, in the Freedom high school gymnasium.

Shannon Schimmer

News Editor

FHS students in Ms.

Rich’s Independent

Living experience

parenthood through

plastic babies as-

signed to give a first

hand look at the

challenges of having

a child. Nick Talerico

babysits Emma Wag-

ner’s baby, shown to

the left.

With rising trends and more pregnant teens than Freedom has ever seen, is adding sexual education into the school's curriculum really such an eccentric idea?

The school board has just recently approved sexual education to be taught at Freedom as part of the freshmen health classes in the fall.

Some students feel as though the time has come for Freedom to get proactive about sexual education.

"I think it's a good idea, because obviously the pregnancy rate is really high. I think it's for the best," said senior Erika Barlow.

Mrs. Woods, Mr. Summers, and Mrs. Martz will each be teaching students about the anatomy of the male and female reproductive systems, STDs, forms of birth control, and legal issues regarding sex while, upon the school board's request, adding a large emphasis on practicing abstinence.

While the teachers are prepared for some parents to have an issue with this new addition, there has been a surprising amount of support for the plans.

At one of two school board meetings, parents who were present actually pushed for the plans of sexual education. Freshmen will be able to opt out of this part of health class if their parents choose so.

As of now, there's yet to be any serious criticism surrounding the new class, although some students believe it may be pointless.Senior Julie Scheller believes that students already know the means of contraceptives, and sophomore Andrea Cary said, "It's honestly not that different because we had a teeny tiny sex ed. class in freshman seminar."

The school has also recently applied for a grant in order to "help get more supplies and potentially a guest speaker," said Mrs. Woods, who seems to have high hopes for the new class.

Whether students and faculty believe this class will be seen as an improvement, a negative impact, or something that hardly makes a difference, informing students about subjects that will be taught in sexual education next year has the goal of equipping students with the knowledge needed in order to make informed decisions.

From the field to the court

Alyssa Applequist

Staff Writer

Two-Hour Delay vs. Cancellation:

Editor-in-Chief:

Business Manager:

News Editor:

Opinions Editor:

A&E Editor:

Sports Editor:

Photography Editor:

Copy Editors:

Design Editor:

Faculty Advisor:

Editorial Policies: FHS Press is the official student newspaper serving Freedom Area High School, in Freedom,

Pennsylvania. The views presented herein are not representative of the school, faculty, or administration; they are

solely the views of individual student writers. The newspaper accepts and strives to publish signed letters to the editor

under 250 words. To submit comments, press releases, or letters to the editor, or to purchase advertising space

in the paper, e-mail newspaper@freedomarea.org, or contact Mr. Hartman in Room 114.

Meagen Finnerty

Rob Deane

Shannon Schimmer

Jordan Kusich

Nolan Rider

Bryan McSorley

Jessica Rosenkranz

Emily Francis, Jordan Kusich

Karla Knauff

Mr. David Hartman

FHS Press — Editorial Board

STAFF EDITORIAL:

Assistant Editors: Cole Leonberg

Reporters & Photographers: Alahna Alderette, Alyssa Applequist, Liz Brun-

ner, Rosalyn Nye, Ashlynd Robb, Marques Muron, & Jake Cruise

It’s a Tuesday night, the weather channel calls for four to eight inches, and the feeling you get when you open up WPXI and see "Freedom Area School District: Closed" is almost like Christmas morning. School closings can be the most exciting thing for a student, as it raises opportunities to sleep in, watch TV, and play in the snow.

It’s all fun and games until March comes around and that day we were supposed to have off is now a manda-tory school day.

So let’s rewind the scenario: it’s a Tuesday night, four to eight inches are expected, you open up WPXI to find Freedom Area School District: Two-Hour Delay.

You don’t exactly get that Christ-mas-morning feeling, more like a you-just-had-a-really-good-night's-sleep kind of feeling. Nonetheless, when that same March day rolls around, getting the day off is a blessing.

Around here we formed the gen-eral consensus that two-hour delays beat out school closings in popularity. School closings can not only screw up the entire day, like sports get cancelled,

but also red and white days start to get confusing.

Everything gets pushed back, which means they can screw up an en-tire week, month, or sports season.

With a two-hour delay schedule, we get to sleep in, have shorter classes, keep to a regular schedule, and best of all: we don’t have to make those days up. School is an extremely important thing, obviously; but to a teenager, one of the most important things is the countdown to summer vacation.

Sadly for us, this year we had four and a quarter days off of school in one week, as well as a day off in January. Since summer vacation is already com-ing later than usual, things look bleak when it comes to making these days up. School closings don’t really seem like Christmas mornings anymore, do they?

