The Spoke November 2017

For Marching Band,

Roll for Initiative: alumni foray into board games

See page 4.

HALF-TIME IS GAME-TIME

See page 7.

THE

DEMOCRATIC SWEEP

Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA

Volume 68 No. 2

November 14, 2017

Spoke.news

Democrats gain seats locally, nationally

By Betty Ben Dor, Jordan Liu & Avery Maslowsky Co-Editor-in-Chief, Co-Web Editor & Sports Editor

F

ollowing President Donald Trump’s win in the 2016 presidential election, the Democratic party was left disappointed, as all three branches of the national government came into Republican control. In the ensuing months, men and women from across the globe came together and marched in support of issues such as gender equality, climate change awareness and less restrictive immigration policies.

After months of campaigning, the Democratic efforts were rewarded on Nov. 7, with the party gaining serious footholds on both the local level and across the country.

In fact, the Nov. 7 elections had three Democratic Conestoga alumni winning their respective political races. Class of 2005 alumnus Chris Hurst won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the state’s 12th district. Class of 2006 alumnus Kyle Boyer and Class of 2013 alumna Heather Ward were elected to the Tredyffrin-Easttown School District (TESD) School Board for Regions 2 and 3 respectively.

With much of the campaign rhetoric focusing on Trump’s national agenda and its potential local implications, many Republicans are convinced that the Democratic victory was primarily

caused by a backlash against the current administration.

“I think the frustration and the anger that a lot of Democratic voters have felt since the President was elected last year is still there. There’s no doubt that they were motivated to come out in our off-year election because how they felt about President Trump,” said Chester County Republicans Senior Adviser Shannon Royer. “They then expressed that in this year’s local election, so there’s no doubt in my mind that this was driven by Washington D.C—the frustration that they have with the President.”

Chester County Democrats Treasur-

er Patricia Maisano, however, disagrees, saying that the Democratic sweep came solely from having a strong set of candidates. Maisano herself was elected Treasurer for Chester County on Nov. 7.

“Do I think that people came out and voted for Democrats to spite Trump in some way? No. I think we have much more educated voters than that,” Maisano said. “I think (the voters) looked at the candidates and made a conscious decision that they were going to support people that they felt were really well-qualified and would do a very good job for them.” continued on page 3

Sophomore class to get special viewing of ‘The Crucible’ Maddie Lamonica Business Manager

Neil Goldenthal/The SPOKE

End of negotiations: District representative Jeffrey Sultanik announces the tentative agreement reached by both parties at the Nov. 8 special school board meeting. The board voted 9-0 in favor of the agreement.

District and union agree on contract Eric Xue

Co-Editor-in-Chief

The Tredyffrin-Easttown School District (TESD) and the Tredyffrin-Easttown Education Association (TEEA) reached an agreement on a three-year contract for teachers on Nov. 8 after 10 months of negotiation.

The agreement adopted the fact finding report with clarifications.

The contract increases teacher salaries on average 2.92 percent in 2017-18, 3.68 percent in 2018-19 and 3.07 percent in 2019-20. It also adds two additional healthcare plans but at higher costs to the teachers.

Board member Virginia Lastner believes the agreement will prove beneficial for both sides.

“What we have before us is a very good outcome for the district and the community, following months of good faith negotiations on both sides. I think everyone had their heart in the right place and tonight we’re looking at a contract which I believe is sustainable. I am very pleased with the outcome and congratulate both sides for a job well done,” Lastner said.

The TESD began collective bargaining with the TEEA in January 2017. On Sept. 19, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board appointed a fact finder who conducted a evidentiary

hearing on Oct. 18 and issued a report on Oct. 30. The TESD and the TEEA both rejected the report but offered clarifications to it, which ultimately resulted in the agreement reached last Wednesday.

TEEA President Bob Desipio has an optimistic outlook for the future.

“I’m very happy that we have a contract with the district. The teachers are looking forward to getting back in the classroom and being focused solely on that and not have to be distracted with negotiations. I think it’s a fair contract. I think the Board feels it’s a fair contract, and that’s the best way to end negotiations,” Desipio said.

Just before the curtain is pulled on ’Stoga’s rendition of “The Crucible,” the sophomore class will get a unique opportunity to incorporate the arts into their study of American Literature—with a special viewing, courtesy of the English department.

“Plays were written to be performed. It’s one thing to read it in class, even to read it aloud in class or stage a couple scenes, but to see the whole play staged is a tremendously exciting opportunity,” English Department chair Trevor Drake said. “I think it will give them a new understanding of the play.”

Upon hearing this year’s selection for the fall drama, Drake instantly knew he wanted to organize some sort of viewing for the sophomore class.

“It seemed to me like an irresistible opportunity to marry curriculum with art and to have the students see their classmates portraying the characters that they have studied in class,” Drake said.

“The Crucible,” written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is a historical play based on events of the Salem witch trials, At Conestoga, every student taking American Literature reads “The Crucible” as part of their course of study. Drake, who has been teaching the play for over 30 years, believes it remains an

Neil Goldenthal/The SPOKE

Witch hunt: Students rehearse for “The Crucible.” English Department chair Trevor Drake organized a pre-paid viewing for the sophomore class. important text for students to read today.

“The Crucible” “presents a view of pure New England that is key to our understanding of our country and its founding,” Drake said. “It raises important issues about the legal system, about the misuse of religion for political and personal purposes, and about mass hysteria.”

Sophomore and a student of Drake, Kelli Ruth, is excited about seeing a play that she has studied extensively in class.

“I have really enjoyed reading ‘The Crucible’ and I think it’s awesome that we get to see a live version of it during school,” Ruth said.

Teacher and the play’s stage crew adviser, Michael Starner, thinks “The Crucible” is especially relevant to the student body.

“I think it’s really great that we are producing a play that is also a part of the curriculum,” Starner said. “Having the tenth grade students come and see the play will allow them to read Miller’s text and see our interpretation of it.”

All sophomores will attend a dress rehearsal on Nov. 14 during 2nd, 3rd and 4th periods.

“When you see something in real time and space with the added advantage of wonderful sets, lighting and special effects, it can change how you view a play. Our director here at Conestoga is really good and she is doing a wonderful job with the show,” Drake said. “I think (this experience) will give them an understanding they would not normally get by just reading it.”

2

News

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Renowned author Austin Kleon steals the show Ananya Kulkarni Staff Reporter

Neil Goldenthal/The SPOKE

ed—people who are kind—who want to think and learn and grow and get better.”

Many educators who attended the keynote speech are working towards integrating more creativity in their lessons but struggle to balance it with the curriculum.

“I think for math it’s difficult because there is such a strict curriculum but I’m going to try, when there is downtime, such as five minutes at the end of the class period, to incorporate some of the strategies that

(Kleon) suggested,” said Jacqueline Patek, a m40ath teacher at T/E Middle School. “Even just asking a question or posing a situation and maybe letting the kids come up with answers to that.”

The points discussed in Kleon’s book can also be applied at the primary stages of a student’s education, including the elementary level.

“What I took away from (the keynote speech) is that great minds steal from great minds and I would like to apply that to

Conestoga nurse helps Las Vegas victims

my classroom,” Lupe Baldizon, a teacher at Hillside Elementary School, said. “To me, if you are reading a piece that you really like or there is an author who you really like, you can take from what the author wrote and apply that to your own writing because a lot of my students struggle (with forming ideas).”

The lessons discussed in Kleon’s book were never written with the intent to be published.

“I never really set out with the idea that ‘Steal Like an Artist’ would be a book: it started

out as a bunch of blog posts that I’d written over a half dozen years that I turned into a talk that I gave to some college students in 2011 that I then turned into a blog post that went viral that I then turned into the book,” Kleon said.

His advice to both students and educators is the same: share your work to improve as a creator.

“Share what you’re working on and thinking about. Start or join a writer’s group, a book club, a jam session, a film soci-

ety, etcetera,” Kleon said. “These are the kind of small, trusted groups in which artists have always found some of their best work.”

Kleon believes that the most important thing is to continue to learn regardless of age.

“Remain a student. You’re always in charge of your own education. Be curious. Be constantly learning,” Kleon said. “Steal great stuff and share it with people, because they’ll turn around and share more things with you that you can steal.”

New speakers to discuss pressing issues Brooke Deasy News Editor

Reagan Gerrity Staff Reporter

On Oct. 1, a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concert-goers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas. Fifty-eight died and 546 were injured as a result of the mass shooting. Seven days later, school nurse Gail Hamman arrived as part of the Tri-State K-9 Response Team, an organization that provides comfort and therapy to those in need.

The team is a Cherry Hill, NJ-based volunteer organization that consists of members and their therapy dogs who work together to serve New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Hamman knew that her chocolate lab Cassie and herself would be a perfect fit.

“I knew I had a good dog. In all of my nursing jobs there’s always been a (supportive) environment,” Hamman said.

“I knew that I had some sort of experience in that regard and I thought between my experience and Cassie’s behavior that she would be a good addition.”

Hamman was honored to be selected to participate in such an important trip.

“Hopefully, there are no more deployments. However, you want to be able to help people, and I don’t know if I’ll have another opportunity. That’s why I wanted to do this,” Hamman said.

When Hamman arrived to

Neil Goldenthal/The SPOKE

Steal Like an Artist: Teachers engage in activities in visiting author Aus- Best-Seller: Writer and artist Austin Kleon is well-known for his novels “Newspaper Blackout,” “Steal Like an tin Kleon’s workshop. Kleon encouraged the staff to draw inspiration from Artist” and “Show Your Work.” On Nov. 7, Kleon visited Conestoga to give a keynote speech and teach group lessons. the work of others and motivate their students to do the same.

Courtesy Gail Hamman

Canine Care: School nurse Gail Hamman stands with her dog Cassie before a Las Vegas memorial. On Oct. 8, Hamman arrived at the sight of the shooting with the Tri-State K-9 Response Team. the sight of the shooting, the reality of it all hit her.

