Montrose Area School DistrictVolume 35, Issue 2Produced by the students of the Montrose Area Junior/Senior High School

Mete r ChronicleMARCH 2019

By Ken Hsiao

Across the state of Penn-sylvania, schools are experiencing low num-

bers in overall attendance. Ac-cording to the Pennsylvania Fu-ture Ready Index, 85.4 percent of students enrolled in school for 60 or more days are present for 90 percent of the school year, well below the state goal of 94.1 percent. Despite these numbers, the Montrose Area School Dis-trict’s attendance has remained pretty high and consistent. Ac-cording to high school principal Eric Powers, the high school attendance rate has hovered around 93 to 94 percent dur-ing the last eight years, which is substaintally higher than the state average. At the elementary school, the numbers are even greater.

To prevent percentages from dropping, assistant prin-cipal Sean Castellani has made maintaining these numbers as one of his primary goals as he enters his first full year in the position. Yes, there are bound-aries preventing students from going to school like “sicknesses or weather, which is totally out of our control,” said Castellani. With sickness and other ailments being a problem getting students and even faculty to school, there are attendance plans in place to help students bring their percent-age up. There are also multiple resourecs posted on the MAHS website to help students who are chronically absent. According to Castel-lani, “A chronically absent stu-dent would be a student who (has missed at least 10 percent)

of the school year,” equivalent to 18 days of school. The aca-demic performances reflect the

attendance of that student which

By Cheyanne Woodruff

At the January 11 meet-ing, the Montrose School Board approved a three-

hour delay schedule. The day, which begins at 10:50 am, consists of a full bell schedule with 21 and 25 minute periods at the high school. The three hour de-lay schedule made its debut on March 4. It was implemented for the first time on account of the early-morning snowfall that stopped around 9 am. Without the delay, an-other day would have been added on to the end of the year. Fresh-man Mia Amarino said, “I’ve never had a three-hour delay schedule before, so I think it’s cool because you get a different perspective of the classes with the shorter times.” Another fresh-

man, Jayden Crandall, said he prefers three hour delays to two hour delays because “the classes are shorter.” Fellow freshman An-thony Woodruff said he believes a three-hour delay is not the best use of school time. “I don’t think the delay is a good idea. Students are going to be unfocused and possibly getting into more trou-ble than usual.” Spanish teacher Bridget Merritt, shared her thoughts by saying, “It’s necessary to clear the roads, it gives us a day in school, and it gives the kids lunch, so I’m cool with it.” Math teacher Janeen Miller said that she was planning on just shortening her classes to accommodate the shorter periods.

School Board Approves Three Hour Delay Schedule

Montrose Addresses Attendance Concerns

Photo by Ken Hsiao

Come to school. Students board busses after a busy school day in February.

Photo by Ken Hsiao

A new Mr. Meteor. Tracy Kerr was crowned the winner of the 2019 Mr. Meteor Pageant on February 22, beating out Sean Argust and Max Brewer. Kerr showed great school spirit, motivational integrity, and sick dance moves. “It’s fun to show school spirit in front of the school and be a bigger role model to the seventh and eighth graders,” said Kerr.

Dates to RememberApril 3-4: Career Fair at High School/College Fair at High School

April 7-10: FBLA State Conference

April 15-May 3: PSSA Testing Window

May 3: Envirothon County Competition

May 3-May 24: Keystone Testing Window

May 14: Sr High Spring Chorus Concert

INSIDE

Joe Hester, Pg. 7

FBLA, Pg. 9

Abby Rebello, Pg. 5

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 1

See ATTENDANCE, Pg. 2

See DELAY, Pg. 8

is why the school tries to prevent that student from being chroni-cally absent. The attendance plan is to make the parent and student aware about being chronically absent and get them to show up to school. Castellani stated that many students and parents have a misconception about the atten-dance percentage. Some look at the percentage out of 180 days, not the amount of days that have already gone by. For example, if school is in its 80th day, and a student had been absent for five days, the stu-dent may think that they are still above the 90 percent mark, but that isn’t true. With the advancement of technology many students these days are more worried about what’s trending on social media than focusing on their schoolwork.

Castellani has tried to combat this knowledge by includ-ing cell phone privileges as a re-ward for high school attendance. MAHS has placed a little incentive towards the stu-dents in the 5B/5C lunch mods. If each grade level hits a certain at-tendance percentage, students are allowed to use their phones in the cafeteria. But once the attendance of the students of that lunch mod drops below the mark, that privi-lege is revoked. The seventh and eighth graders in the 5A lunch mod are encouraged in a different way. The two grades’ attendance is looked upon separately instead together as a whole. They don’t get the same cell phone incentive as the ninth through twelfth grad-ers do but they are given a movie or ice cream as a reward. Castellani has under-stood why some students aren’t too happy with the incentive since they are lumped together with an-other class that could potentially

ruin the privilege of having their cell phones during lunch. It’s more of an equiva-lent exchange: the school asks for students to be at school, do so, and students can use their phones during lunch mods. But break that promise? No phones. “There are people in school who don’t miss any days, so why should they get the same treatment as those who are ab-sent?” said one student. “There are schools out there where they don’t care if their kids use their cell phones, and there’s schools out there where they don’t let you use your cell phone at all,” said Castel-lani. “France takes a stance where they don’t even let cell phones on campus of any of their elementary and high schools.” There is a link to show that allowing cell phone use in schools is a distraction for stu-dents. A study The Atlantic states that 71 percent of students sent or received text messages on their cell phones in class. That number was nearly as high in the case of schools who do not allow cell phone usage in the class-

room: 65 percent. Even in schools where cell phone usage is completely banned, the percentage was still a shocking 58 percent. Another frustrating is-sue for students with the poten-tial ban of cell phone use during lunch mods is that many students who may be labeled chronically absent are not missing school for fun or for sickness, but for mat-ters beyond their control. One student stated that his absences come not from sickness or lack of interest, but because of “hands on work (at home) that we just don’t have a lot of help for.” There is also the case of the half days. In the past, half days at MAHS were scheduled like a normal day, but with much shorter periods. Many students had a “what’s the point of com-ing?” mindset. Even those little half days could affect a student’s at-tendance because an absence on a half day still counts toward their overall total. There are also students who don’t mind coming in on half days. Some students say that

they like the half days for the use of being able to turn in late work before the holiday or just getting to hang out with friends. Castellani is experi-menting with ways to increase attendance on half days by trying to make the day fun and let the students ease into the break. On the half day before Christmas break, the school set into motion a fun day for the stu-dents. “There were a variety of choices that the students had to keep them engaged. Originally on this half day, there was going to be a lip sync battle,” Castel-lani said, “The lip sync battle was a fantastic idea and we felt kids would have a lot of fun with it,” but most kids would rather watch it than participate in it. When the fun day was put into action by Student Coun-sel and Key Club, there were a lot of participants in the events, which showed overall student in-terest in the half day festivities. According to Castel-lani, “there wasn’t one particular activity that brought the students in, but the teachers have done a wonderful job making the activi-ties keeping everyone engaged.”