So to put it straight, getting off of school is a nice thing, but all of the casualties that come with it really aren’t worth it. So next time the weatherman is calling for snow, and you really don’t want to miss that big swim meet, pray for a two-hour delay.

Throw on your gym shorts, tie up your running shoes, and roll on some deodorant. It’s time for Physical Educa-tion class, or gym for short. Ask any-body, and they’ll tell you gym is an easy credit.

This is because it’s easy or unim-portant, but because it’s the only class in school that requires brawns and not brains, and it heads away from the gen-eral norm of high school academics; t also gives kids an opportunity to get some exercise.

So what about the students who play a sport and already get hours of exercise a day playing their own after school sports? I think that students who play a sport should be able to use that in place of the gym credit.

In my own experience I get a lot more exercise swimming after school than I do in gym in a whole week. So if I

get that much exercise, what is the point of going to gym class?

Now every student doesn’t play a sport, so in their cases gym is a great thing to have, but for others not so much. There are a few exceptions to this, of course.

First of all, I understand that a lot of students only play one sport at one point in the year. I do not believe they should be exempt from taking a Phys. Ed. class for the entire year.

It is completely possible to make them exempt for the duration of the sports season however, and then when they are done with the sport, make them take gym.

The point is: that gym is a class specifically set up to give students a healthy place to exercise and stay fit. Some students already get that in the form of an after-school sport. Gym class should become an option for those who already excel at exercise.

From benches to bleachers

Jake Cruise

Staff Writer

How necessary is taking a gym class?

Which pays off more in the end?

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 5

What is on your mind? The latest fight with your best friend, the newest gossip you just caught wind of, the ill-feelings you have about your last APUSH test? All of these may be on your mind, but do they need to be on every-one else’s? Have we reached the point in our lives where a Facebook post is our primary method of com-munication?

This site is now a shield for every teenager to act much tougher than they really are whilst posting thoughts that they dare not say in person; thoughts that can easily be defended by their 26 Online Friends, just in case that certain someone actually has something more clever and more insulting to say back. It seems to be that Facebook has become the principal means of trashing and bashing others. What makes it so easy to make insulting comments on Face-book? Perhaps it’s the knowledge that whomever they are directed at has two choices: either be the bigger person and ignore the remarks whilst dealing with the blow; or reply to the comment, try defending themself, and risk being attacked by anyone that views it. The comfort of a computer screen makes Face-book assaults a piece of cake. Who actually prefers face-to-face confrontation? We can see where the idea of admitting feelings of anger to someone in person may not be the most attractive option to most, but it’s far more mature to take up an issue with someone that

way. Sure, it may be comical to see what all of your

friends have to say about the rude remarks you choose to post, but nothing good comes from outside involve-ment. Are a few laughs really worth all that drama?

We can answer that one in a heartbeat: nothing about drama is humorous enough to keep feeding the flame with snide remarks and distasteful commentary. Trust us when we say that resolving arguments via the Internet does not accomplish much. Ever. Jokes often get carried too far, feelings are hurt, and relationships suffer. After all, who can honestly say that they find a thrill in reading about how much they are hated? Or that they enjoy seeing that seven people “liked” the fact that you hope they disappear? Of course it’s a joke to you, the author of these infamous posts.

You can sit back at home with your friends, dou-bled over with laughter because of your extreme levels of wittiness. You are such a riot, right? Just ask the per-son you made cry over their keyboard; we're sure they’ll agree.

And the next day when you pass them in the hall-way, we guarantee you’ll awkwardly avert your eyes

because you no longer have that computer screen to hide behind. If you're willing to post about how you wish your old best friend should drop off the face

of the earth, or how your ex (whom, of course, you're still Facebook buddies with) possesses the intellectual level of a gnat, then we suggest that you better be will-ing – and fully prepared – to tell them face-to-face in-stead of wall-to-wall. People are so much different online than they are in "real life." Every time someone clicks "log in," they are granted a whole new personality. You know that girl in your Spanish class that never says anything? Or the guy who sits in front of you in algebra that seems like the sweetest person you know?

Try checking out their Facebooks. You’ll more than likely come across something you never would have expected. She may be silent in school, but Face-book tells you that all she does is talk trash.

He may seem sweet in math class, but he has so many dirty posts online that you don’t know what to think anymore. Facebook can change the entire way you think about a person, and the way they think about you. And it’s all because of the things people say and the way they say them. Food for thought? Confrontation. Interpreta-tion. Humiliation. The next time you feel like sharing what’s on your mind, think twice.