“Us being on the East Coast, you know, we were watching it on TV, and you read about it and you see it. I have chills right now. It’s like you get there and you see it you see the memorial and see how the people are reacting.

And you’re there and you’re in it. So, it makes it real,” Hamman said.

The team stayed at Mandalay Bay Resort, the site where the gunman fired at the crowd. They offered therapy to those who were working at the resort the night of the shooting.

“There were a lot of people who were working the event that were from Mandalay Bay, from valet to security and some of the other folks that were involved,” said John Hunt, team leader of the trip.

“I think we had a significant impact on these folks.”

Throughout the trip, Hamman visited the 58-cross memorial and the healing garden, two places that honor the 58 lives that were lost in the shooting. At both of these places, Hamman and Cassie offered their service.

“The dogs are kind of a good icebreaker for conversation. It would be hard to just start talking to someone you don’t know. You could just sit there and let them pet them, and when they’re ready to talk, they’ll talk,” Hamman said.

Hamman is certain that the experience will not be lost on her in the coming years.

“Just going in general I think will be something that I’ll never forget,” Hamman said. “And of course, Cassie is such a special dog anyway, she is special to us, my family, so just having the opportunity to do it is what I’ll remember the most.”

In the upcoming months, speakers will visit Conestoga to discuss the topics of substance abuse and mental health. On Nov. 29, motivational speaker and comedian Matt Bellace will present to the freshmen and sophomores on substance abuse. On Dec. 7, Drew Bergan and Katya Palsi will present to the juniors and seniors on suicide, depression and healthy relationships.

“The mental health category is emerging more and more as something that we want to face head on,” Principal Dr. Amy Meisinger said. “There are different faces of mental health and the great thing is everyone’s story’s a little bit different but the overall message is really that your physical health is important but your mental health is just as important.”

For over 20 years, Bellace has traveled the United States and Canada as a professional speaker and stand-up comedian. He is the author of the book “A Better High,” co-author of the National Geographic Series “This or That” and appeared on truTV’s “World’s Dumbest.” Bellace uses humor as a constructive tool to engage students rather than use what he calls the “scare tactic.”

“Like a good comedian, he tells it like it is and he finds the humor in it. But, it’s also a pretty serious message through humor,” said Misty Whelan, assistant principal and primary coordinator of the assemblies.

Freshman Jane Branov is looking forward to Bellace’s

presentation, especially his use of comedy to address an otherwise weighty topic.

The assembly “sounds cool because we always have speakers come to talk about this stuff and they kinda just tell us all the bad stuff,” Branov said. “I think that having humor involved would be a lot more entertaining and people will listen more to the message of the speakers.”

On his website, Bellace says he hopes to educate students on how to find natural highs and maintain a healthy brain.

“

The mental health category is emerging more and more as something that we want to face head on.

Dr. Amy Meisinger

“

“Having a sustainable career in the arts is really tough.

Almost impossible. You have to be incredibly talented, you have to be really lucky, and you have to be willing to sacrifice certain things in order to have the freedom to go after it”, best-selling author Austin Kleon said.

On Nov. 7, Kleon visited Conestoga to give a keynote speech to the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District (TESD) teachers. In addition to this, he taught smaller group lessons, engaging staff members in activities such as blacking out newspaper letters with Sharpie.

He refers to himself as a creative kleptomaniac who embraces influence and does not believe that any idea is truly original.

During his keynote speech, Kleon said, “Every new idea is a remix, mutation or combination of what came before them.”

His first book, “Steal Like an Artist,” is a guide to surrounding yourself with people from whom you can draw inspiration to channel into artistic work.

“Read old books and hang out with dead masters because they can’t refuse you as a student,” Kleon said. “As for the living, surround yourself with the best people you can, but pick people who aren’t necessarily like-minded, but like-heart-

Principal

Unlike Bellace’s approach, Bergan and Palsi share personal stories to spread their message. These two speakers were selected through the Minding Your Mind program, which serves the Greater Philadelphia area. According to the program’s website, its mission is to provide mental health education and to reduce the stigma and destructive behaviors often associated with it.

“Probably more so than Matt Bellace, these stories will kind of touch people’s emotions and obviously for many reasons that’s not necessarily

the goal,” Whelan said. “The goal is really to relate and be able to build some strengths from what they are talking about and to be able to access adults to kind of break the silence.”

Through personal experience, however, Junior Amritpal Hatton does not believe that the use of personal stories is an effective strategy when addressing mental health.

“Many of those suffering from depression only look to themselves and do not care for the larger picture, leading to a mentality where they fail to empathize with others’ experiences, as they zero in on their own woes,” Hatton said.

Similar assemblies are held each year to address prevalent topics such as resiliency, coping skills, mental health and substance abuse.

“All of those things would be areas the we feel students can’t get enough of,” Whelan said. “They are always topics to really open discussions and hear speakers about.”

In the evening on Nov. 29, Bellace will present again at Valley Forge Middle School for parents and other community members who are interested. Mental health specialists and counselors will attend all of the assemblies, including the evening one, as an additional source for students and parents.

“I think these are topics that need a little bit more attention for students to think about and hear about, whether it’s through a personal story and story recovery, or story of the benefit of speaking up and not staying silent,” Whelan said. “I think it’s essential to students’ mental health that we educate in this manner.”

Alumna drops out of Harvard to pursue new business Melinda Xu

Staff Reporter

Conestoga Class of 2013 alumna Eva Shang has a goal: to make justice in the courtrooms accessible to all. Her start up company Legalist uses computer science to establish legal equality, funding lawsuits in a process known as litigation financing to balance out disparities in wealth and power.

“Our goal is to make the courts fair again,” Shang said.

“Access to justice should not be determined by your wealth or status. Litigation finance helps individuals and small businesses play on an even playing field.”

The recent Harvey Weinstein scandal has allowed Legalist the opportunity to express its ideals. The company has offered a $100,000 bounty towards litigation to any woman

with a valid sexual harassment claim against Weinstein.

“So many of the women in the Harvey Weinstein cases I’ve talked to expressed that he was so powerful, they felt like they had nowhere to turn,” Shang said.

Legalist operates on an application system, determining funding through a complex computer algorithm that runs the applicant’s case against an extensive database of legal data to predict multiple factors such as probable success and length of the case.

If the algorithm predicts a favorable outcome of the case, Legalist will pay all of the client’s legal costs, providing anywhere from $10,000 to $10 million in funds. The client is required to pay a third of the settlement in compensation to the company if the case is won, but nothing if the case is lost.

Legalist wasn’t always a litigation finance company, however.

Meeting as undergraduates at

Harvard, co-founders Shang and Christian Haigh were initially inspired to create a database allowing lawyers easy access to public court records.

“We heard about litigation finance as a much more direct way to enable access to the justice system, and realized we had the analytical tools to make a real dent in this industry,” Shang said.

The backing of Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valley’s best known startup accelerators, and the financial support of the $100,000 Thiel fellowship, which promotes undergraduate entrepreneurship, has allowed the duo to drop out of college and pursue their dream. Support from several successful investors such as Alexander Tamas, the founder of Vy Capital, has also been invaluable to the growth of the company.

Shang attributes the roots of this journey towards justice to her time at Conestoga.

10% OFF w/ C on Stud estoga ent I D

Courtesy Eva Shang

Serving justice: Conestoga Class of 2013 alumna Eva Shang uses her start-up company Legalist to establish legal equality.

“AP European History was my most formative year, not least because of the identity-crafting that occurs at that age, but also because I had so many new schools of thought to draw from in putting that identity together,” Shang said. “It gave me the toolkit to decide who I wanted to be.”

3

News

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Democrats gain seats locally, nationally Local Sweep With the issue of the teachers’ lack of a contract a primary focus during the fall months of the TESD School Board campaign, this year’s race proved to be highly contentious. Democrats won in all three regions of the district, with Reverend Scott Dorsey running unopposed to retake his seat for Region 1. Boyer beat Republican Doug Anestad for Region 2 and Ward and Tina Whitlow took the two seats in Region 3 from Republican incumbents Doug Carlson and Virginia Lastner.

According to the Chester County Democrats, they gained a total of 138 seats in this election.

Maisano was particularly impressed with Ward and Boyer’s campaigns, noting Ward’s successful door-to-door campaign and Boyer’s knowledge about his goals.

“Kyle Boyer and Heather Ward are two rising stars. I am incredibly impressed by both of them,” Maisano said. “These are two people that you’re going to hear a lot about in the next few years.”

Ward was supported by Run for Something, an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. helping progressives under 35 run for office. Her campaign was highlighted in an April 2017 Time Magazine article that detailed the rising new generation of Democratic candidates.

“I was at every board meeting (as a senior at Conestoga) and I would sit there and think ‘there’s no one up there who knows what it’s like to be in the classrooms,” Ward said. “I said to myself, ‘at some point I’m going to run for school board and consider that perspective more; I did not expect it to be four years later. But it felt like the right time.”

In her senior year of college, Ward dedicated her free time to attending School Board meetings and knocking on the doors of those in the community. The primary election was just three days prior to Ward’s graduation from Villanova University.

After the primaries, Ward faced opposition, receiving a notice, just weeks before election day, of negative mailings sent out by the Pioneer PAC, a campaigning group established by the Easttown Republicans, regarding Ward and Whitlow’s experience and special interest group backing.

The mailing described both Whitlow and Ward as “too inex-

perienced” for the board and that Ward herself was “too political” because of her endorsement from Run for Something.

“The week leading up, after the negative mailers were sent, I did have doubt. To be perfectly honest, I was questioning everything. I wasn’t sure what the results would look like,” Ward said.

TESD parent and Democrat Whitlow ran and won alongside Ward for Region 3. She said that she looks forward to doing good for the people in the community.

“I’m really excited,” Whitlow said. “I’m anxious to talk to the community and hear what they have to say and what their concerns are and make sure we’re all heading in the same direction.”

Boyer said that he is excited

“

The Democrats have been energized all year because of how they feel about the President and what’s going on in Washington D.C., and that was definitely reflected in the results on Tuesday.