Attendance From Page 1

By Olivia Frisbie

The dress code at the Mon-trose Area Jr/Sr High School is revised and

changed annually to clarify lan-guage and close any unanticipat-ed loopholes, but there were a few dramatic changes made for the 2018-2019 school year because of the amount of dress code refer-rals in past years, said assistant principal Sean Castellani. Over the summer, the administration, consisting of Castellani and prin-cipal Eric Powers, went over the results of the survey created dur-ing the 2017-2018 school year. They put together a dress code committee consisting of students, teachers, school board members, and parents interested in sharing their opinions on the dress code. During the month of July, the dress code committee had three meetings where they revised the dress code. “We had the option to go very strict with it by putting in uniforms, but fig-ured students would prefer to be comfortable, while still having an appropriate dress code for a pub-

lic place,” said Castellani. “We also wanted to eliminate gender within the dress code.” “With this past revision, we took a closer look at current fashion trends and attendance re-lated things,” added Powers. Tracy Kerr, a senior at Montrose, was a part of the dress code committee and he proposed the idea of letting students wear athletic clothing. Some of the oth-er dramatic changes were joggers, leggings with a shirt comes to the longest fingertip this also goes for skirts and dresses. The amount of dress code referrals this year has dropped by half with the most common dress code violations in past years coming from students wearing leggings with a shirt that didn’t come to the longest finger-tip, guys with cut off tank tops, and rips in jeans above longest fingertip. The way violations are handled has also changed. A stu-dent will be let off with a warning if the dress code is violated and

Dress Code Revamp Proves Successful

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 2

See DRESS CODE, Pg. 10

Photo by Olivia Frisbie

For the students. Stocked with clothes and other necessities, the Meteor Closet is an option available for students who need dress code eligible clothing, for whatever purpose.

By Abby Kutalek

Dogs have been known as man’s best friend for generations. They have

been characterized by years of specialized breeding, and many species have emerged. People have flocked to certain breeds, the ones they feel are the cutest, smartest, or most loyal. On top of that, dogs have done their best to protect their human companions, even risking their own life to do so. Through the inspiring stories of humans and dogs, hu-mans have been there for their dogs, and their dogs have been there for their humans. However, interactions between man and his friend aren’t always this great, and it causes many people to point fingers at our companions, especially the breeds that are un-fairly deemed “hostile.” This is the other side of the coin, the side with abuse and blame. There are a lot of websites screaming at the public to stay away from certain dogs just because of their breed. However, judging an entire breed because of a few individuals only gives you a flawed perception. Let’s look at some of the most ‘dangerous’ breeds. Number ten is the Chow Chow. They are larger dogs, which adds to people’s fear of them. However, they aren’t natu-rally aggressive. With attention and loving care, these dogs are one of the most loyal and friendly dogs. A well-trained and well-loved Chow is not aggressive, and it’s even said that the Chow combines the nobility of a lion, the drollness of a panda, the ap-peal of a teddy bear, the grace and independence of a cat, and the loyalty and devotion of a dog. Number nine is the Great Dane, one of the largest dog breeds. This breed is commonly referred to as a gentle giant, and, as dogtime.com puts it, “though he looks terribly imposing, in re-ality he’s one of the best-natured dogs around. For all of his size, a Great Dane is a sweet, affec-tionate pet. He loves to play and is gentle with children.” I don’t know about you, but this dog sure doesn’t sound dangerous. I would like to take a moment here and let you know

that these descriptions aren’t for all dogs. I do know that there have been cases of dogs attack-ing humans, but I am referring to these breeds as a whole, not individuals. I do hold a firm be-lief that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners. Dogs are ag-gressive because of the care, or lack thereof, they are given by their owners. Also, I do agree that some individuals are more ag-gressive because of breeding or their temperament, but that one dog shouldn’t represent his en-tire breed. Some dogs should be given more care than others, on account of their potential to cause harm, but you shouldn’t assume that they will. A pit bull should be given a higher level of respect than a poodle merely because he is a stronger dog, and you should train and care for him accord-ingly. Just because he can doesn’t mean he will. Number eight is the Ar-gentine Mastiff or the Dogo Ar-gentino. This breed is one of the most popular dog breeds in the world, and was bred in Argentina for sport-hunting and guarding. He is a powerful, athletic, and loyal breed that is both a fierce hunter and a gentle protector of its human family. He can be strong willed, and it does take an asser-tive owner to train him. One thing an owner must be cautious about is this dog’s distrust of strangers and other animals. His drive to protect his family can make him hostile to ‘outsiders’ if he isn’t trained correctly. Number seven is the Si-berian Huskey, another popular dog. They are one of the most social dogs, and they look to a strong alpha to lead them because of their sled-dog nature. They are intelligent and independent. They are affectionate with everyone but do not need to constantly re-ceive attention from you. They are not known to be aggressive and, for the most part, do well in multi-dog homes. They do well with children and will welcome everyone into their home, even strangers. However, because of their beauty and intelligence, their popularity is growing, caus-ing puppy-mills and “backyard’ breeders to breed a large number of them that are not properly bred

for temperament. This causes many huskies, with irregular tem-peraments and qualities, to be mixed in with ‘originals.’ This can change people’s perception of the breed. I will warn you, hus-kies are not for new trainers. They can be stubborn and difficult to train, but when trained properly by a seasoned dog owner, they are highly loyal and affectionate to everyone. Number six is the Alaskan Malamute. Accord-ing to dogmal.com, these dogs are “better-known for his or her sturdy independence, they’ll be troublesome to coach, cope poor-ly with smaller animals, and are unreliable as watchdogs… they typically attack smaller animals. Alaskan Malamutes are extreme-ly energetic dogs and quite ag-gressive dogs.” However, all this dog really needs is reliable com-panionship and consistent leader-ship. They also need lots of exer-cise and a place to roam. These dogs are another breed that aren’t suited for a beginner. As dogtime.com puts it, “If you can meet this breed’s needs, you’ll have an in-telligent, highly-trainable, loving companion for life.” Number five is the Bull-mastiff who supposedly have a ‘naturally’ aggressive tempera-ment. It isn’t only unfair to say these dogs are just aggressive because they are, but it’s also

incorrect. Most Bullmastiff own-ers who put time and care into training their dogs will tell you that although they drool and are standoffish towards strangers, they always have a soft spot for their owners and family. They are a firm and protective guardian of their family, meaning they are very loyal. Number four is the Do-berman Pinscher. In 2007, a Do-berman Pinscher named Khan saved a 17-month-old girl from a King Brown snake, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. Khan was bitten, but he was given anti venom and has recovered. According to dogmal.com, this breed is “always at-tacks once its master’s family faces some form of danger. They additionally exhibit aggressive behavior directed to strangers and different dogs, though owner-directed aggression is low.” Do-berman Pinschers were once nor-mally used as police dogs. Police dogs need to be fierce, loyal, and obedient to commands. If these dogs had uncontrollable aggres-sion, police forces would never have picked them for the job. He is a highly energetic and intel-ligent dog, suited for the job of being a family guardian and com-panion. This breed is definitely not for new owners or passive trainers. These dogs can be stub-born, but if trained right, they can

save lives. Number three is the Ger-man Shepherd, one of the most popular dogs in America. Accord-ing to most people, they are ex-tremely dangerous on account of their persistence and speed. These dogs can be dangerous, yes, but any animal can if he’s not treated correctly. Dogtime.com says that these dogs are “an intelligent and capable working dog. His devo-tion and courage are unmatched. And he’s amazingly versatile, excelling at most anything he’s trained to do: guide and assis-tance work for the handicapped, police and military service, herd-ing, search and rescue, drug de-tection, competitive obedience and, last but not least, faithful companion.” These dogs are ex-tremely intelligent and, like most shepherds, have a desire to help. These dogs are put in such high esteem by owners for a reason. Number two is the Rottweiler, a dog infamous for strength. This breed was origi-nally bred for herding cattle, which means it is a dog with a drive to please his owner. He also was used to pull carts for butch-ers and was one of the earliest police dogs, hinting at his obedi-ent nature. They are very strong dogs, and need to be trained cor-rectly. Abuse and negligence are what cause most dogs to lash out. Rottweilers are extremely loyal, and watch over their families vol-untarily. These dogs can be hos-

“Fur”-bidden and ‘Dangerous’ Dog Breeds

Photo by justsomething.co

Parental instincts. Despite their size, pit bulls are often very kind and loving towards babies and dis-play a protective nature.