Jordan Kusich & Meagen Finnerty

Copy/Section Editor & Editor-in-Chief

Would you consider your-

self a hardcore Facebook

user? If so, you've proba-

bly heard of, and even

participated in, the game

of Farmville, another plus

to the website. Applica-

tions such as this one

show that Facebook can

be used as a simple bore-

dom-reliever, instead of as

a means of cruel commu-

nication.

Facebook was primarily

created as a place for

users to post about their

lives, to keep in touch

with friends, and to sim-

ply have something to

help entertain themselves

with whilst online. After

all, we all need a break

and a chance to relax and

amuse ourselves at home.

However, we have re-

cently found that the site

has been turned into a

headquarters for creep-

ing, cruelty, and careless-

ness. I'm sure Facebook’s

head honchos would dis-

approve of what it has

become.

Whatever happened to the

good old days when the

first thing you did when

you logged onto Facebook

was check to see how your

crops were doing? Now

you head straight for the

conversation you left last

time dissing a girl you

used to be friends with. As

you read over those con-

versations, ask yourself:

Is this really what I want

the future of Facebook to

be?

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 6

Oh high school, you and your peer pressure have finally arrived. Many times we’ve all sat through D.A.R.E. and other lectures on the harmful effects of drugs and had the facts pounded off at us. For instance, weed increases heart rates by 20 to 100 percent after you smoke it for up to three hours.

But hey, that’s only three hours out of your life, right? I mean, seriously, three hours off of how many years you plan on living seems like a fair trade for a fun night. It took until my senior year to actually witness the peer pressure to get high.

I lived my first three years of high school in an ignorant bliss. Sure, some may call me stupid for almost reaching adulthood before I'd ever even heard one of my friends telling the dreaded story of actually being put in the situation in which they had ample opportunity for a night of lofty partying.

Stupid, though, is what I'd refer to as the people who say yes. Sure, "stupid” may offend some people. But what other word could accurately describe lighting up for a buzz that’ll last for a couple hours while its damage can last a life-time?

I’m sorry, stupid just rolls off the tongue. While this won’t only mess you up for life, it’ll mess up everyone who

cares about you enough to ask you to step away from the weed.

Can you honestly promise your best friend that listens attentively to every one of your stories that you’ll stop? No, you can’t. As soon as you decide to take that first hit, your new friends are automati-cally determined. That friend since sec-ond grade is no longer invited over every weekend because she doesn’t smoke.

Now, the friend that you used to

stay up talking to on the phone for hours is the one who immediately kills conver-sation when she approaches you and your new “friends.” Let me tell you, that friend is not going to stick around for long.

Maybe you aren’t at that stage just yet. Maybe you still have the chance to straighten your life out. You won’t, nor will you fix the countless friendships you’re undoubtedly throwing in the

trash. They aren’t recyclables. You won’t

get them back. Let’s face facts here: your new smoking buddy honestly couldn’t care less about what that kid said to you in the hall today or how you did on that Spanish test. So what’s the perfect solu-tion? Bring your old friends to the next party, right? No. You aren’t Miley Cyrus. You can’t have the best of both worlds.

Your old friends may try a hit; they want to stick with you. Sooner or later, however, they’re going to say no. They’re going to walk away from the party, and away from you.

Then you, undeniably, will go run-ning to them every time your life comes crashing down, and they’ll help you. They remember the good old days when you didn’t party, and the way you used to be a good friend. You’re willing to help out when you can, but their prob-lems are never really a major concern to you anymore. Nothing is. Your life is starting to become as glazed over as your eyes.

Nothing really matters as long as you keep up appearances enough so as to not let your parents find out who you really are. What would your parents, who have always blindly trusted you, really think if they could see you on a Saturday night? What would they truly think of your friends?

More importantly, what do your friends think of you now? Not the ones

you party with, or smoke with; the ones who are waiting for you to get your act together.

You may not know just what they’re thinking when they laugh and joke like nothing’s wrong. You really have no idea. Before, you would have known instantly that they were being fake with you; the funny thing is that now, you don’t really care.

Obviously your friends aren't the only thing you don't care about. I'm sure, being the responsible teen you insist you are, you know the side effects. You know that the deep wheezing cough you're now starting to develop will fol-low you through the next several decades of your now shortening life.

Lung cancer? Psh. It's got nothing on you. Sure, you're now three times more likely to develop it, but you knew that, right? You know everything. I am, without a doubt, positive that you know that marijuana can actually inhibit your immune cells.