Shannon Royer

“

continued from page 1

Chester County Republicans Senior Adviser

about engaging with the issues affecting the community such as increasing enrollment, facility changes and redistricting.

“When I’m sworn in on Dec. 4, I’m not going to be thinking about Democratic party versus Republican party,” Boyer said.

“I’m looking forward to engaging some very important questions.”

However, even after most of the votes have been tallied up, Anestad questions Boyer’s run.

Boyer had been a social studies teacher at Valley Forge Middle School up until election day.

According to Pennsylvania’s Public School Code, a teacher may not simultaneously be a school board member. In addition, employees must hand in an official letter of resignation 60 days prior to termination of their contract. A TESD policy reaffirms that state law. In or-

der to be in compliance with the state law and district policy, Boyer needs to have resigned 60 days before his swearing in to the Board on Dec. 4.

Kathleen Keohane, Chair of Tredyffrin Township Democratic Committee, issued a statement about Boyer’s candidacy.

“As for the 60-day provision in the PA Code, it gives districts the latitude to hold teachers for 60 days,” Keohane said. “However, there is solid precedent that the T/E school district has released professional staff with much less notice.”

The day after the election, Boyer told The Spoke that he had turned in his letter of resignation. He will continue to teach until Dec. 4 at which point his resignation will go into effect just before he is to be sworn into the Board. Despite PA state law, districts are permitted to waive the 60 day requirement.

The Democratic sweep of the School Board, however, is not isolated. Tuesday’s elections saw a historic wave of democratic victories throughout the historically Republican-controlled Chester County.

In fact, this election marked the first time that Democrats have ever won any of Chester County’s Row Office positions, which consist of nine officials including the Coroner, District Attorney and Treasurer, since its founding in the 18th century.

Not only did they make history in gaining any of the positions, but they managed to sweep four of the seats: Coroner, Treasurer, Controller and Clerk of Courts.

National Sweep The Democratic sweep has not only been felt on the local level, however. New Jersey will return to a Democratic governor after eight years of Republican Chris Christie with Phil Murphy taking 56% of the vote over Christie’s Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno.

Virginia’s gubernatorial race also proved to be highly contested with Democrat Ralph Northam beating Republican Ed Gillespie, who had been backed

by President Donald Trump. In the Virginia House of Delegates, the Democrats broke the Republican majority, unseating 12 incumbents and gaining three seats from Republicans who had decided not to run for reelection.

For our previous issue, The Spoke covered Conestoga Class of 2005 alumnus Chris Hurst’s

campaign to represent Virginia’s 12th district in the Virginia House of Delegates. On Nov. 7, Hurst beat out Republican incumbent Joseph Yost with roughly 54% of the vote.

Hurst had been an evening anchor for WDBJ7 Roanoke until his girlfriend, a morning reporter for the same station, was fatally shot on live TV in August 2015.

He cited her death as one of the primary reasons for his run for office. Hurst’s campaign was followed closely by the media, with his win reported on by media outlets such as The New York Times, ABC News and CNN among others. The Spoke followed up with him following his win.

“I’m deeply humbled by receiving enough votes to be able to serve the people of our district here in Southwest Virginia,” Hurst said. “I’m beginning to understand the weight of the responsibility that also comes with this.”

Running against a three term Republican incumbent in a rural area of Virginia, Hurst was the only candidate for the House of Delegates that was endorsed

by Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group fighting for gun control and against gun violence.

While he did run on a platform of stricter gun control, he is a gun owner, and chose to not focus too heavily on the issue of guns, focusing instead on improving education and health care. Hurst was also backed by Run for Something.

“Politics can oftentimes be painted with a very nasty brush but nights like last night in Virginia show the power of positive politics and running on a message of inspiration or hope and a promise of change and inclusivity and diversity,” Hurst said. “I think that there is a lot of good that can also happen with politics. It’s not just all of the divisiveness that we seem to see today.”

In Washington state, Democrat Manka Dhingra was elected to the state Senate to represent the 45th district. Her win solidified Democratic control of the state Senate for the first time since 2012, as well as the House and governor’s mansion. Democrats will now control every governorship and legislative body on the West Coast.

“The Democrats have been energized all year because of how they feel about the President and what’s going on in Washington D.C., and that was definitely reflected in the results on Tuesday,” Royer said.

School Board Election Results 2017: 100%

Region 1

Dorsey (100%)

59%

Region 2

41% Anestad (41%) Boyer (59%)

28%

27%

Region 3

23%

22% Lastner (22%) Carlson (23%) Whitlow (27%) Ward (28%)

Tredyffrin-Easttown Precincts by Straight-ticket Voter Preference

2015

2017

100% Republican Ticket

50%

100% Democratic Ticket Data compiled from Chester County Voter Records

Comparing 2017’s municipal general election to 2015’s...

Amount of straightticket votes increased by

Straight Democratic ticket votes increased by

5.08% 12.16%

Voter turnout increased by

2.71% 138

Democratic seats held in Chester County increased by

4

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Student Life Substi-tooting their own horns Story and Photos by Dhivya Arasappan and Tiffany He Staff Reporters

he started to listen more to big-name rappers like Fetty Wap, Young and May and Jim Jones, and that’s when he started to really fall in love with music.

“I’m doing this part-time and it's growing. You only get one life, so you have to take a chance (for) yourself, and I took a chance and resigned. It's extremely gratifying to do whatever you love on a daily basis,” Leviston said.

After graduating from Temple University in 2015, Chip Mittnacht, a history substitute, began to act as a substitute teacher at Conestoga.

His pursuit of teaching history stemmed from his love of history, writing, and the impact of his own history teacher.

“Back in high school I had one teacher who really brought out my passion for history and social studies in general. That’s what made me want to be a teacher. Beforehand, I never really had a teacher that I really connected with and he was the first one who showed me the impact that teachers can have on students’ lives,” Mittnacht said.

In addition, Mittnacht, as a substitute teacher, uses his own experiences from when he was a student to help teach.

“Whenever I am teaching a lesson or just filling in for a teacher, when I talk to students I try to put myself in their position,” Mittnacht said. “It was many years ago when I was high school, however I still remember being a student. I still remember what it was like and I know what it was like when a substitute walked into the room.”

Besides teaching, he coaches lacrosse at Phoenixville High School, where he grew up.

LeRoi Leviston Chip Mittnacht “I love lacrosse. I’ve played lacrosse since I was a kid and Conestoga has a pretty good lacrosse team as well," Mittnacht said.

In addition to coaching, Mittnacht is also interested in nutrition and health. After school, he often provides consultations to people who wish to change and improve their lifestyles.

“I didn’t really have time to focus on it (in college), but

Joseph Pirri Joseph Pirri, a longtime history teacher for 39 years, could not stay away from the job. Just a year after retiring from St. James High School, Pirri applied for a substitute teacher

position at Conestoga and Upper Merion. By 2006, Pirri began subbing at Conestoga and Upper Merion.

“I stayed out a year at home—not doing much—and I

since I graduated and (started) being a substitute teacher here, it provides me with the flexibility to do other stuff on my own," Mittnacht said.

His main recommendation for the sleep-deprived students of 'Stoga is to achieve a better quality of sleep at night. He suggests to shut off all electronics in the room that might affect sleep and gradually wind down before going to bed. got very bored so I said, ‘I gotta do something,’” Pirri said.

His love for history is not just confined to the classroom, but also makes up a large part of his life. For six summers, Pirri worked as an interpreter in Cold Spring Village in Cape May. “They created what a village would have looked like back in the mid-nineteenth century,” Pirri said. “I worked as a schoolmaster in a one room school house and I would talk to [people] about education in the mid-nineteenth century.

The only drawback was that there was no air conditioning.

I enjoyed doing that and I had a connection with it. I felt quite at home.”

Pirri also worked as part of the Coast Guard for ten years in North Wildwood, New Jersey.

“Since I was 16 years old, I worked in the summers,” Pirri said. “We were the marine police. We enforced the boating laws, shellfish laws, finfish laws—we were the law and order.”

Outside of school, Pirri has been a longtime hunter. When he was younger he was often part of family hunting parties.

Nowadays, Pirri still hunts, occasionally with his son or old friends.

LeRoi Leviston, Conestoga Class of 2006, never imagined he would be subbing at Conestoga just a few years later. In fact during his first few years of college, Leviston majored in business until he suddenly decided to become a teacher.

“I actually had a dream that I was a teacher one night, so I called my mom that same night and I changed my major the very next day. I started to become an education major,” Leviston said.

After graduating from West Chester University in 2012, Leviston returned to the district to teach Health and Physical Education at Valley Forge Middle School for two years, when his life took another turn.

Often seen in the art wings of the school, Jane McGregor has been a substitute teacher in the district since 2005.

Born in New Jersey, McGregor then moved to California where she lived for five years.

She later came back to the East coast where she lived in New York until eighth grade.

McGregor has been in the area ever since then.

McGregor graduated from the Moore College of Art with two degrees. She is versatile in her use of mediums, switching between watercolor, pastel, oil painting, and a fabric dye and wax resist technique called batik.

Many of her original paintings are displayed and sold in art galleries around the Chester County area. Often times, McGregor’s art showcases her nature-oriented life, and will be part of her plans to write and illustrate her own children book in the future.

“I’m waiting for an opportunity to have free time,” McGregor said, “I have about 10 working titles and I’m going to wrap stories around wildlife or animals. I’ve always been a naturalist, and I’ve always observed wildlife if I can and when I can.”

As an avid bird watcher, McGregor spends some of her free

“I took a couple years away from music because I just didn’t know if it was for me and I was a teacher at the time,” Leviston said. “There was (a) fine line between being a teacher and being a rapper.

I kind of felt like I couldn't speak about much of the stuff that I grew up living through and it kind of hindered what I could say in a song.”

Leviston resigned from teaching and decided to pursue his music career full time.