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 3

See DOGS, Pg. 4

tile towards strangers and other animals if they’re not trained. Alexus Argust, a sophomore in Montrose, and her family have been breeding Rottweilers for a very long time. Their puppies are pure-bred, so their temperaments are purely Rottie. According to Argust, “They are very protec-tive, and they also like to snuggle. They’re big old softies that’ll pro-tect you when you need it.” She added that, however, if they’re messed with, they could make the top three, but otherwise, they are a loving companion. They’re car-ing and protective towards young children, and they love to meet new people unless they’re threat-ened. Number one is the Pit Bull. This dog hasn’t ceased to receive blame for his bite. Many point fingers at him because of his history in dog fighting. Dog fighting isn’t only illegal, but it’s just plain immoral! Pit Bulls obviously have no say in wheth-er they have to fight or not, and instead of blaming them for this

coldblooded activity, blame their owners. In order for these dogs to fight, they are ‘conditioned’, or abused and starved from pup-pyhood. Dogs who won’t fight are used for training for the other dogs. This blood sport attracts a lot of gamblers too, who bet mon-ey on the dogs. Injuries dogs sus-tain are almost always fatal, but there are always more for their cruel owners to use. When a Pit Bull is cared for, in a loving fami-ly, they do everything they can do to protect their family. A touching story is TatorTot, a breed of Pit Bull, warning a mother that her child was in danger. The dog was furiously barking, and he didn’t stop until the mother came into her little boy’s room to see what was going on. He was barely breathing and he wouldn’t wake up, and when the mother took him to the ER, they told her his blood sugar was dangerously low. He survived, and it was thanks to the foster dog the family was tem-porarily taking care of. After that night, however, the family knew the dog would stay with them. Yet another example is a Pit Bull named Kilo defending his family during a home invasion robbery.

Kilo saved his entire family from being wounded by the armed robber, but was shot in the head. The bullet had made its way into the loyal dog’s skull and exited through his neck. Miraculously, however, after medical treatment that took three days, Kilo was up on his feet and walking. If you look at pictures of this brave dog, you can still see a scar above his right eye. Owners who know the true Pit Bulls tell you that “they are so gentle around children. Their tenacity, gameness, and courage make them popular com-petitors in the sports of weight pulling, agility, and obedience competition.” This is a huge con-trast with how we are taught to look at Pit Bulls. Stop blaming the dogs for something their own-ers did. A freshman at Montrose, Ciara Hundley, has been an own-er of a Pit Bull, Doberman-mix, and a Rottweiler. She says that “They’re the sweetest things ever, they could never hurt anybody.” She explains that her Rottweiler is good towards anybody, chil-dren, other dogs, and strangers alike. She added that her Pit Bull had some problems towards other

dogs. “It’s just because of the way he was raised, he was from a shel-ter, and I think he was used as a fighting dog.” Her dogs are some of the most commonly known ‘dangerous’ dogs, but she stated that this was not true. “They might hurt you with kisses.” She added with a laugh. “Because they won’t stop.” To compile this list, I’ve looked at a lot of these lists. Some of the dogs that I haven’t mentioned but are being shunned include the Golden Retrievers, Akitas, Dalmatians, and Bull Ter-riers. The Golden Retrievers are a breed of dog that is friend-ly and tolerant by nature. They make great family pets and are in-credibly good with children. The only reason one with proper train-ing would ever bite is if they’re fearful of something. Bosch, a Golden Retriever, retrieved four people from a landslide caused by an earthquake that slammed into the Philippines. The President of the Philippines later awarded the hard-working dog for his loyalty and dedication. Akitas are often de-scribed as fearless and loyal

protectors of their family. Their background in feudal Japan of hunting boars and guarding roy-alty contribute to this. However, they would never have been trust-ed with guarding royalty if they couldn’t obey or refrain from ag-gressive behavior. Dogtime.com comments that these dogs are “affectionate, respectful, and amusing dogs when properly trained and social-ized.” They can be quite stub-born, but if they’re trained, you will have an affectionate compan-ion for life. Most of us have watched 101 Dalmatians, with the cute and cuddly puppies to the brave par-ents. Even in real life, Dalmatians are key to saving people from burning buildings. These dogs are affectionate towards absolutely anyone, from kids to strangers! These dogs are athletic and love to be a part of his family’s activi-ties. He isn’t a dog anyone should be expecting to be bitten from. Lastly, Bull Terriers are stronger dogs with a higher prey drive. He is, however, a very af-fectionate pet that loves to have

Dogs From Page 3

Freshmen Elect OfficersBy Ken Hsiao

Last December, the Mon-trose class of 2022 elected their class officers. They

are president Kerry Tometchko, vice president Nick Harder, trea-surer Kyle Kaminski, and secre-tary Maggie Nebzydoski. Co-advisors Angie Nebzydoski and Andrea Aukema were there to lend a hand and pro-vide support. “My daughter is in the class so I wanted to help out and be a part of her class,” said Nebzydoski.” The class elected To-metchko to represent them as their president. “It was really reassuring to know that my class believes I will be a good leader,” said To-metchko. Tometchko’s plans for her class include unique fundrais-ing ideas, which she thinks she could execute well. One of these ideas was a movie night in the au-ditorium that would be available for all ages. For next year, To-metchko would like to try a Bingo

night, similar to an event planned by the current senior class. One thing Tometchko stated in her campaign speech was taking the class on memo-rable trips. Tometchko hopes to model her class off the current se-nior class and follow in their foot-steps by raising a lot of money to go on both a junior and senior class trip. The class also elected Harder to represent them as their vice president. Harder’s plans as vice president are to pitch in to help the class and to assist with fundraising ideas. A fundraising idea Harder had was a pie in the face event which would be held during activity periods. Students could purchase a ticket to possi-bly pie a teacher. The class elected Ka-minski to represent them as their treasurer. “I saw myself as a good leader and I think I will be benefi-cial to our class,” said Kaminski. Kaminski’s goals for the fresh-man class is to have a nice senior class trip and not go somewhere

local. Kaminski said, “Since we are only allowed two fundraisers a year we should come up with good fundraisers and not waste our chance.” Finally, the class elected Nebzydoski as their secretary. Nebzydoski was originally run-

ning for the treasurer position but got outvoted by Kaminski. She said, “It didn’t really matter to me, just as long as I was able to be a class officer.” Nebzydoski’s main argument in her speech was electing someone responsible and working hard to fundraise money

for the class. “I am willing to work hard with my team of potential leaders to give you lots of fun, as well as fundraisers that will hopefully earn us lots of money,” said Nebzydoski in her campaign speech.