Yeah, those are pretty important, you know, fighting off those pesky bac-teria infections, tumors, etc. You know, the usual. It's not like you could die or anything....oh wait. Never mind.

Before you take that next hit, stop. Stop and think about those Saturday night sleepovers where the strongest drug you had was rocky road ice cream. No one can stop you from taking that hit. No one but you. My antidrug: my friends. What’s yours?

As a high school opinions writer, it is ex-pected to write about one of the main things in high school: relationships. We all know that without high school relationships, these four years would never be the same. Everyone has their high school sweethearts; I know that I have mine.

So when we go out, my first question is always, who's paying? I tend to believe that the guy should pay for a date, and I’m big on old-fashioned relationships. A girl should be treated to a dinner, movie, a night on the town; what-ever floats your boat, right?

I suppose that some guys have a problem with always being the one to spend their pay-check on a Friday with their girl. I could go on a rant about how the girl does everything else in a relationship: taking care of the kids, the cook-ing, the cleaning, things of that nature. But unless you’re living with your sweetheart, I

don’t think she’ll be cooking for you anytime soon.

Even though I am a believer in the notion that a guy should pay, I'm not completely op-posed to the opinion that the girls should try to chip in a little bit. And if you don’t feel like sharing the check, stay a night on the couch. Nothing is wrong with making some cookie dough and putting in Kung-Fu Panda for the night. You don’t always have to go out and make a huge date. One of my favorite memories is when we stayed home and ate a tub of Chocolate Mint ice cream while watching Com-edy Central.

You should just be happy that you are spending time with your sweetheart. After all, this is high school; spending time with your boyfriend or girlfriend should brighten your week. Don’t let a fight about money or who’s paying keep you from spending time with them. They are your sweetheart for a reason, don’t forget that.

Puff or pass? One of the toughest decisions

out there

Meagen Finnerty

Editor-in-Chief

Hopeless romantic? Or just hopeless for cash?

Liz Brunner

Staff Writer

“So what’s the perfect solution? Bring your old friends to the next party, right? No.

You aren’t Miley Cyrus. You can’t have

the best of both worlds.”

Jordan Kusich, Copy/Section Editor

It seems that today's society has simply become accus-

tomed to the man being the one to extend his wallet

when a couple goes out together. Ladies, if you aren’t

ready to dish out some of the dollars on the behalf of

your boy’s recently slimming wallet, settle for a night in

with popcorn, a few movies, and good company.

COD: The new OCD Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Rosalyn Nye

Staff Writer

The fact that we have to make it up HOT: A whole week off of school NOT:

Have you noticed a lack of teenage boys around lately? That’s because many of them are at home playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This relatively new game, referred to as Call of Duty 6 (COD) or Modern Warfare 2, has people everywhere completely obsessed.

Junior Ian Lint plays six out of seven days a week for about two and a half hours every session when he’s not working. If he keeps up that schedule for a year, he will have logged 780 hours of COD.

“The first day I got the game, everyone on my Xbox Live friends list was playing COD. Me, Jeremy, Fogle, and Justin stayed up and played for about 13 to15 hours straight,” Lint says.

He and sophomore Zeke Stroupe said they would much rather play Live with friends. A more surprising COD player at Freedom is sophomore Kelsie Ralston. She logs in at least two hours every day. In her longest run, she played for 10 hours straight.

But what makes this game so addictive? Lint says Modern Warfare 2 seems to have the best

graphics and never lags or breaks connection. He also likes the mini-game-like elements called Special Ops.

Modern Warfare 2 is different because of the new features that let players customize more things and reward goals achieved during game play.

Many players, like junior Justin Clagg, like to compete with friends for the highest Kill-to-Death ratio (KD). This is the amount of kills a player makes to every death received. For example, if you kill 15 people, but die 20 times, your KD ratio is -5 or .75.

Clagg once achieved a KD of 25 after killing over 100 people in a single game. Lint says his KD ratio since Christmas has been between 1.0 and 1.3. He competes with Clagg and other friends to see who will have the best KD ratio before a certain time period.

Modern Warfare II is the sixth game in the Call of Duty series. In the first 24 hours of its release, 4.7 million units were sold, making it the largest game launch in history.

When Heath Nye has friends over, they make a beeline for the Xbox in his room. Minutes later, the sounds of shooting and player radios blast from his open doorway. When asked why they love Modern Warfare 2 so much, Nye said, “I don’t know, it’s just an all-around awesome game."

Rosalyn Nye, Contributing Writer Ian Lint honing his skills on COD

It seems that every year Apple, Inc. releases some new amazing technology that becomes a cultural symbol. I’m sure if you enjoy music even a little bit, you own some sort of iPod. You may own a Mac or Mac Book. If you don’t have any of these, I guarantee you know someone who does.