After working full time as a hip hop & R&B artist, Leviston took a part-time job subbing at ‘Stoga and he later released his first albums in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

But luckily for Leviston,

“

We’re just the same people with the same dreams—we're only older. You're never too old to pursue your dreams. LeRoi Leviston

“

This year, American Substitute Educators’ Day falls on Friday, Nov. 17. Substitute teachers have always been and will continue to be a crucial part in helping the school day go right. However, students don't know much else about their lives, besides what they see behind the teacher's desk. In honor of these substitutes, here are a few of their stories.

Substitute Teacher

But as for the teaching part of his life, Leviston really loves what he does.

“I wouldn’t trade my life (for) anyone’s in the entire world,” Leviston said. “I follow both passions and I’m very, very strong in both of them. I hope that people have faith in themselves to know that they can be anything that they want to be in life and put 100 percent into it.”

Jane McGregor time observing the different types of birds throughout the seasons.

Spending much of her time outside, McGregor is also an enthusiastic gardener. This year, in a small patch outside her house,

McGregor has planted vegetables and herbs.

“It’s a way of getting really fresh things into your diet,” McGregor said. “Everybody should have a little patch.”

Students add international flavor to Thanksgiving Staff Reporter

As Thanksgiving approaches, millions of Americans are frantically scrambling to buy the so-called necessities for a successful traditional Thanksgiving meal. Many are looking forward to preparing for a long day filled with cranberry sauce and stuffing.

Others are excited to prepare their own traditional foods and celebrate Thanksgiving with their own twist.

According to junior Anna Ponte, her traditional meal changes yearly. Being a part of a Hispanic and European family means that her meals adapt to her parents’ traditions and what they are doing each year. They do not usually celebrate holidays, when they do however, there is sure to be a diverse group of food.

“My father said that this year he would make paella.

We’ve done different things in the past, though. We’ve eaten turkey, we’ve had quiche,” Ponte said.

Sophomore Ankita Kalasabail celebrates her Thanksgivings not only as an Indian, but also as a vegetarian. She

appreciates the tradition that her family has and enjoys the individuality of it.

“There’s this one dish called pani puri. The goal is

“

My mom will have us close our eyes and point to a country and wherever my finger lands is the cultural food we'll eat.

Lauren Chu

“

Olivia Thompson

Junior

you put flavored water into this dish and you shove it in your mouth as fast as you can.

My dad and I always have a competition to see who can eat more,” Kalasabail said.

Kalasabail celebrates Thanksgiving with her family as more than just as a re-

minder of being thankful for family with the history of the Pilgrims. Kalasabail is appreciative her time with her family despite the distance between them during the holiday.

“We FaceTime members of our family. It’s not like we can have a sit down meal with our family because most live in either Australia or India,” Kalasabail said.

Kalasabail’s tradition has been carried on through generations. When her father was little, he and his brother would go to street shops and try to eat as many pani puris as they could. Her father has since passed the tradition down in hopes of continuing the tradition through Kalasabail’s sister and Kalasabail.

Junior Lauren Chu’s family tradition is inspired by Thanksgiving. Every year, instead of always celebrating one culture, she celebrates a different one.

“We go to New York City every year for Thanksgiving.

Before we go, my mom will have us close our eyes and point to a country and wherever my finger lands is the cultural food we’ll eat. We

Olivia Thompson/The SPOKE

Globe-trotting: Junior Lauren Chu points to a random country on a globe, marking the regional cuisine she'll have for Thanksgiving. Over the years, her family has celebrated Thanksgiving with food from around the world. look up places to go in New York that correspond to the location and culture and that is what we eat for Thanksgiving,” Chu said.

Chu’s favorite memory and food comes from a Peruvian and Asian style restaurant.

Her favorite dish is the Peru-

vian-style chicken, which is far from the classic Thanksgiving scene that others prepare.

Occasionally Chu will celebrate Thanksgiving traditionally, but “My favorite part is trying new foods from different cultures,” Chu said.

Chu believes that although her tradition is special, she encourages others to celebrate in the manner they feel most comfortable with.

“If they want to try it they can. Of course if they want to keep it traditional they can do that too,” Chu said.

Staff Reporter

Earphones dangle like jewelry from the ears of students shuffling through the hallways.

Each wire brings a different tune to students’ ears, from slow acoustic ballads to catchy hiphop beats. Like his fellow students, senior Nick Szary enjoys music. However, Szary creates the music that captivates much of the student body.

“I started fooling around deejaying in the beginning of high school but actually started producing in my sophomore year,” Szary said.

Szary’s brand of electronic dance music, EDM, has enjoyed millions of plays across platforms such as Soundcloud, YouTube, and Spotify.

“All of my music is made in my bedroom,” Szary said. “I use Ableton Live, my MacBook, and headphones. I use a guitar and piano, too. I’ve gotten some help but I’m mostly self-taught.”

His tracks are catchy remixes of popular songs, weaving electronic synths and blasting bass together to compliment the preexisting vocals.

“I mainly post my music on Soundcloud,” Szary said. “It’s an easy way to get your stuff noticed online. A bunch of bigname artists support me there, and of course YouTube and Spotify are the new ways to get your music noticed.”

Szary posts his music under the name “Facade.”

“The whole idea of “facade” is like an illusion or a mystery, so it’s mysterious in a way,” Szary said.

Szary’s biggest achievements so far both came in late 2017, when two of his songs were featured on Billboard.com in articles about the best remixes for the songs “Silence” by Marshmello and Khalid and “XO TOUR Llif3” by Lil Uzi Vert.

“I thought that (making it onto Billboard.com) was pretty cool because I’d only been (making music) for about a year. It’s cool how something that I made in my bedroom gets played at concerts and is noticed by artists and Billboard. It makes me want to make more songs,” Szary said.

Szary was named “Most Musical” in this year’s yearbook senior superlatives.

“I think Facade’s music is really good,” senior Tyler Jansen said. “There’s a lot of artists out there and their music is all very similar, but his is much more diverse and it flows very well.”

Szary said that he will continue to pursue his passion of music.

“I hope to be playing shows, maybe produce some songs for vocalists, collab with some big artists. It’s really cool to see everyone vibe with my stuff, so hopefully in the future I’ll be able to share (more of my music) with other people,” Szary said.

Neil Goldenthal/The SPOKE

Mix and Remix: Senior Nick Szary weaves music on a Macbook in his studio. Under the name “Facade,” he has published remixes of popular songs over platforms like Soundcloud and has gained a popular following.

Teacher Feature: David Zimmerman

Social Studies department head David Zimmerman, also known as Z, talks about his teaching career, interests in sports, Pocket Stalins and why Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday.

How long have you been teaching?

This is my 25th year teaching.

I’ve only taught at Conestoga.

Stalinist Russia had to deal with.

So I give the pocket Stalin out as a reminder that when you feel bad and think your life is tough, you take out your Pocket Stalin and look him in the eye and recognize it could be a lot worse.

You could be dead.

What classes do you teach and why?

Over the years, I’ve taught World History, European History and Psychology. Originally, I was told to teach them. Psychology was one where the teacher retired and it was something that I was personally interested in so I volunteered to teach it.

What do you like to do outside of school?

I do like soccer. I enjoy watching sports, so I’m a big fan of all the Philadelphia sports teams. I’m a 4-for-4 guy: Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and Sixers. I like to travel. I’ve been overseas dozens of times. I’ve taken students overseas several times.

What’s your favorite class to teach?

Favorite? That’s a tough call.

I mean I love history, but I can’t say. They’re so different—like psychology and world history are such different subjects that it’s hard to compare. I like teaching both of them.

What’s your favorite movie?

I’m a big fan of “The Godfather” and “The Godfather: Part II.” The only movie and sequel

Matthew Fan Staff Reporter

to both win the Oscar for best lot of shopping on Black Friday, picture is “The Godfather” and but the holiday is really about a really nice meal, “The Godfather: good food, and Part II.” Usualfamily, loved ly the sequels ones and footstink.

They’re ball. But the just trying to It’s healthy every once other thing is make money off in a while to stop and that the senthe first one. But timent of the the second one recognize the things holiday is good. was as good as that you have and be It’s healthy evthe first one. ery once in a thankful for them. while to stop What’s your recognize favorite thing David Zimmerman and the things that about ThanksSocial Studies Department Head you have and giving? be thankful for Well that’s them. So often easy— it’s the meal. Thanksgiving is actually we think about the things we my favorite holiday in general don’t have and fail to recognize because it’s not about presents— that, oh, I’ve got all these people you don’t have to buy anything. who love me and a nice house.

It’s not to say people don’t do a It’s a good sentiment.

“

“

Bring the bass: Facade hits the right note Renato DiStefano

5

Student Life

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

If you could have dinner with a historical figure, who would it be?

I’d probably have dinner with Otto von Bismarck of Germany.

He’s most known for unifying loose German states into one Germany in 1870. He’s very practical. He doesn’t put ideology above practical matters.

What’s the purpose behind the Pocket Stalins?

A Pocket Stalin is a very small picture of Joseph Stalin, who was a dictator of the Soviet Union in the middle of the 20th century. He was a mass murderer and you know, in class we talked about Stalin and how bad he was, and how life was like in Stalinist Russia. And I think sometimes students feel sorry for themselves; they got all these problems, like all this homework to do and they got to study for this test. And in reality, those problems in the bigger picture are not that bad when you consider what people living under

Neil Goldenthal/The SPOKE

Zimmerman notes: Social studies department head David Zimmerman stands in front of his podium full of unique magnets from around the world. Zimmerman has taught World History, European history and Psychology for 25 years in Conestoga.

6

Student Life

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Taking a chance: Alumni move into board game industry

Cafeteria Creations Story by Andrew Bucko, Staff Reporter Design by Justin Huang, Co-Student Life Editor

As the saying goes, life is what you make it. For cafeteria food, this remains extremely true. While the Conestoga cafeteria has many delicious offerings that are good on their own, students are maximizing their lunch experiences by creating their own dishes. Innovative students are finding new ways to pioneer their own lunches using what is available to them in the cafeteria. Thanks to bread, condiments, the salad bar and the microwave, a new world of opportunities has been opened to people who buy breakfast and lunch.