See DOGS, Pg. 12

Photo by Ken Hsiao

Newly elected. The Montrose freshmen class officers (left to right): President Kerry Tometchko, Vice President Nick Harder, Treasurer Kyle Kaminski, and Secretary Maggie Nebzydoski.

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 4

Arts & EntertainmentBy Kelsey Brown

When thinking about the different kinds of sports students partici-

pate in while in high school, gym-nastics is not typically at the top of the list. Abby Rebello, a sopho-more at Montrose Area Jr/Sr High School, has been involved with gymnastics for two thirds of her life. Five days a week, for three hours and 15 minutes and all year long, Rebello spends a lot of her time practicing at Southern Tier Gymnastics Academy (STGA). Her time in the gym has led her to place seventh overall in the state last year for her age group. This season alone, Rebello has placed first and second all around in her age group and has qualified for states. She set the goal of making it to Regionals

this year, which would follow the state competition. Becoming in-volved with gymnastics was sim-ple, “I was trying to find sports, so my mom was having me try out a bunch of them and that was

the one I stuck with,” Rebello said. Rebello’s coach, Al Dro-zdowski, remembered her when she started in STGA’s Recre-ational Program. “She came one hour a week on Saturday morn-ings,” said Drozdowski. “She was always smiling and was eager to learn the next skill. Abby pos-sessed a talent and was not afraid to try new things, no matter how scary they were.” Because she spends so much time at the gym, Rebello is only involved with gymnastics and is able to put a lot of time and dedication into it. Rebello said her least favorite part of the sport is, “It takes up a lot of my time and it’s hard to do other stuff as

Abby Rebello: Lifetime of Dedication

Abby Rebello

See REBELLO, Pg. 12

Photo provided.

Focused. Drozdowski watches Rebello as she dismounts from her uneven bars routine.

By Olivia Frisbie

Back in December, junior Abigail Jennings and a group of art students took

first place in PennDOT’s second annual Paint the Plow contest. The winning design of the view from a driver’s window coming up Meteor Way was Jen-nings’ original concept, and beat out submissions from 14 school districts across Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Pike counties. The theme of this year’s contest was “See Snow? Drive Slow!” and was Montrose’s first year participating in the contest. Students were instructed to work collaboratively to paint a unique design onto to the front part of a snow plow. The participating snow plow was used on roads in the Montrose area, so Jennings and her classmates’ work was on full display for the public. Following the win, the group was presented with a plaque from PennDOT managers.

For this reason, Jennings has been chosen as our Artist of the Issue. Jennings has taken art classes as an elective since ninth grade and she is now in Art III. “I enjoyed art since we had the art rotation in elementary school,” Jennings said. “That’s when I started drawing all the time.” Her art of choice is

sketching and painting. She typi-cally sketches animals and peo-ple, and paints nature scenes. Jen-nings doesn’t want to use art as a full-time career, but she wants to keep it as a hobby.

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 5

Jennings, Co. Win PennDOT’s Paint the Plow

Photo courtesy of Susquehanna Independent

Great work. The winning submission of PennDOT’s Paint the Plow contest, designed by MAHS students.

Abigail Jennings

By Amelia Santora

This issue’s Teacher of the Issue is outgoing and cares for others. Anthony McK-

ennas grew up in the small town of Laceyville about 45 minutes away from Montrose. He went to Wyalusing and graduated high school in 2005. McKennas cur-rently lives just outside of Mon-trose with his wife Bridgette and his two sons, Blake and Reid. McKennas has two sisters, Chris-tine and Ariel. Christine is an athletic trainer at North Pocono High School. Ariel is a teacher who currently is in a long-term substitute position at Choconut Elementary. “I wanted to start teach-ing to help students learn their potential and help them work to-wards their goals. There is noth-ing more rewarding than seeing a student finally make a connection to a concept that they couldn’t un-derstand before,” McKennas said McKennas started teach-ing in 2009 as a substitute. Then he worked at Wy-alusing for a year before making his way to Montrose as an earth science teacher. He currently teaches earth science and envi-ronmental science. He loves teaching earth science because, “It involves teaching everything that’s hap-pening all around us daily and what happened in the past. Seeing students understand what is hap-pening around and why it’s hap-pening is rewarding.” He went to Marywood University for his undergraduate education and Wilkes University

for his masters. McKennas has two sons, Blake and Reid. Blake is five years old he enjoys sports and the outdoors. He has played foot-ball, soccer, basketball, wrestling, and baseball. “I want him to try everything he wants at a young age so he can see what he enjoys the most,” he said. He also enjoys riding his four-wheeler, fishing, and hunting. During the summer, he would fish every day, all day if he could. Reid is turning two in March. He is very outgoing and fun loving. “He loves doing everything his older brother does and always wants to be with him, which Blake sometimes enjoys, and other times doesn’t,” McK-ennas said. McKennas played a va-riety of sports but his two main were football and basketball. He played baseball through junior high but stopped to lift weights for football season. He also ran track for one year but didn’t enjoy it as much as he thought he would. “Some of my best memories of high school were on the football field and bas-ketball court.” McKennas did well in school though he could have done better. “I understand things by taking notes listening, and class discussions things just seemed to click.” Looking back McKen-nas wished he applied himself more like he did in college. He worked hard in college but made sure to make time for himself and friends, so he didn’t burn himself out.

A.J. the Science Guy

Photo by Amelia Santora

Education. McKennas teaching his first period class.

Photo by Ken Hsiao

Safe 2 Say. On March 12, speaker Terrance White came to Montrose Area High School to talk to students about the Safe 2 Say Something program, which encourages students to report threatening or dangerous behavior they may hear or see to administrators. One of the ways is through their mobile app that is available to download onto any smart device through the app store. Links to the website can be found at MASD.info.

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 6

Honoring Strong Female CharactersBy Eric Powers

I have mentioned my love for books several times in my contributions to the Meteor

Chronicle, and reading has been a life-long source of enjoyment. As I’ve gotten older, I have found myself reading a much wider variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction, alternating be-tween light and heavier reading. While I used to read primarily for enjoyment, now I find myself reading with more purpose; I am now much more deliberate in the books I choose and intentionally strive for a wide variety of books, subjects and authors. That said, I recently realized that I have, quite unintentionally, read a number of excellent books over the past couple of years with strong fe-male characters whose strength, stories and experiences have left an indelible mark. Some of the female lead characters I’ve read about are real, others are fictitious. Some of the fictitious characters might as well have been real given their realistic portrayals in historically-accurate novels. None of these women or girls are household names… sure I could talk about Eleanor Roosevelt’s contributions or Katniss Everdeen’s courage for

that matter. I could discuss Harper Lee or Scout Finch, J.K. Rowling or Hermoine Granger. You likely haven’t heard of Jeannette Walls, Tara Westover, Ada Smith, Margo Crane or Kya Clark. Only two of them are real; two of them are murderers and each of them are powerful characters with compel-ling stories. Each worked to over-come adversity in ways that are poignant, raw and all too realistic. None of these characters are as hardcore as Lisbeth Salander or overcame obstacles as profound as Helen Keller’s, but each of the stories I’ll briefly mention helped to emphasize the point that wom-en have and will continue to im-press us all with their resilience and drive.