Well, announced on Jan. 27, Apple released their newest piece of technology: the iPad. The iPad boasts many new features, and also shares some of the same features as the iPod Touch and iPhone. The iPad should be compatible with most Apple-run programs and applications. It should be able to be synced to iTunes, and will be the first device that runs Apple’s new iBook Store service and iBook ebook application.

This new device will be wielding a 9.7-inch LED screen and will be WiFi Compatible. AT&T is also going to be backing this high-tech device with its 3G network. They claim that they will have two new plans specially made for the iPad that allow either unlimited data or 250MB of data a month for half the price of the unlimited plan.

With all of the features included in this little machine, it seems to be a college student's dream.You can read books, take notes and browse the internet on the same device. Apple is already in the process of creating accessories and promises a keyboard dock that will turn this machine into a “type-ready” laptop instantly.

The media has been harsh on this little guy, criticizing its lack of a camera and video recorder. It also won’t be able to run multiple applications at the same time. Others criticize, saying that the iPad is only going to be compatible with Apple Software and applications. Apple definitely has some kinks to work out for this little machine, but as always I have confidence that after its release, the iPad will be met by the public with great success.

I know what you’re thinking: “When can I get my hands on this thing, and how much is it gonna cost me?” Well, my readers, it’s due to be released at the end of March and should retail for around $500-$900 depending on the memory size and specifications that you’re looking for.

This amazing little piece of technology is just the first of many original progressive devices that Apple will be releasing in the future. This company has been leading the way for years now, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Nolan Rider

Section Editor

As long as it has a little “i”,

Apple can sell it

Participants of the Shakespeare Competition

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 8

To compete, or not to compete? That is the question. The answer, in Freedom's drama classes, would definitely be to compete. Students have taken on the aged beauty and difficulty of one of the most famous writers of all time: William Shakespeare, and have done a great job with it.

Freedom's student actors from the eighth grade and above, including three juniors and three seniors representing upperclassmen, made their way into the city on Feb. 17 to perform in the Pittsburgh O'Reilly theater in front of three professional judges.

The students came prepared with individual monologues and two play scenes. They began preparing for the competition in December of 2009 in an effort to increase their chances of making the finals, an honor any actor would have much appreciation for.

After leaving the school at 9 a.m. and stopping for a quick breakfast at Sheetz, the group traveled by bus into the city and to the theater. The students, accompanied by their teachers and acting coaches Ms. Ross, Mrs. Giammaria, and eighth grade teacher Ms. Rosenbaur, were met in the lobby by the organizer of the competition, Mr. Rob Zellers. After

Kids in the hall

giving the students another half hour to practice while other schools performed for the judges, Zellers led the students in a large theater where three judges sat with score sheets.

A total of 18 Freedom students performed monologues and scenes ranging everywhere from the love story of Romeo and Juliet to the much darker works of Hamlet and Macbeth. When the acting was said and done, the students were excited to be part of the experience.

"I feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge about Shakespeare and performing," says Julie Scheller, a senior who attended the competition for her fourth and final year.

In celebration of a successful day of competing, the teachers and actors stopped for lunch at Eat n' Park to

relax and discuss the events of the day. No schools would be alerted about the results or who made the finals until the following day.

Finals were held on Friday, Feb. 19 in the same theater with competitors from schools all throughout the city and surrounding Pittsburgh area.

Finals or no finals, the competition was a success and quite the experience for Freedom students.

"I want to go again next year," junior Caitlynn Milligan, an excited competitor, said. Preparations will begin again the same time next year for another shot at the finals for Freedom students.

For now, Shakespeare will be retired for the year, but for Freedom's Shakespeare competition, students can happily take their bow.

Shannon Shimmer

Section Editor

Don’t fear Shakespeare

Dianna Edwards, Contributing Photographer

Have you ever wanted to eat breakfast with your favorite characters from Beauty and the Beast? How about getting your picture taken with the ferocious Beast, or the beautiful Belle? You can make these dreams come true, and you don’t even have to go to Disney World to do it.

Stop by the high school on March 6 in between the hours of 9 and 12 a.m., and attend the first ever Breakfast with Belle. All of your favorite characters, in full costume, will be there to eat breakfast and partake in many fun activities. With Nathan Novak as the Beast and Becca Fleming as Belle, all of your favorite cast members from the upcoming musical production will be attending the breakfast.