French Toast

Scott Hennessey and Justin Huang

Staff Reporter & Co-Student Life Editor

In an era dominated by technology, one would think that more gamers would move away from crowded tables to the comforts of a computer. Surprisingly, market analyst ICv2 has reported $1.2 billion annual sales hobby stores, with more than 50 percent growth in board games.

In any case, the trend hasn’t gone unnoticed by Conestoga Class of 2004 alumni Andrew Dickinger, Jay Jones and Niels-Christian Kielland.

“I think with the trend of technology further removing us from one another, there is an even greater need for people to find reasons to meet in person, for hours at a time, and connect. That has spurred the creation of so many new and wonderful board games,” Jones said.

Enter Partial Arc, the three alumni’s upstart startup. United by a common desire to create an indie board game, Dickinger, Jones and Kielland met up in Los Angeles, the location of their headquarters. After their group’s creation, Jones came up with the concept behind their first, current project, “Mortals: Descent of the Gods.”

“I loved the idea of mortal gods working within modern society, and how that setting could provide a lot of humor and fun combat,” Jones said. “The mechanics and style of gameplay have evolved since the initial idea, but the core concept still remains.”

After coming up with the idea, the three went to work on game design and its funding. Dickinger

drew up the artistic designs for the game, but the greater hurdle lay in the game’s functions.

Carefully creating the game mechanics, all three thought about player interactions and the combat system. Once they were ready, they opened a Kickstarter project, where the community can fund projects of their interests, with a goal of $35,000 in mind. They were completely funded 20 days later.

“We’ve budgeted just about enough to break even to deliver this game to fans and friends. Any additional revenue will be allocated to stretch goals to make ‘Mortals’ even better.,” Jones said.

Looking to the future, the three still have unannounced ideas hidden up their sleeves.

“We absolutely have multiple

projects planned for the future, including expansions and sequels to ‘Mortals,’ as well as some other interesting projects,” Dickinger said.

Beyond looking at their own board game, Partial Arc tries to encapsulate the entire realm of board games. As their mission statement goes, “Partial Arc is a network for board gaming, roleplaying games, and comics. We provide weekly podcasts and posts for your insatiable nerdisms.” Provide they do. Cartoon reviews, comic series recommendations and turn-by-turn stories of their board-gaming adventures pack their website.

Although they’ve left Conestoga, their roots are still there. Choir director Suzanne Dickinger is the mother of Andrew. Dickinger is proud of her son’s work at Partial

Arc. Dickinger enjoys the intricate gameplay, the artwork drawn

by Andrew and the teamwork aspect of the experience.

“It’s complicated. Once you’ve played it once, you’re going to want to play it again and again,” Suzanne Dickinger said. “It’s cooperative, meaning that if one person dies, everybody dies. There are a lot of moving parts (and) a lot of things going on.”

However, nothing could be done if they never loved their work in the first place. Without it, they would have no chance at creating Partial Arc. “We are an ever-growing company that wants to deliver fun, engaging top quality content and support our growing community.

This is our hobby, our passion, our inspiration,” Dickinger said.

1. Toast the bread of your choice in the toaster.

2. Slather with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

3. Voila! A delicious (but not-so-healthy) breakfast awaits!

c ovi ark M “It's nya good! I'm not a ior Du n huge fan of -se cinnamon, but with all the ingredients combined, it's tasty.” butter

PB&J Bagel 1. Toast a bagel (or any other bread).

2. Spread packaged peanut butter and jelly from the fridge.

-so 3. Enjoy! pho mo re A

lex

“It ski tastes like a normal peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but something about the doughiness of the bagel makes it really good.”

Gur

Grape Jelly

Peanut Butter

Grilled Cheese 1. Toast bread until it becomes golden-brown.

2. Add both sliced American cheese and shredded cheddar to ensure the perfect consistency and flavor.

3. Optional: top with red pepper flakes.

4. Microwave on high for 35 seconds, and bask in its glory.

“I love making my own grilled cheeses because they are so crispy and ufiero gooey.” lex A A e r homo - sop

Cheese Fries 1. Grab a carton of fries 2. Sprinkle (or pour, no judgement) shredded cheddar cheese on top.

3. Pop them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds illis 4. Simply enjoy. ison G r Har ior

“That cheese -jun (whiz) tastes weird, but with the shredded cheese I add, (the cheese fries) just tastes much better.”

Courtesy Partial Arc

Achievement unlocked: Class of 2004 graduates Andrew Dickinger, Jay Jones, and Niels-Christian Kielland celebrate their one-year anniversary with Partial Arc. Their company started a Kickstarter page to fund their game and reached their goal of $35,000 on Nov. 7.

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Story, Design and Photos by Claire Guo

The 160 members of ’Stoga Marching Pioneer Band start their season with 2-week summer band camp. During school in the fall, students rehearse at Conestoga, perform at each football game and practice pieces at home, usually spending more than 8 hours a week on marching band. Near the end of the season, the Marching Pioneers perform at cavalcades—showcases where the performances of several marching bands are the focus.

Saber the moment: Sophomore color guard member Lukas Milby throws his 2-pound metal saber into the air.

Suicide Squad: Trombone players often carry out a dangerous maneuver dubbed “suicides,” alternating between bending down and swinging their 7-pound instruments over the heads of neighbors. Though they usually do it in the stands, here the trombone section is in the spotlight at ’Stoga Cavalcade.

Pit stop: Junior pit members Lara Briggs and Reema Norford play bass guitar and xylophone during practice.

“

Band Managers Though they’re not playing instruments on the field, band managers are essential to marching band. They set up and clean up, lugging equipment to and from the band van. Like performers, band managers are at every rehearsal, game and cavalcade. (left to right) sophomore Kelly Cooper, juniors Tommy Bostwick, Tyler Brundage and Jack Thomas, sophomore Andrew Ward, juniors Anna Galasso and James McGee.

7

Photo Spread

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Tooting horns: The brass section plays their instruments on the field.

The gloves are on: Senior Neil Goldenthal conducts from the podium at the opener.

Pit stop: Jun namemn and R guitar and xylo

This one super rainy game, we had to sing our show from the stands, ’cause none of the woodwinds could play their instruments. We just always have a good time no matter what the circumstances are. junior and clarinet player Laila Norford

You get to relate to the kids on a different level than in the classroom, because you’re on buses with them, you’re on band trips with them - I mean, when we have an overnight trip, they come to you in the middle of the night ‘cause they have a stomach ache.”

Drum Majors

assistant band director and retired French teacher Stephen Eberly

No, they don’t play drums. In fact, drum majors lead and conduct the band, both on the field and in the stands. They stand on elevated podiums and wear white clothing so performers can see them and stay with the beat.

“Everyone in all grades, and no matter what social circle you come from (are) friends and included. I came from an outside school and I only knew two people coming here, but I’ve made so many friends.” senior flute and piccolo section leader Sam Hall

I’m more confident now. I just feel better about myself. I

% 4

Color Guard Drumline

Each year, three drum majors are chosen and sent to Drum Major Academy at West Chester University during the summer for a 4-day intensive on leadership, conducting and more. This year’s drum majors are junior Lily Zhou and seniors Katy Bondi and Neil Goldenthal.

was always afraid that people would turn me down, but now I’m just going for it and making friends with everyone ‘cause it’s just such a great experience. Why waste it? freshman flute player Olivia Bové

11

Brass

%

14

%

”

2

%

Woodwinds

27

%

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Pit

Basic view

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Group Dynamics Band director Christopher Nation maps out marching band choreography on the computer program Pyware 3D. The software helps him create, modify and visualize drills, complete with performers, instruments and hats.

The flash wand was created from scratch by Visual and Performing Arts Department teacher Michael Starner. Using some ingenuity, experimental trials, and a few feet of aluminum electrical conduit, Starner created a wand that releases flares when its red button is pressed.

At the beginning of the season, every band member watches a 3D run-through of the planned choreography. They each are expected to memorize their “drill spots”, or positions, throughout complex sequences.

Pyware 3D screenshots courtesy of band director Christopher Nation.

Aerial photo courtesy of Engineering teacher Noah Austin

Making Magic This year is the first with special effects. To match the annual theme of “Witches and Wizards,” the choreography incorporates two new pieces of equipment: a fog machine and a flash wand.

To see more photos, go online to

8

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Op/ed Our 2017-2018 Spoke Policy

Each school year, the editorial board of The Spoke presents the policy that will guide the paper’s direction. We hope to be as transparent as possible as we continue to cover the community.

Our Mission The Spoke serves as a public forum for student expression. We strive to objectively cover stories of interest within our school and community.

We understand our responsibility to report in an unbiased and ethical manner.

The Spoke staff aims to include a diverse range of issues and voices within the paper and appreciates suggested story ideas. While some of the stories included within the pages of The Spoke may be considered “controversial,.” our reporters work to investigate the issues with appropriate care, precision and impartiality.

Publication Dates The Spoke releases seven issues a year in October, November, December, February, March, May and June. The paper is printed by Bartash Printing and copies can be found in the school on publication days, as well as in select locations around the community. Readers who subscribe to The Spoke will receive issues mailed directly to their homes.

What We Cover Each issue, staff members collect and suggest timely story ideas to submit to the editorial board for review.

The Spoke makes an effort to report the achievements and activities of students, faculty and community members.

To suggest a story idea, email The Spoke at hello@spoke. news. The views represented in signed opinion articles are

not reflective of the opinions of the staff as a whole. An unsigned editorial represents the consensus of the editorial board.

Our Rights Our paper is not subject to prior review, meaning the administration does not see the paper before it is printed. Nor can the administration censor content. Advisers serve as educators and consultants only, leaving the editorial board with decisions on content and how that content will be treated. With all stories, the editorial board considers the journalistic and ethical implications of publishing them.

Online Presence Spoke.news is a student-run and owned website; no district employees are consulted on the content and coverage of Spoke.news or any

of its social media platforms.

Content decisions are made by the editorial board, specifically our web editors. Social media platforms include Spoke. news and The Spoke’s Twitter and Instagram accounts and Facebook page.