I consider the remainder of this column to be equal parts recommended reading, a tribute to quality writing and engaging stories, and an outward expres-sion of respect for women both real and imagined. March is, af-ter all, Women’s History Month! I’ll do my best not to include any spoilers! Educated by Tara Westo-ver is a compelling work of non-fiction that I read this fall. It is the story of Tara’s journey from rural Idaho to Harvard and Cambridge. If that isn’t impressive enough, Tara received no formal education until she was 17, and her parents lived primarily off the grid; her dad was a full-blown prepper and amateur conspiracy theorist. Tara endured abuse and overcame seri-ous self-doubt, but pushed herself to become a serious academic, researcher and author. With little support and not much more than simple hard work and resilience, Tara overcame incredible odds to accomplish her goals. In January, I shifted to young adult historical fiction by reading The War that Saved My Life and its sequel The War I fi-nally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. The War that Saved My

Eric Powers

See POWERS, Pg. 10

Meteor SportsBy Kelsey Brown

On March 2nd, senior Joe Hester broke the all time wins record at Montrose,

finishing out his senior year with a career record of 133 wins and 24 losses. While Hester surpassed the old record of 127 wins by six, he was also the first MAHS wres-tler to qualify and place at states in the last 19 years, finishing eighth. In his senior year alone, he added 43 wins to his record and only six losses. Hester fought hard right until the end of his career. Over the course of three days at the state competition in Hershey, he defeated three tough competitors in the 132-weight class to earn himself a medal. “It felt amaz-ing to be able to finally stand on the stage with some of the best in PA,” Hester said. “It’s been a long time goal of mine.” While Hester was away in Hershey, his classmates, teach-ers and friends were keeping up to date with the tournament. Some students even had the op-

portunity to watch Hester wrestle online. “The support from Mon-trose was amazing and I ap-preciated every minute of it,” said Hester. Every student in the building, whether they knew Hes-ter or not, was cheering him on, wishing him good luck and most of all, proud to say that he goes to MAHS. Hester started wrestling in third grade and has been on the mat ever since. “I’ve stuck with it for so long for the simple fact that I enjoy it,” Hester said. During his wrestling season as a freshman, he placed

second at districts and in his sophomore and junior season he placed third. This season, in ad-dition to his state success, Hester placed first at Districts and third at Regionals. Hester is also a two-time Kiwanis Christmas Tournament champ, two-time Lackawanna League champ, and a four-time South Williamsport champ. “My last four years wrestling for Mon-trose was amazing and I wouldn’t change how it went for the world,” Hester said. In December, Hester hit 100 wins at the Tunkhannock tournament, which he also placed first in the 132-weight class. He is the sixth member of the club at Montrose and will be the first name since 2016 to be on the poster. “The 100 Win Club was definitely a milestone for me,” Hester said. “It’s nice to finally get there.” When Hester first start-ed wrestling, his youth wrestling head coach was Wade Robinson who is now the assistant varsity coach, along with head coach

Matt Hawley. “He can pretty much run half of our practice and other wrestlers will listen to him,” Hawley said. Hester’s journey to 100 wins was not easy. “Cutting weight is the hardest part of wres-tling,” he said, “and also my least favorite part.” This year, Hester has wrestled in three different weight classes: 132, 138, and 145. For the post season which included Districts, Regionals and States, Hester wrestled 132. “Cut-ting weight is about eating right and minimizing junk food,” he said. On the days leading up to a match or tournament, Hester said he limits water intake and food. “Lots of running and lots of sweating off weight the night before,” he added. In the offseason, Hester wrestles in New York at SUNY Binghamton and at an offseason club in Greene. “He came to me and asked for extra help and to learn new moves after practice,” Hawley said. One thing that Hester’s teammate, sophomore Andrew Rosevear, admires about him is his extra time he puts into the

Joe Hester

Hester Breaks Wrestling Record

See HESTER, Pg. 11

Varsity Boys’ Basketball Learns From Mistakes

April Sports Schedule

4/1: Baseball vs. For-est City; Tennis vs. Holy Cross; Softball vs. For-est City4/3: Track vs. Blue Ridge; Tennis at North Pocono4/4: Baseball vs. Susquehanna; Tennis at West Scranton; Softball vs. Susquehanna4/6: Track at Windsor 4/8: Baseball at Blue Ridge; Tennis at Scran-ton Prep; Softball at Blue Ridge4/10: Track at Susque-hanna; Tennis vs Scran-ton4/11: Baseball vs. Lacka-wanna Trail; Tennis at Homesdale; Softball vs. Lackawanna Trail4/13: Track at Sidney4/15: Baseball at Old Forge; Softball at Old Forge; Tennis vs. Wal-lenpaupack 4/17: Baseball vs. Elk Lake; Track at Lackawa-nna Trail; Softball vs. Elk Lake4/18: Track at ESU4/22: Baseball at Moun-tain View; Tennis vs. Western Wayne; Softball at Mountain View4/24: Track vs. Elk Lake4/25: Baseball at For-est City; Softball vs. Forest City4/26: Track vs. Wy-alusing Valley4/27: Track vs. Abing-ton Heights4/29: Baseball vs. Blue Ridge; Softball vs Blue Ridge

By Flinn Riordan

The Montrose Area High School Varsity basketball team had an inconsistent

season in 2018. The team finished 6-15 overall with a couple of losses decided by three points or fewer. Head coach Cody Ivey, who’s been coaching the MAHS varsity team for three seasons and has no plan to stop any time soon, says, “The boys just need to work on finishing games.” But Ivey also praised the team for massively improving their defensive and offensive skills over the course of the season. Brennan “Bubba”

Gilhool, one of the co-captains of the team and starting guard said, “The season didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, but it’s still nice to play games and practice and get better at the sport.” Gilhool also says that the varsity squad is doing the best they can to improve the basketball program for new players to the school and sport. One of these young players the team is hoping will be big part of the next few years is junior Devin Arnold, a guard who plays for both JV and varsity. Arnold confirms that there were some issues with team chemistry this season. The guard, will See BASKETBALL, Pg. 8

Photo provided

Another season. Senior Tyler Rebello takes control of the ball.

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 7

By Chloe Riordan

As the winter season wraps up, one sports team stands out from the

rest. With close connections and dedication, this team has become a family to its players. The Elk Lake/Montrose Warriors swim team has a stronger emotional bond than ever before, as every-one is close in age and have been swimming together for years. Coach Marion Aus-tin said that unlike other sports where Montrose and Elk Lake compete against each other, she “does not see a team rivalry only team unity.” The merged team also creates friendships that may never have occurred naturally. Despite the rivalry between the schools on the basketball court, the Elk Lake/Montrose swim team is a merged team, creating no conflict between swimmers because they are focused on beat-ing their personal times. Instead of being competitors, the team has produced strong friendships and teamwork. The swim team merged eight years ago, and this season has plenty of fast swimmers, with Elk Lake freshman Reese Warriner swimming a 28.08 50 freestyle, which is 5.71 seconds lower than the national average

15-18-year-old swimmer. Mon-trose Area senior Lizzie Lyden has been swimming since sixth grade in the Elk Lake Guppies, and became a varsity swimmer in ninth grade. Her favorite part of swim is, “The people and be-ing able to be in my own world during my events.” She swam a 27.77 50 freestyle and a 2:21 in the 200 freestyle. Lyden has continued to advance her swimming skills and is now the top swimmer on the girl’s swim team. She is joined by her fellow Montrose senior Geor-gia Smith, junior Alyssa Dovin, and junior Claire Wood. They have each been swimming for at least two years and have grown a tight bond with the coaches and their Elk Lake counterparts. The team often eats din-ner together, creating a tight bond between swimmers. “Being on a team is like family,” Dovin says, “You care about each other and support one another.” The team has already created fast swimmers with Dovin’s, who’s been swimming for just two years, fastest time being 7:34 in the 500 freestyle. Wood swims the 100 freestyle and earned her fastest time of 1:15. Smith’s, who has also been swimming for two years, fastest time is a 1:06 for her 100 free-

style, and 28 seconds for her 50 freestyle. Austin hopes to improve those numbers and encourage the swimmers to “be better, get their fastest times, and see improve-ments overall,” adding that the team is “one big family -- every-one cheers for each other, they are there to congratulate a good swim as well as pick up the per-son that did not do as well.” The swimmers laugh and have fun, but when it comes down to it “are very hard work-ing, dedicated, and group of stu-dent athletes.” Austin says her swim-mers are a “pleasant group of stu-dent athletes that I am so proud of and enjoy spending my time with.”