The cost for the event will be $6 for kids and $8 for adults, with additional cost for pictures. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend the breakfast, so bring your little siblings as well as your grandparents. It could be fun for the whole family. Aside from the breakfast and the pictures, there will be manicures, tattoos, coloring, games, and many other fun activities that kids of all ages can enjoy. Most of the profits will go towards the musical, and a portion will go to paying for the breakfast.

Come out to the breakfast on March 6, and don’t forget to attend our high school's production of Beauty and the Beast on March 26, 27 and 28. “It’s been difficult with the weather, but it’s going very well and we’re planning on being the best in the district,” said Mr. Kovalic. So, plan on this year being one of the best musicals in Freedom history.

Cuisine with character Jake Cruise

Staff Writer

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 9

“Take off your sandals because this place where you are standing is hallowed ground.” Book of Exodus Chapter 3 Verse 5. Powerful excerpt from the bible, or a sweet name for a coffee shop? Well to David and Kathy Chabala, this is their home and life. The friendly couple owns, operates and lives above Hallowed Grounds.

We all need that little “pick me up” in the morning; some of us can’t live without it. Others, like the Chabalas, live for it. Whether you’re a coffee connoisseur, or just looking to get your caffeine fix, this little shop has something to please everyone.

My family taught me from a young age that it is always better to support local businesses, go out of your way to help your neighbor, and buy products made in the USA if at all possible. I try to live by that.

Every time I drive through New Brighton, I visit a small coffee shop on the main street named Hallowed Grounds. I go there because they are passionate about what they do, and they can brew a mean cup of coffee. I also love the local "service with a smile" attitude.

“We roast our coffee fresh because it gives it a better taste. You can’t get a cup of coffee like this from Starbucks,” said Kathy. Since opening their doors in 2007, they have been serving the valley, and have recently gained national attention in Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine.

Hallowed Grounds flavors some of their own coffee, and they have 25 original flavors. They also have over 40 different coffee blends from all over the world. Whether you want regular coffee or the $40-a-pound Haiwain Kona, they have every kind of coffee imaginable. Did I mention they also carry over 40 kinds of lose teas?

market is a daring move to say the least, but the Chabalas were surprised to see the support of the community. “The store was self-supporting after our first month,” said David. When the market crashed in October, they had their “best month ever”. They have seen nothing but success since.

They seem to sell more bags of beans than liquid coffee. Their busiest time of year is right before Christmas. “Our busiest season of the year is December. We sell more bags of coffee and gift baskets than any other time of the year for the holiday season,” Kathy said. Hallowed Grounds almost “triples” their regular monthly sales. With their convenient location, they see a lot of business with events in New Brighton, like the car cruise and parades throughout the year. They also sell frozen coffees, which are a big hit in the summertime heat. With the addition of another roaster, the business is expanding, and now makes their own homemade peanut butter. I've seen it being made, and it both smells and tastes phenomenal. This shop has a unique blend of products, especially for a local business. As a family owned and

run business, they try to support their fellow entrepreneurs by working with local businesses and selling their goods in the coffee shop. They work with Rosalyn’s Candy to make chocolate-covered coffee beans. A local pottery business custom makes Hallowed Grounds mugs.

Do yourself a favor: next time you're out and about in New Brighton, stop in and get a cup of coffee. I can guarantee you will be going back. With corporate companies taking over the landscape, it's refreshing to see a local business thrive. Support your neighbors, and at the same time, get one of the best cups of coffe you'll ever taste.

The story behind their new business is interesting to say the least. The couple would travel to Pittsburgh to buy coffee and talk to fellow enthusiasts. “We are inspired by the big coffee roasters in Pittsburgh,” David said. There David planned to buy a $500 stove top coffee roaster, but instead he made the decision to go big or go home.

He bought a huge coffee roaster and had it installed on his porch. The couple began selling coffee out of their home, but soon that wasn’t enough. “We had a $10,000 coffee roaster on our porch and almost 1,000 pounds of coffee in our pantry,” Kathy joked.

Opening a business during the crash of the stock

Nolan Rider

Section Editor

Hallowed Grounds Coffee Shop

Wrestling The wrestling season has come to a close and the

boys achieved their goal of a season of 7-2, a record best for the team. They worked hard and had a great season, only losing two section matches. The boys wrestled their very best and worked their hardest at each practice.

The season may be over for Freedom, but the wrestlers still have sectionals and tournaments to fin-ish. The wrestling team gave themselves higher expec-tations once again, with hopes that sectionals will raise their individual records.