Your Voice This year’s editorial board hopes to include more voices from our school and community. To contribute to The Spoke, contact our editorial board at hello@spoke.news.

We also welcome letters to the editor with commentary on or concerns about coverage. A letter to the editor addressing content in a Spoke issue will published in the next issue.

Businesses can support The Spoke by buying advertising in the paper. With regard to ads, we reserve the right to reject, edit or cancel any advertisement at any time.

Kaitlyn Chen/The SPOKE

From the Editor: The need for transparency

Looking beyond the Western media

Jahnavi Rao Columnist

Three hundred people were killed in a bombing in Somalia two weeks ago. Over a thousand people died in South Asia in August due to mass flooding. The Rohingya in Myanmar are currently victims of ethnic genocide, with their government professing acts of arson, infanticide and mass killings as “exaggerations.”

From reading the alerts on my phone from The Washington Post, The New York Times and other major news producers, I would not have been privy to this knowledge. Only from watching alternative news sources like The Philip Defranco Show am I even aware that these events happened. It made me wonder: how much do people know about what

is going on outside of the American borders?

We profess ourselves to be a generation that cares. We protest the persecution of refugees and advocate for increased welfare for the poor.

However, we maintain no idea of the events taking place around the world. But it’s not our fault that we do not know when we are simply not told.

In the novel “Stealth Conflicts: How the World’s Worst Violence is Ignored,” Virgil Hawkins details how the top ten stories for Fox News from 2006 cover events such as Venezuela’s President slighting the president of the United States and Fidel Castro’s illness. However, an entire year’s worth of news stories in Africa, with events as significant as Ethiopia’s military intervention in Somalia, were absent from the list entirely.

We are consumers of media, and we should have news that is relevant. Media outlets tailor what they report based on what they believe is pertinent to their audience, agenda setting what the U.S. government debates and the conver-

sations in American homes.

To them, that has translated into removing stories that are considered “remote” to us, with the assumption that we can not relate to foreign tragedies.

But who are news outlets to decide what is important and not? By removing us from these stories, they are insulating us, further perpetuating the idea that the United States is more important than other places purely because it is where we live. Studies by the University of Chicago show that over 70% of Americans believe in the universal applicability of American ideals and organization, as compared to less than 50% of people believing such in other countries like France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

However, the world is no longer defined by arbitrary lines written on a map with the internet and high speed travel.

The media will not change until we demand that it does.

Until then, we have to seek out the facts and keep ourselves informed. Millions of stories go untold, and we cannot affect any change unless we actually

know of their occurrence.

We learn history in school with the intention that we can stop it from repeating itself.

If that is the case, we can not stand idly by as maybe hundreds of thousands are killed in ethnic cleansings. We can not watch silently as people are murdered in interstate conflicts. We can not be bystanders to the censorship of global tragedies.

We are no longer defined by the country we live in. The world is as traversable as our streets, and we must protect our neighbors. There are resources online that do report what is actually happening in the world: look for those.

Write to your news providers and demand to the stories that are not being told.

Maybe one day you will move to one of these countries.

Maybe one day, people will consider America irrelevant. Maybe one day, we will be another statistic too unimportant to report on. We can not stay silent just because we are not the ones being attacked. Because one day, when all the rest are silenced, who will speak for us?

The Good, the Bad and the Girls

Ian Ong

Managing Editor

Back in my day as a Boy Scout patrol leader, I was known as “Ol’ Hickory.”

They called me that because, just like Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson, I never really knew when to shut up, stop fighting and go home. I led my boys through thick and thin. Our greetings were 20 push-ups and our goodbyes, 40. I would guide my boys up the Allagash and down the Appalachians, shooting arrows and flinging tomahawks into tree stumps along the way. But perhaps my most recognizable character trait was my tendency to go off on political tangents, surfacing at seemingly random intervals.

“The day they let girls into the Boy Scouts,” I would mutter to my jaded and dehydrated patrol, “is the day the Commies win.”

And, well, it seems that my nightmares have finally come true. I’ll never forget the day those godforsaken Bolsheviks

The Spoke is published seven times per year at Bartash Printing. It consistently receives a Gold rating from PSPA and CSPA, and it is a National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker award-winning publication.

The Spoke serves as a public forum for student expression.

took a swipe at one of America’s most iconic organizations.

The Boy Scouts of America recently stated on their blog that, starting in 2018, girls will be able to form Cub Scout packs, and by 2019, given the opportunity to pursue the rank of Eagle Scout via an alternative program.

Welcome to Oceania. A world where you can say one thing and mean the other. A world where we park on the driveway and drive on the parkway. A world where noses are runny and feet are smelly.

And apparently, a world where girls can scout alongside Boy Scouts. It’s like mixing together M&M’s and Skittles: a travesty of justice.

Nobody likes a bait and switch. Nobody wants to chow down on delicious Boy Scout oatmeal and get a mouthful of surprise Girl Scout raisins. It’s just like the USA PATRIOT Act, except this time the girls are the unaccounted for threats against freedom and liberty, and not the “enhanced surveillance procedures.”

Back in my day, gender roles were respected. Now they’re all swapped around like they’re as malleable and meaningless as Halloween costumes. And each year, these masquerades against gender become more and more outra-

Jennifer Lee/The SPOKE

geous. For instance, a guy who likes to watch reruns of “The Golden Girls.” Little girls who want to try outdoor activities like hiking and canoeing. A female running for president.

The sanctity of gender inequality has never been more under attack than during the present day. Obama spoke out against gender stereotypes and against depictions of men as “assertive” and women as “demure.” Gender equality is the 5th goal out of 17 on the

The SPOKE Staff Editors-in-Chief: Betty Ben Dor, Eric Xue Managing Editor: Ian Ong News Editor: Brooke Deasy Student Life Editors: Claire Guo, Justin Huang Opinion Editor: Audrey Kim Sports Editor: Avery Maslowsky Centerspread Editor: Lyvia Yan Co-Web Editors: Elizabeth Billman, Jordan Liu

United Nation’s list of sustainable development goals. Last night, my mom made me take down my “No Girls Allowed!!” sign from the outside of my bedroom door.

If something isn’t done to address this growing sense of gender empowerment and individualism, then the American youth are headed down a dark path. As a last stand against the evil forces of equality, I propose a bold plan, a plan to help our Boy Scouts

Multimedia Editor: Neil Goldenthal Business Manager: Maddie Lamonica Staff Reporters: Dhivya Arasappan, Andrew Bucko, Aimee Buttenbaum, Emma Clarke, Henry Danon, Renato DiStefano, Matthew Fan, Reagan Gerrity, Tiffany He, Scott Hennessy, James P. Infortuna, Jahnavi Rao, Sanjana Sanghani, Olivia Thompson, Melinda Xu,Warren Zhao Cartoonists: Kaitlyn Chen, Jennifer Lee Faculty Advisers: Susan Gregory, Cyndi Crothers-Hyatt

Eric Xue

Co-Editor-in-Chief

When I first heard about the teacher contract negotiations at the end of last school year, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was about.

What were the teachers asking for? How was the School Board reacting? Nearly three months later, as the halls of Conestoga began to fill once again with students and faculty for new school year, the questions I had from the previous school year remained largely unanswered.

And I wasn’t alone in my confusion. Whether I was pushing my way through the overcrowded halls, eating lunch in the cafeteria or doing work in the library, the teacher contract negotiations were frequently a topic of discussion. Some students said that the teachers were going on strike while others believed that they couldn’t because of the fact-finding process. I wasn’t sure what to believe until my fellow editors and I began looking into the negotiation process.

Even then, we were able to find little information regarding the specific details of the negotiations. Sitting among the audience at the Sept. 25 school board meeting, my doubts regarding the degree of transparency shown by the Tredyffrin/ Easttown School District (TESD) and the Tredyffrin/ Easttown Education Association (TEEA) were confirmed.

Negotiations between the two organizations began in January of last year. However, community members are still left in the dark regarding the details of the process, including demands of the union and any offers by the district. Ultimately, the negotiations will impact students and community alike.

While the educational experience of students has thankfully not been impacted, the consequences of this negotiation process have already been felt. In light of the recent teacher negorestore their masculinity. I’ve deemed it “Make America Man Again!” or MAMA for short.

The plan is simple: show girls who’s in charge by invading their gender-based organization back, Hammurabi style.

We’ll gladly force ourselves into Girl Scout meetings. If they take our popcorn sales, we’ll take their Thin Mints.

Set down our rifles and pick up their paintbrushes. If they steal away our scientific in-

Submissions: Letters to the editor may be submitted to Betty Ben Dor or Eric Xue, or advisers Susan Gregory or Cyndi Crothers-Hyatt. Unsigned editorials represent the views of The Spoke editorial board, not necessarily those of the administration, student body, community or advertisers. The opinions expressed in signed columns are those of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of The Spoke.

The Spoke accepts paid advertisements.

tiations for a new contract, many teachers at Conestoga stepped down from their roles as club advisers. As a result, when the school year started, students were largely unprepared to take over the roles their advisers once filled. What plans each club had for the new school year had to be delayed as club leadership dealt with the unfamiliar process of organizing club meetings and the inability to meet in classrooms.

Even with the school offering the cafeteria for club meetings, the loud atmosphere and lack of resources such as whiteboards and projectors inhibit the focus of gatherings. Students have difficulty giving presentations, brainstorming new ideas, showing educational videos and other activities that contribute to a successful club.

As students whose clubs are essential to our high school experience, we deserve access to more information. If club leaders had been notified of the updates regarding club advisors and lack of resources, they could have prepared themselves for future meetings, familiarize themselves with the meeting sign-up process and finding ways around the inaccessibility to resources we once had, reducing the impact on club activities.

On Nov. 8, the fact finding report was released on the PA Labor Relations website to the public. However, it is still uncertain when teachers will resume their club advisor positions.

While limiting outside influence on the negotiation process is important, transparency is paramount in situations where the process and its outcomes have consequences for everyone.