Photo by Chloe Riordan

Teamwork makes the dream work. Georgia Smith pulls ahead against her competitors.

hopefully play a big role next year. “It was rough in the beginning of the season but got better as the season went on,” Arnold said. Arnold believes that the team should work more together

than individually, adding that the juniors and even the sophomores will be a key component to the varsity team next year. With the team graduating five seniors this season, and only having three next year, underclassman will have to step it up for bigger roles on next year’s varsity squad. Andrew Rapisardi, a co-captain of the team said that because the sport is so team-

oriented, it is important to have strong chemistry. “The team has been working hard on their chemistry,” said Rapisardi. “And we’ve come a long way from when we first started playing.” While none of the players will be getting a scholarship for basketball, Ivey said, “they all could have a bright future if they further their basketball education, like being a coach.”

Basketball From Page 7

“I’ll be shortening the lesson and continuing tomorrow with the rest of it.” Living in Northeastern Pennsylvania can be a struggle. In the winter, getting kids to and from school for the required amount of days can be difficult. Snow days are inevitable but might be less frequent with a three-hour delay. Superintendent Christopher McComb wanted to be sure the delay schedule would be available for this year. “It’s not something we would use all the time, but we want to have the option to use it if we ever need it,” said McComb. It’s no surprise that with the prospect of a new schedule, the news spread like wildfire amongst the students who seemed to have a million questions and

concerns. These included ques-tions regarding breakfast, use-fulness, and productivity, or lack thereof. McComb had answers to all of them. As to concerns about students not coming to school at all on three-hour delay days, Mc-Comb stated, “By law they have to, just like they would on a regu-lar day or two-hour delay. While the schedule isn’t ideal, I think if we can get them here and have an opportunity for our teachers to see them, even if it’s nothing more than just collecting home-work or giving back graded pa-pers, I still think that’s better than nothing.” McComb gave an idea as to what the delay schedule would look like when factoring in breakfast and lunches. “When you start with a three-hour delay as soon as you come, in its almost time to eat lunch. So we had to answer some questions on if we have to serve

breakfast on those days and the answer is no,” said McComb. “We would like to. But if the kids are coming in at eleven, then they already start eating lunch in a half hour, so it doesn’t really make sense.” McComb argued that the three hour delay schedule defi-nitely has a practical reason for existing. At MAHS, every snow day must be made up and the three hour delay helps in getting days in when possible. “It is something we want to have on those days where the township or state says, ‘Boy, if we just had one more hour to get the roads cleared, we could get you to school,” said McComb. Instead of having to make up a lot of snow days at the end of the year, coming to school on a three-hour delay where it counts as a full day and then be-ing able to get a full summer va-cation sounds amazing. McComb certainly seems to agree.

Delay From Page 1

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 8

Montrose/Elk Lake Show Team Unity

Photo provided.

Showing improvement. Senior guard Harper Andre runs out during player introductions before a game this season. Andre is one of six seniors on this years team. The Montrose Lady Meteors, coached by Todd Smith and Anne Lathrob, finished the season 9-13 overall. The team will be relying on a plethora of young talent next year. “Our season got better towards the end,” said freshman Tangi Smith. “But we need to work on finishing games, our overal record, and our team chemistry.”

By Kelsey Brown

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is the largest business student

organization in the world. The high school division has about 215,000 members, 44 of which go to Montrose Area Jr/Sr High School. To get a better understanding of what FBLA is, the Montrose FBLA Chapter President and Region 27 President, Riley Brown said, “FBLA prepares students for the future, whether they want a career in business or simply just want to learn about leadership and strengthening their leadership skills.”

When signing up to be a member of the club, students are presented with multiple opportunities to better their knowledge about the business world. The first event that students participated in

this school year was the State Leadership Conference (SLW) in November. The SLW was held at the Kalahari Convention Center in the Poconos and was a three-day, two-night trip. 20 out of the 44 members at Montrose attended the conference.

While at Kalahari, the students participated in workshops which were presented by a variety of speakers. The students were also able to attend the waterpark and other events that FBLA provided. The SLW was a great way for students to make connections and work with people from all age groups.

In December, all 44 members went to the Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) which was located at Keystone College. The RLC is the first level of the competition part of FBLA, which was the main focus for most of the attendees. Prior to arriving at Keystone, each student

chose an event to compete in. Students could choose to work in groups, partners or individually.

With 72 different events to choose from, such as public speaking, introduction to business, or entrepreneurship each group or student was able to select an event that best fit them. Some events required a speech, presentation, or test. As the students arrived at the conference, they were given an assigned room to test or present in. The testing events are the most popular among students, with 40 out of the 44 Montrose students participating in a testing event.

After each student completed their event, listened to the workshop and ate lunch, the closing ceremony took place. The top three individuals or groups in each event were called up on stage and given an award. For testing events, the three individuals or groups who got the highest scores

were called up. For performance events, the highest overall score based on a rubric was awarded. Depending on the event, the top three advanced to states, but in others the student had to be in the top two, or even first.

Sophomore Lizzy Lathrop is a first-year member of FBLA. She did not attend the SLW, but she did compete at Keystone. Lathrop chose to write and present a speech in the public

speaking category and placed second in our region. Because of her placing, she will be advancing to the state conference. “I’ve always been all right at it,” said Lathrop. “(Public speaking) doesn’t really bother me and I kind of like it.”

Also relatively new to FBLA are the advisors Chris Caterson and Bill Lewis. Caterson and Lewis became advisors two

Local Student Business Leaders Prep for State FBLA Competition

By Flinn Riordan

Montrose Area High School takes advantage of the cold and snow

of northern Pennsylvania by organizing a ski club to go to Elk Mountain, a ski lodge near Lenox. The club enables kids who don’t play a winter sport like basketball or cheerleading to get out and exercise and learn a new skill, all while having fun.

However, this season according to supervisor Michael Dooley has been “terrible,” especially when compared to years prior.

“I would say ten years ago it was really good and I would say the last five have been the poorest because of the lack of snow in recent years,” said Dooley. “The warm weather has really impacted ski club as far as conditions on the mountains and cancellations.”

The MAHS Ski Club had three cancellations this year. They were then forced to make up those days by going to the mountain twice a week for the last

two weeks and was considering a day trip to the mountain on a weekend, but it did not happen.

Dooley says that due to this season being one of the worst since he’s been an advisor, there have been talks with fellow MAHS Ski Club director Craig Owens on how to plan the season differently.