On senior night, the boys wrestled Moon and were victorious. This made a good day for Tyler Helch, because he ended his senior season with a win. Their last match was at Blackhawk, and the boys got an auto-matic win to end their season on a high. To celebrate their great season record, the boys all went out to CiCis. The team, win or lose, ritually goes to CiCis to just have some fun.

Fortunately, the team only loses one senior to graduation. The rest of the wrestlers will return next season young and experienced, hopefully making next year even better than this one. Some of the wrestlers have stated that each day is a great day to be alive be-cause, "you're healthy, you're alive and you're wres-tling."

Boys Basketball Although the boys basketball team did not have

the season that it had hoped for, they fought until the very end. The boys started off the season with eleven straight losses before they recorded their first on Jan. 19 against South Side.

Freedom would go on to win two more games the rest of the season, including a 34-point beat down of South Side on senior night.

It was a milestone night for many Bulldogs as senior guard Shane Quinn dazzled the crowd with many acrobatic layups in his last home game, but it was junior guard/forward Brandon Prest who stole the show.

Prest converted on a school record nine three-

pointers, breaking the Freedom record of eight, set by Matt Frasier.

The boys basketball team shows plenty of promise for next winter as the team only loses one starter and retains a plethora of young, experienced talent.

Girls Basketball It was a year filled with growing pains for first-

year coach Ron Kelm and his girls basketball team. The lady Bulldogs, just three years removed from reaching the WPIAL playoffs, failed to win a game this season.

The team struggled on offense and defense. The Bulldogs scored an average of 25.8 points per game this season and gave up an average of 57.7 points per game. Although it was not a banner year for the ladies and they are losing five seniors to graduation, there is plenty of hope for the future.

Many underclassmen gained valuable playing time this season, including freshman Maddi Lewis, who filled in as a guard for junior Caitlin Frain who was down with a season-ending

Winter sports at Freedom come to a close

Rob Deane, Marques Muron, Bryan McSorley

FSHP Staff

Top Left: Boe Bonzo puts his opponent into a cradle. Bottom Left: Lindsay Kitzman competed in the butterfly at MACs.

Middle: Kristi Tibolet puts up for a shot, while Marissa Ritorto goes in for the rebound. Right: Brandon Prest set up a play.

Prest converted on a Freedom record 9 three pointers against South Side.

The dog days of winter

Photos counter clockwise by: Jessica

Rosenkranz, Jim Hall , Liz Brunner, and

Bryan McSorley

Continued on pg. 12

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 11

Jocks who rock Connor

Yarzebinski (Sophomore)

Basketball

Embarrassing

Moment

“I always do

something

stupid”

Postgame Ritual

Jumping up and

down when he

wins a game

Least favorite

part of practice

Running suicides

in 30 seconds

Sports

Nicknames

Big Country,

Shrek,

and Dar

Maddi

Lewis (Freshman)

Basketball

Reason she

became an

athlete

The love of the

game

Pregame Ritual

Prayer with team

before

tip-off

Embarrassing

Moment

Spilling Gatorade

on uniform, leav-

ing embarrassing

spill marks on

shorts

High School

Sports Memory

Getting her first

start for the

varsity team

Heath

Nye (Sophomore)

Wrestling

Least favorite

part of practice

Running the halls

Sports

Nickname

H-Bomb

High School

Sports Memory

Making it to

WPIALS

Motivation

Myself and my

teammates

What angers me about Free-dom sports is the very thing that drives me as an athlete and as a fan. Around Beaver County, Freedom sports are considered a joke. I have talked to numerous athletes from other schools who say that when they see Freedom on their sched-ules, they automatically consider it a win.

My question is: why is it that Freedom is regarded as the little brother when it comes to sports? The answer is plain and simple: people around the county only look at the mainstream sports such as football and basketball. To put it politely, neither the football team nor the basketball teams over the

past couple of years have been overly impressive. The football team hasn’t won a section champi-onship since 1978. The boys basket-ball team hasn't won a section championship since Bob Gallagher was the coach back in 1983. Also, the boys basketball team is just three years removed from a winless record.

However, football and basket-ball aren’t the only sports in Free-dom. If people looked at Freedom sports other than those two, one would notice Freedom is a difficult school to beat and probably has some of the best athletes in the county. To start, the Freedom girls track team has been nothing short of dominant the last three years. In fact, last year’s team has recently

been fitted for their WPIAL cham-pionship rings. Also in the past twelve months, the baseball, boys soccer, boys track, and girls track teams have all claimed section ti-tles. Not many schools get to say that about their sports programs.