In the speech given by President Doug Carlson at the Sept. 25 meeting, he listed the board’s goals as “to ensure the sustainable success of T/E’s strong educational programs, to provide fair compensation and benefits to T/E’s employees, (and) to respect the financial impact on District taxpayers.” The community must be made aware of the possible impacts they have to face in the future. Only then can those goals be achieved. quiry, we’ll steal their artistic pursuits. Goodbye founder William Dickson Boyce, and hello founder Juliette Gordon Low. When we’re done there’ll be no bracelet left unbeaded, no horse unridden, no cookie unsold. We might even enjoy ourselves there.

And maybe, just maybe, we’ll find out that all of the fuss was for nothing and that, male or female, all humans deserve equal opportunity to do what they love.

/thespoke @thespoke @thespoke the_spoke www.spoke.news hello@spoke.news

op/ed

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

9

Relearning the process of gratitude

Audrey Kim

Opinion Editor

As Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons slowly but surely invade every inch of our lives, from TV commercials to holiday caroling to frequent “Buy 2, Get 1 Free!” sales pitches, so does the oft-repeated message of expressing gratitude for the people and objects around us.

But how often do we genuinely feel grateful? Amidst sleep-deprivation and the constant activity of homework, sports, and other extracurriculars, high school students stumble under the looming shadow of college and the future. Some of us are addressing mental illnesses, while others are dealing with personal problems with family and friends. Many days, there seems to be little to be grateful for.

In a world where negativity runs rampant, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the constant feed of news filtering through our televisions and phones. Mass shootings in America have never been as frequent, or as deadly.

Terrorist organizations and natural disasters continue to wreak havoc over borders. Depression, anxiety, and stress among Americans are at an all-time high. And according to the Pew Research Center of American Policy and Politics, the country has never been more divided across the political spectrum.

But as these issues continue to either intensify or lessen, progress is also underway. Smoking rates and CO2 emissions in the U.S. have never been lower. Extreme poverty has been declining, while literacy and education steadily spreads through all parts of the world. People have a longer than ever lifespan to spend with the people around them. And while political ideologies have never been more divided, the awareness of social and political issues has never been higher.

And how lucky are we to be in a world where so much possibility exists? A world with David Bowie

and the Beatles? Where films like “Wonder Woman” and “Moonlight” challenge conceptions of gender, race, and sexuality?

With artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Marcel Duchamp?

Where we can celebrate musicals about the past while also keeping in mind the present? Where a 19-year-old gymnast achieved four Olympic Gold medals, while the most-decorated swimmer in history can retire with 23? There are countless numbers of people to be thankful for, for sharing their work and inspiring others in the world.

When it comes down to our personal lives, the answers are just as immediate. I’m grateful to my parents, for providing me love and a brilliant education, and for my friends, who have been beside me when I needed them most. I’m lucky for being able to get through the day to pursue my interests. And I’m unbelievably blessed for the millions of immigrants, women, people of color, those of other marginalized communities and their allies who have undergone so many sacrifices for me to live the way I do today.

Report Card Power Outage + Felt like we were in a horror movie.

- Using flashlights in the hall.

Taylor Swift’s New Album Kaitlyn Chen/The SPOKE

So much of the time, we worry about the next history test coming up, or the amount of responsibilities to do. We blame ourselves for not completing the endless piles of work to be done, or for taking the time to watch the next episode of “Friends” and talking with friends instead. We measure ourselves by the scales of productivity we have achieved in the past day, month, or year, and equate it with our level of “success,” however that may be defined. Instead, let us value the possibilities and potential around

us. Because sometimes the act of even getting through the day is worthy of applause. Tragically, for some that isn’t possible.

There’s still work in the world to be done. But what we have forgotten, in an often cynical atmosphere, is the process of gratitude, what it means for ourselves and for others. After all, we’ve gotten this far already. Perhaps the small step of appreciating that we’re even here at all is the starting point to making the world a better place.

+ “Why? Oh, ‘cause she’s dead!”

- Being sued by the ACLU makes you question her music.

Soundcloud Rappers + A booming industry.

- Diss tracks...

Senior Skip Day + Four day weekend.

- Terrible, terrible planning.

Q: What are you grateful for in your life right now?

11

10

09

12

iPhone X + Robots finally asserting their dominance.

- No home button and it’s $1,000.

“

I’m grateful that I go to a good school and have a loving family and friends.

Connor Whitlow

“

I’m very grateful for my friends. I look forward to seeing them at school and it helps me get through the day.

Rachel Hunt

“

“

I’m grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been given for my future: a good education, sports, and other activities.

The Crucible

I’m grateful for the safety and progressive environment our area provides.

Jackson Dusinberre

Priya Aravindhan

+ Nostalgia to former American Lit students.

- Spoilers for current American Lit students.

Give EEPE credit to band nerds

Neil Goldenthal

Multimedia Editor

I’ve been a loyal member of the Conestoga Marching Pioneers since my sophomore year, and as one of the drum majors (Head Band Nerd is the official title), I truly love marching band with all my heart. There’s nothing that I cherish more than getting to spend Friday nights with friends playing music and watching our football team and cheerleaders perform.

But there is an injustice against us peaceful band nerds: we don’t receive Extended Experience credit for our hard work. I understand that marching band isn’t a sport, but c’mon, neither is developmental golf.

Before the school year even starts, we spend more than 50 hours at preseason learning and preparing for our show. Many of those hours are used to run marching basics out on the parking lot in the sweltering heat because the “real sports” get Teamer. We train for long periods, moving back and forth in the parking lot in different line variations, practicing our forward, backward and side-to-side march-

of the Pioneer Pit in 10 seconds when we rush the stands.

Marching band wouldn’t be given team sport credit because the school guidelines state that a team sport must be a PIAA approved one. But unlike large teams where players can stay on the bench for games, everyone in marching band participates and gets plenty of exercise.

Team sports may spend more hours in a season than us, but we still clock far more than 30 hours for the fall semester, which is the number students must meet if they go to the YMCA or another facility.

Every Wednesday night from the start of school until mid-November, we spend two and a half hours fine-tuning our half-time show, even though a good portion of the student body talks, vapes, or makes a mad dash to the concession stand once we take the field. Of the Friday Night Trifecta (football team, cheerleaders, and marching band), the band kids are the only ones that don’t get PE credit for their If the Kaitlyn Chen/The SPOKEcontributions. cheerleaders get credit breathing enough to play a for cheering and performing trumpet? And don’t even get complex stunts, and the football me started on the 35-pound team receives credit for playing, drums that put me in physi- then we should receive credit for cal therapy for my lower back. marching our show every week.

At the end of the day, As a drum major, waving your arms for three minutes we deserve to receive EEPE straight at a consistent tempo credit for what we do. After is a lot harder than it looks. all, at least we’re doing someAnd at home games, I sprint thing and not just forging our from the sideline to the center papers. ing, before finally learning our show drill for the season.

There is a lot physical effort put into band, whether it’s pushing air through a tuba, marching while weighed down by a drum, or spinning flags in both hands.

Marching band might not be a sport, but don’t you dare try to tell me that it’s not physically challenging. Have you ever marched backwards on your toes at 147 beats per minute while keeping perfect posture and controlling your

Se is e un

Kaitlyn Chen/The SPOKE

Crush holiday creepers

Elizabeth Billman Co-Web Editor

I was walking into the grocery store, shivering from the dropping October temperatures, when I saw it: a cheap, plastic fabric draped over a giant figure with a smile so fake he could be evil. The statue stared at me as his animatronic hand struggled to wave and a slow, broken rendition of “It’s beginning to look like Christmas” played from the speaker on its foot. Santa. I dropped my groceries in shock and walked out of the store.

We know that Halloween is in October, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas in December. Somehow, the consumer culture of America seems

to have lost the message. How many times have we walked into a Sears in November and Christmas decorations are already on the shelf? Halloween candy is being sold in August.

Starbucks shoves pumpkin spice lattes down my throat before I can even buy school supplies.

And the second Halloween is over, people go straight to playing Christmas songs.

Big brand names are notorious for promoting this holiday commercialism. The US Postal Service announces their new holiday themed stamps on July 25. On Sept. 5, Home Depot puts their Halloween and Christmas decorations in stores and Macy opens up its holiday store. Yet as stores open up early to draw us in with their ‘deals’, we are falling for it as a society.

Total retail activity this year is expected to reach $1.04 trillion, an increase this year by 4.5 percent.

This phenomenon even has its own name: the Christmas Creep, used to describe the abundance of retailers introduc-

ing holiday products before the holiday’s actual occurrence.

This extreme consumerism in the US reaches its peak on Black Friday, which invades into Thanksgiving holiday as stores on Nov. 24. Shoppers infamously push and shove each other to the extent of fistfighting over pointless material ojects.

The multitude of commercial holiday advertisements on television, storefronts, and websites only enforces our association of material goods with holidays. In the process, we lose the idea that holidays are meant to be spent with our families.

Holidays are not about material items. Whether it holds religious meaning or just an emotional one, holiday season is more than just what decorations are in the yard or what gifts are underneath the wrapping paper. So take your time this year to enjoy and don’t rush to have a giant plastic Santa (or other non-denominational present giving figures) sitting in your living room while you carve the Thanksgiving turkey.

Jennifer Lee/The SPOKE

10

Sports

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Pioneers push their way to the playoffs James P. Infortuna and Warren Zhao

Seven of the eight fall sports qualified for post season playoffs.

Staff Reporters

Boys Cross Country The boys’ cross country team faced tough odds this year after unexpectedly losing several fast underclassmen, as well as last year’s seniors. During the regular season, the Pioneers would regularly place in the middle in tri-school meets.

“After losing two of our runners that we didn’t think were Aimee Buttenbaum/The SPOKE (leaving), our goal was just to get Racing forward: The boys’ cross country team begins its race in one of their Central League meets. The boys as many wins as we could during league meets and then at Cenended up ranking nine out of 12 in the Central League.

trals, just trying to finish in the middle to upper pack,” senior captain Jacob Robinson said.