“For the amount of money the kids pay per season, I don’t think they’re getting their money’s worth. So we’ve have contemplated doing some alternative things,” said Dooley. “Maybe doing just three trips and doing them at different mountains during the snow season.” Dooley spends a lot of his week on the mountain outside of MAHS Ski Club. “I’m usually at the mountain about four times a week during the ski season,” said Dooley. Dooley has been skiing since he was four years old and has no intention of quitting anytime soon.

In 2019, MAHS Ski Club went on six trips to Elk Mountain Kyle Kaminski, a skier

in the MAHS Ski Club says, “It’s really fun when we actually go,” due to the two cancelled trips because of weather. Kaminski says that there are less and less people every year, and the way to combat that is to advertise the club more. Prior to the 2018-2019 skiing season, the club used to hold a meeting in the school auditorium for students who are interested in skiing. Maggie Nebzydoski says, “They should extend the season to make up for the two cancellations.” Nebzydoski has been skiing since she was two years old and has been skiing in the MAHS Ski Club every year since seventh grade. “I like snow,” Nebzydoski said, referring to the conditions on the mountain. Both Kaminski and Nebzydoski have been skiing long before ski club, and still frequent the mountain outside of ski club hours

Students interested in ski club next winter should contact Dooley or Owens for more information.

Bad Weather Conditions Interfere with Ski Club

Photo provided

Let it snow. Freshman Maggie Nebzydoski and sophomore Emma Weidow enjoy an evening of skiing at Elk Mountain.

See FBLA, Pg. 10

Photo provided.

Winners. (Left to Right) Valerie York, Bridget Bendock, Kelley Warner, Renee Arnold, and Grace Aukema place in the top three in their event.

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 9

A political cartoon by Ben Zapolski

years ago. Caterson heard of the position from an ad he saw in the Montrose newspaper asking for volunteer advisors, as well as “word of mouth.”

“I heard about the position from Mr. Caterson who asked if I would work together with him,” said Lewis. “I knew a bit about FBLA prior because both of my sons were involved when they were in high school.”

When the opportunity was presented at their feet, both Caterson and Lewis jumped right in and were willing to help in whatever way possible. Caterson added, “I have learned that you don’t need to have a specific interest in the business world to benefit greatly from FBLA membership.”

In order to prepare for their events, students received packets full of questions, rubrics and guidelines from Brown, that were specific to their event.

Students were even presented with the opportunity to meet with Caterson and or Lewis after school for more help and advice.

Lathrop felt that she had enough resources in order to succeed with her event. “I was able to talk to Mr. Caterson leading up to it on how to prepare and present myself.”

“My favorite part of being an FBLA advisor has been helping the students prepare for their competitive events,” said Lewis, “and watching students give presentations at the state conference in Hershey.”

26 of the 44 students in the Montrose chapter will be advancing to the State Leadership Conference in Hershey. “I was blown away by the results at Regionals,” Caterson added.

FBLA provides a variety of experiences for students to engage in. From competitions to workshops to meeting new people, there is something in FBLA that everyone can enjoy.

“There are many unique opportunities, and you get to learn a lot and make connections,” Brown said. “It may even lead you

to something in your professional life, that could help you.”

FBLA From Page 9

if violated again within the same semester, or 90 days, the student will be given detention or other disciplinary action. Another new thing put in this year is the Meteor Closet,

which officially opened in late fall. This was created by the ad-ministration and guidance office, along with donations from teach-ers and businesses in our commu-nity. The Meteor Closet’s purpose is to give students clothes that fit within dress code, such as coats, shoes, and bags, as well as school supplies. The Closet has

been used very frequently and many students appreciate what they got from it. The way stu-dents get supplies from it is by going to the nurse and or asking a teacher. A student can also make a referral for their classmate. The hope is that it will remain successful as it gets more stocked and updated.

Dress Code From Page 2

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 10

Photo by Deborah Lewis.

Montrose competitors. All 44 members of the MAHS FLBA team after receiving their awards at the Region Conference at Keystone College.

Life is a Newberry Honor Book and both are quite good. The sto-ries begin at the onset of World War II in London. Much like The Lion, The Witch and the Ward-robe, the very real threat of the Germans bombing London by air prompted the mass evacuation of women and children to the Eng-lish countryside. 10-year-old Ada was one of those children. Raised by her abusive mother in seclu-sion due to a physical disability, Ada spent most of her time in solitude once her younger brother is old enough to wander the slums of London while her mother was at work. Using the evacuation as a way to escape her mother’s abuse, Ada and her brother found themselves being cared for by an elderly spinster. While the his-torical setting makes for an inter-esting story, it is Ada’s journey of self-discovery that gives the novels depth. Following her as she learned to open her heart and trust others was a very real, albeit occasionally frustrating experi-ence, and the novels are another great reminder of just how resil-ient people can be despite being largely counted out. Once Upon a River and

Where the Crawdads Sing are similar in that both feature ficti-tious girls who turn to nature when their families and society fail them in virtually every way. Once Upon a River is not for the faint of heart; at times raw and disturb-ing, Bonnie Jo Campbell’s story of Margo Crane traced her jour-ney as a river rat in rural Michi-gan. Inspired by Annie Oakley, Margo proved to be the most in-dependent character on my list, a flawed survivor who finds friend-ship in an unlikely place. Similar-ly, Kya Clark is abandoned by her family members, one at a time, until she was left alone in a shack no one wanted, in a tidal swamp of no value, literally raising her-self until her ‘marsh girl’ persona reaches near mythical status in the North Carolina countryside. Kya spent only one day in school yet becomes an unparalleled au-thority on the flora and fauna of the marsh. Delia Owens’ charac-ter has incredible innate artistic ability and becomes an author in her own right, after being taught to read and write by one of only a few people who show any regard for her. While Kya’s natural abil-ity, survival skills and love of the outdoors are inspiring, those who patiently work to develop mean-ingful relationships with her help

Powers From Page 6

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to take the story from good to great. The Glass Castle is the one book I have recommended the most over the past couple of years. It is the true story of Jean-nette Walls told from her own perspective. It is pretty difficult to feel sorry for yourself once you’ve been immersed in Walls’

story, and that’s the main reason I have so often suggested it. It’s an incredible example of the truth being stranger than fiction. Raised by modern-day American nomads who fail to provide for their chil-dren in almost every way imag-inable, Walls craved the stability and normalcy that her brilliant but eccentric parents fail to pro-vide. Walls grew up in extreme poverty and had little continuity in her education but overcame extreme adversity to become an accomplished journalist. I am

incredibly impressed by her lov-ing and forgiving attitude to her Bohemian parents; while many people in her situation would be resentful or filled with hate, she is able to channel her energy into a positive direction with an equally positive outcome. I recommend more than just these novels, I suggest taking a little time to reflect on the im-portant, resourceful and talented women and girls in your lives. We have many reminders around this school of just how much this generation of young women can accomplish; simply looking at class rank, club rosters, our art-ists and musicians, and the suc-cess of virtually all of our girls’ athletics programs sends a mes-sage exponentially stronger than I can with a few paragraphs about meaningful books. We have resil-ient fighters too, girls who insist on overcoming personal adversity and who will continue to make us all very proud with their ambition and spirit. Finally, we are blessed to have so many positive female role models for our students, within this school and the com-munity. Perhaps we will one day be reading about one of them or their protégés!