It’s a shame that no matter how good our sports are here at Freedom, they will never get the respect that they deserve. There is only one thing for the athletes to do in order to gain respect, and that is to use the disrespect as motivation. Use the fact that we are already considered defeated before the game starts as an advantage. That way, teams from other schools will have to scratch out that “W” that they put on the schedules and put an “L” in its place.

Bryan McSorley

Sports Editor

R E S P E C T Do Freedom athletics get the respect that they deserve?

knee injury in January. Swimming The 2009-2010 season for the swim team is

over. Overall, it was a rough season for the bulldogs: the boys finished with a record of 0-8 while the girls posted a record of 1-7. One reason for the team’s struggle was the pool. The pool was not working properly for a num-ber of weeks, therefore the team struggled to put to-gether consistent practices.

The main setbacks of the pool were a broken heater and a broken pump. Because these practices were few and far between, the team even had to practice at New Brighton High School for a period of time. Seven mem-bers from the team were invited to the MAC Champion-ships. Attendees included freshman Avery Creegan, jun-iors Jake Cruise, Cole Leonberg, Matt McKinney, and Chris Yeager, and seniors Katie Lambert and Lindsay Kitzman. Lambert placed 8th out of 26 swimmers.

Unfortunately, the team will lose six seniors from the team for next season, but there are five juniors re-turning for next year, so the team will still have senior leadership. Ms. Sosko said, “Even though our record wasn’t so good we still had swimmers go to MACs and worked hard all year, so I think it was a successful sea-son.”

Wrapping up winter sports Continued from pg. 10

FHS Press 25 February, 2010 12

Cheerleading: Sport or not?

Some of you say cheerleading isn’t a sport. Well, cheerleading is a sport, whether it is competitive or not. Cheerleaders do just as much work as the teams they’re cheering for.

The girls have to try out; you’re not auto-matically on the squad like any normal team. Cheerleading takes time and a lot of effort: it is something you have to want and work for. Mrs. Giammaria, the wrestlerette sponsor, said, “Cheerleading is a sport. You have to go through conditioning, and you have to be in good shape.”

When you cheer, you do multiple different things, such as stunts, mounts, and even throw-ing a girl in the air. Also, many girls tumble, which takes a lot of strength and agility.

Every squad has a daily workout routine, from stretching and warm-up stunts to lifting. Also, cheerleading squads dance, which takes coordination and rhythm.

Cheerleaders cheer alongside the football team that only won two games, the basketball team that only won three, and the wrestling team that won seven matches. And after all of

that, they don’t give up on them. They are con-stantly moving around. It’s a lot more than “go team go”.

They’re constantly going: very rarely do the girls stop. You never see a football player throwing a girl in a high basket-toss or doing a back handspring. Think about it: it takes ex-perience to be a good cheerleader.

It’s not like football, where even though it's your first year on the team, you're made first string lineman simply because you're big enough.

In every sport you have injuries, and cheerleaders do too; it’s not just chanting and clapping. Throwing a girl in the air is hard work; you have to always make sure you are going to catch them or else someone could get seriously hurt.

It’s just like a football player catching a ball, a basketball player making a basket, or a wrestler pinning an opponent. It takes time and training to become good in any sport. In cheer-leading, however, our training is to lift not only weights, but people too. They have dedicated sponsors, who make sure they’re the best they can be.

So ask yourself now, is cheerleading a sport?

Is Freedom cheerleading a sport? Excuse me while I com-pose myself and stop laughing. No, I am not a chauvinist. Oh wait, maybe I am. Now before you girls completely jump down my throat after reading this, let me explain myself.

Cheerleading is not a sport here at Freedom because you do not compete in any competition.

According to diction-ary.com, a sport is “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competi-tive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, and fishing.” In order to prove my point, I asked random people of all walks of life, even the cheerleaders them-selves, what their opinion was.

The results were that 96 per-cent of the students surveyed said that Freedom cheerleading was

not a sport. I feel that competitive cheer-

leading is a sport because you’re being judged and scored on your abilities. However, if you’re cheering because someone else scored, it just can’t be seen as a sport.

I understand the fact that you’re putting time and effort into this, but you can’t be cheer-ing competitively for the football team, or any other team for that matter. Sports are about being competitive and trying to do bet-ter than someone else; you just can’t do that cheering here at Freedom.

I give credit to cheerleaders that actually take the initiative to go out and do the crazy and skilled stunts at a competition, but for the ones that try out just to say she was a cheerleader in high school, I’m sorry – I just can't understand why or how you are an athlete.

Ashlynd Robb

Staff Writer

Cole Leonberg

Staff Writer

More than just, “go team go!” That’s a negative