sport. “He is always working to get better and going to extra prac-tices,” said Rosevear. Hawley and Hester have traveled to many large out of season tournaments over the last three years. In his sophomore and junior years, Hester competed in the High School Nationals in Virginia Beach. “It is the highest level of competition that he has stepped up to,” Hawley said. Both Hawley and Ros-evear said Hester is a great team-mate and captain. “He is always willing to help people out,” said Rosever. After high school, Hes-ter would still like to be involved with the sport. “Someday I’d like to coach,” he said. “When I get out of high school, I would also consider becoming a ref.” While Hester has worked with his coaches to bet-ter himself and learn new moves, he has also taught Rosevear some moves himself. “I have learned quite a few wrestling moves from him during practice,” Rosevear said. “Sometimes, even out of the blue he’ll help me with a move or show me a new one.” Rosevear also added that he’s learned a few tricks about

losing weight from Hester. Hester is just as good in the classroom as he is on the mat. “School first, wrestling second,” Hester said. “Wrestling is a privi-lege and schoolwork is my job.” Between wrestling and work, he is able to maintain a very high GPA of 3.9. Hester has also been a member of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) for two years. Hester placed first at the FBLA Region Conference two years in a row which has landed him a $12,000 scholarship to Keystone College. It has been no secret that Hester has been a big contribu-tion the wrestling program at MAHS. “I am very proud of who Joe has become as a person,” said coach Hawley. “He will do great things and I will miss him very much.” Rosevear said that Hes-ter is someone who leads by ex-ample. “He doesn’t expect any-thing from us, that he can’t do himself.” Hester’s name will now hang among MAHS lore, along with the other members of the 100 Win Club which include John Flaherty, Mike Cole, Dan Cole, Jeff Snyder and Jacob O’Brien. “He’s the kind of kid every coach dreams of having on their team,” Hawley said. “I’m just lucky he’s on mine!”

Hester From Page 7

Photo provided

Montrose legend. (Top) Senior Joe Hester controls Rebank Valley’s Ethan Wiant during his second match of the state tournament in Hershey. Hester defeated Wiant 4-1 on March 8. (Bottom left) Hester with for-mer Montrose wins record holder Mike Cole. (Below) Hester with his coaches Matt Hawley and Wade Robinson.

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 11

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Meteor Chronicle

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StaffKelsey Brown, Olivia Frisbie, Ken Hsiao, Abby Kutalek, Chloe Riordan, Flinn Riordan, Amelia Santora, Cheyanne Woodruff

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The Chronicle is a student publication researched, written and pro-duced by members of the staff named here and printed by The Mulli-gan Printing Corporation. All unsigned editorials within this publica-tion were written to reflect solely the opinion of the entire newspaper

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well.” On the other hand, her fa-vorite part is being able to have fun with her team at practices and competitions. Just like anything, gym-nastics has its pros and cons. The sport may take up a lot of time, but at the end of the day, it has its rewards. Rebello’s biggest accomplishment was “getting to a level eight” and having “all of those skills that come along with it.” Even when Rebello was in the recreational program, her goal to advance in gymnastics was set. “During her class, our level 10 team was working out and I remember her being in-spired to be on the team one day,” coach Drozdowski said. “When Abby made it to my team, I knew I had a special athlete that would go far in the sport. Today Abby is one of the best athletes in our pro-gram.” Her favorite and best ar-eas to compete in are “vault if it’s a good day and if not, then floor,” Rebello said. Drozdowski, agreed that vault was her strongest event right now. “Abby performs a Tuck Yurchenko,” said Drozdowski. “To best describe this Vault: imagine running as fast as you can at an object that will not move, turn around, punch a

spring board and do two flips over it. There are a lot of things an ath-lete has to do in a very short time to make this vault successful.” Drozdowski added that one of Rebello’s strengths is her ability to “remain calm, focused, and fierce.” There was no hesitation in Rebello’s reply when asked if it was a struggle to stay on top of school work while focusing on gymnastics. “Definitely. I am al-ways doing my homework in the car.” After high school, Re-bello wants to be just as involved with the sport as she is now. She has hopes to still compete, even if it is not at a Division I school. Not only does she want to eventually become a gymnastics coach one day, Rebello mentioned, “I don’t know if this is actually going to happen, but I think it would be really cool to own a gymnastics gym one day!” Since gymnastics has consumed most of Rebello’s life over the last ten years, she can be described as a very motivated person. Her biggest motivation has been her love for the sport and the fun she has while doing it. Coincidentally “motivated” was one-word Drozdowski said to describe Rebello. “Abby is self-driven, some days as a coach it is hard to keep up with her energy and thirst to improve,” Drozdowski added that “Gymnastics takes a special attitude to be successful in. Abby

takes it very serious.” Of course, none of this would be possible without her parents who Rebello says are part of her support sys-tem, along with her teammates. Competitions are a big part of gymnastics and Rebello commented, “Yes I am a very ner-vous competitor, at least before it, but during it is not as bad.” At STGA, Rebello com-petes about five to eight times a year. “In gymnastics you have to be willing to put it all out there, not only training but in competi-tion as well,” Drozdowski said. “Abby is that athlete that never gives up.” While Rebello said she looks up to Olympic gymnast Aly Rasiman, her coach said that Rebello also inspires others. “She is inspiring, a team leader, hard-working and most of all genuinely cares about not only her personal achievements, but her teammates too!” To better describe her, Dro-zdowski added, “Even when she stands on the top of medal po-dium, she knows the next time she is in the gym to train, there is something that can be better to-morrow, than it was today.” Rebello knows how to keep balanced in the gym, but she also knows how to balance school, friends and family. “Aside from spending countless hours in the gym, she is still able to maintain good grades in school, and have quality family and friends time,” said Drozdowski. “It takes a big heart to do all that she does.”

Rebello From Page 5

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fun. They are incredibly good with children, even though count-less people say they should be closely watched around children, just because of their strength. He is loyal, but also loves to meet new people and dogs. Humans have been fearful of certain things since birth. The amygdala is a part of the brain underneath the frontal lobe, and it is often called the fear center. This is where stimuli produce a flight or fight response. However, sometimes there is no need to be afraid of something. Humans perceptions can be influ-ence by our surroundings or the people around them. Sometimes our brains ignore facts and keep fearing. Only a fraction of the number of human-caused casual-ties are caused by dogs, and many of those deaths happened because of abusive or taunting behavior towards the dog. Our brain per-ceives that these occasional, ob-viously sad, deaths are common with these breeds. This isn’t the case. 20 to 30 deaths are caused by dogs each year. Most of these are from dog bites that were never properly treated. Oth-

ers were caused by ‘having fun’ with the dog until he was fed up. Of course, there are some that should be blamed on the dog. Some dogs have a more aggres-sive personality or was abused. But basing an irrational fear on just these 20 isn’t realistic. Many more lives are saved by dogs than are killed by dogs. Dogs have been by hu-man’s sides for thousands of years, protecting and caring for each other. That bond has been passed down through generations. Dogs have served their role in hu-manity, guarding royalty, herding and hunting, and above all, being a companion, one to trust and de-pend on. Dogs are man’s best friend let us return the favor and stop treating them like they can’t be trusted. “When the dog looks at you, he isn’t thinking what kind of person you are. The dog is not judging you.” This quote was said by Eckhart Tolle, and it shows the differences between humans and their companions; dogs will never judge us on what we are capable of. An author, Roger A. Caras, once said “Dogs have giv-en us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.”

Dogs From Page 4

Photo provided

Flexibility. Rebello remains determined as she performs one of her floor routines.