The varsity team ended up placing ninth out of 12 teams at Centrals, while the JV placed seventh.

According to Robinson, the Pioneers went into districts with the expectation of not qualifying for the State competition as a team. However, while the team got 44th out of 55, Robinson

personally qualified to run at the PIAA state championship on Nov. 4.

While ’Stoga had a challenging season, Robinson remains hopeful for the future.

“We have a bunch of really promising freshmen, and this was just a good year for experience and training for these kids.

We still competed hard, but this was definitely more of a growing season,” Robinson said.

Girls Volleyball After becoming the first volleyball team in Conestoga history to make it past the first round of playoffs, the 2017 girls’ team took a loss in the second round of playoffs to Perkiomen Valley.

While the girls finished the fall season with a handful of successes, winning matches against Great Valley and Radnor and ultimately winning the Central League, there was some uncertainty at the start of the season as

to how well the team would work together.

“It was kind of rough at the beginning, we really didn’t know what we were doing. But eventually everybody kind of found their place,” senior Abby Francis said.

According to Francis, team bonding activities and the general environment have made the team a more cohesive unit, leading to better communications and better play across the court.

Their volleyball spirit events, including their annual Dig Pink night and Senior Night, contributed to the bonding of the team.

After suffering the loss against Perkiomen Valley in the second round of district playoffs, the final record for the Conestoga girls’ volleyball team was 15-7-0.

And after breaking two records just this season, the James P. Infortuna/The SPOKE team is only more ready for the 2018 season.

On the court: The girls’ volleyball team scores a point in their first match of the district championships against Upper Dublin. They lost to Perkiomen Valley in the second round. They will not be continuing to the state championships.

Girls Tennis The ’Stoga girls’ tennis team was shaken up at the beginning of the season when their top-ranked singles player from last year, Ashley Griffith, moved to Florida to pursue an education at Saddlebrook, a school specifically meant for high school tennis athletes.

“The beginning of the season was (spent) figuring out how we would move everyone around because we all got Courtesy Nina Herman pushed up one spot (in the Serving it up: Sophomore Coco Kambayashi competes in a duo match. The girls’ tennis team won their first team rankings),” senior captain Nina Herman said. playoff game of the postseason against Central High but fell to North Allegheny in the second round.

According to Herman, since `Stoga had a stronger team composition last year and still was eliminated in the first round of the state tournament, some of the girls believed that the team wouldn’t even make it to states this year. `Stoga netted a win in the first round against Central High in Philadelphia, but fell against eventual state champions North Allegheny in the second round.

“I’m very satisfied with how we performed. We start-

ed out the season very unsure of ourselves because everything was different and we didn’t know how the team chemistry would work, but by the end, we all were working really well together and became a really close team,” Herman said.

As for next year, the team is losing some of their top players with the graduating class of 2018. But nonetheless, the tennis team is ready to take on the playoff season once again.

Girls Field Hockey With a new coach at the helm, the girls’ field hockey team began this season with a renewed sense of energy.

Head coach, Kerry de Vries, brought an air of excitement to a team that is already used to winning.

“We had some experience with her and she is an unbelievable coach,” senior Dani Dittman said.

For the fifth year in a row `Stoga field hockey won the Central League and once

again qualified for the state tournament. After receiving a bye in the first round of the district playoffs, the team continued to win its next three games, sending them to the district championship game.

“Stoga field hockey has been really successful,” Dittman said.

The team lost to Downingtown West in the District championship game, held on Nov. 4, with a final score of 3-2.

While the team may have

lost the district championships, it has still qualified for the state championship bracket.

The girls competed in their first round of state game on Nov. 7 against Easton High School at Methacton and won with a score of 5-0. The next game for them is scheduled against Hershey on Saturday Nov. 11.

James P. Infortuna/The SPOKE “We’re just gonna try our hardest and see how far we can Pushing to victory: Senior Grace McEvoy passes the ball to her teammates in the game against Downingtown get,” Dittman said.

East. The field hockey team lost the district finals against Dowingtown West with a score of 3-2.

Girls Cross Country The girls’ cross country team started off the season on a strong note. The team won its first meet and kept up the momentum throughout the rest of the season, eventually going undefeated in the Central League and winning the Central League title, for only the second time in ’Stoga history. The next step was district playoffs on Oct. 27 at Lehigh University, and that Courtesy Dominique Shultz certainly didn’t disappoint.

Going the distance: Senior Dominique Shultz runs number 2402 and takes to the hills of Pennsylvania to While Conestoga’s team compete in one of the district races. Shultz placed 10th at the state competition and will continue to regionals. did not advance to states, se-

nior Dominique Shultz did.

This was her fourth year competing at states.

Shultz placed 8th in the district finals and 10th at the state competition, and will continue to regionals just this year.

Shultz credits the success of the Conestoga team to its coach, Joe Puleo. After taking over for the second half of last season, Puleo gave the girls a fresh change of pace.

“He set up a very outlined plan of what he wanted the

girls to accomplish,” Shultz said. “We definitely had a stricter regiment.”

Overall, the girls finished the season with a great deal of success; ending their regular season with a record of 11-0-0.

And although Conestoga’s fall season is over, they’ll return next season with their sights set on victory. But for now, the team looks forward to the upcoming track seasons in both the winter and the spring.

Girls Soccer Two years ago, the girls’ soccer team broke a two decade long streak of qualifying for the postseason playoffs.

But that didn’t stop them. After that loss they came back with a vengeance in 2016 and again in 2017, finishing the regular season with a 13-3-2 record.

“We started off pretty well.

We weren’t playing the hardest teams and then we started to play some harder teams,” senior captain Rachel DiRico said.

But the girls’ soccer team faced more adversity with an abundance of injuries. Senior Ceara Sweaney entered the season with an ACL tear and senior Caitlyn Ellerbeck and junior Emily Wertz both left the season with ACL tears.

After receiving a bye for the first round of playoffs, the girls took on Neshaminy at Teamer Field.

But the night was not one the Pioneers were expecting.

The regular game ended with a tie, one-to-one, with the sol-

itary goal scored by junior Nia Scott. Within the rules of District Playoffs, the teams then went into overtime, and then double overtime. In the double overtime round, Neshaminy won through a penalty kick, eliminating the Pioneers from the rest of the postseason playoffs.

The team for 2018 will have ten open positions for returning players to move up and new players to join beJames P. Infortuna/The SPOKE cause of the graduating class Running wild: Senior Emily Maneri chases down the ball in the first round of the district postseason playoffs. The of 2018. girls’ soccer team lost in the first rounds after a double overtime.

Boys Soccer The Conestoga boys’ soccer team has been a titan on the field in years past, especially with the 2017 team making it all the way to the playoff rounds once again. With an undefeated run in the Central League that ended with their fourth straight Central League title this year, the Pioneers are looking to claim yet another winning season.

“We started out scoring a lot of goals. Chris (Donovan) realCourtesy Nick Maier ly helped us out at the beginSmiling wide: The senior class of the boys’ soccer team poses after winning the district championship. The boys ning of the season,” senior captain Michael McCarthy said. went undefeated in their regular season, only tying one game.

“Our defense was a little shaky, but our coaches switched some defenders around and now we’re really solid.”

The team ended the regular season with a score of 12-0-1.

And `Stoga’s performance in the state playoffs has been successful trumping both Perkiomen Valley and Kennett High Schools and ultimately taking home the win during the district championship against Council Rock High School on Nov. 4.

“Everybody’s excited (going into playoffs). We have a lot

of veterans on the team who have played big minutes in big games in both state and district playoffs. Everyone’s excited, and we just want to get to where we were last year,” McCarthy said.

In the state rounds of postseason, the Pioneers met Ephrata High School on Nov. 7 at Downingtown West High School in the first round of the championship, winning with a score of 2-1.

The boys continue to push through their post season to hold their title.

11

Sports

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

`Stoga athletes smash the scoreboards Aimee Buttenbaum and Jordan Liu Staff Reporter and Co-Web Editor

To many, breaking a record is usually done by a slim margin.

Maybe a few points more, or just a couple seconds quicker, barely edging out the previous record.

But more than that? Unheard of.

Doubling the record? Impossible.

Yet just this fall sports season, three `Stoga athletes broke the impossible.

Gabi Castro 1,000. Let that number sink in.

Few athletes in ’Stoga history can claim they’ve done 1,000 of anything, and senior and volleyball captain Gabi Castro has just added herself to that exclusive club.

Castro recently achieved her 1,000th dig since her first year on varsity as a freshman—an achievement in itself—at a district game against Upper Dublin, which ’Stoga won 3-0. In vol-

leyball, a dig is a defensive save against an offensive move from the opposition, keeping the team in the game.

Aside from her role as a captain, Castro is a libero, or defensive player—similar to a goalie in soccer. And throughout her high school volleyball career, she’s managed over 1,000 digs, shattering Class of 2013 alumna Heather Ward’s 2012 record of 861 digs.

For her last year on ’Stoga girls volleyball, Castro felt that the achievement was a nice conclusion to her high school volleyball career.

“It was amazing. It felt like everything came together at the end, and I felt like I actually did something that meant a lot to ’Stoga volleyball,” Castro said.

However, this milestone was not planned.

“I didn’t know I was going to get 1,000 until two games ago, when my coach said I needed 30 more,” Castro said. “We only had two games left in the season, so

Eric Xue/The SPOKE

Ready to pounce: Senior Gabi Castro winds up for a serve against Upper Dublin High School on Oct. 24. Castro has been playing on varsity as a digger since her freshman year.

I really pushed till the end, and I did it. Perfectly timed.”

As a captain, Castro hopes to be a role model for her teammates as they push to new heights this season.

“I’m not a very vocal person, so I lead by example,” Castro said.

“I guess that’s my way of showing my team all the hard work I’ve put in, and I feel like they respect me for all of my efforts.”

Leaving her mark on ’Stoga volleyball, Castro reflects on what she believes has been an unforgettable year.

“I think this team has been really inspirational. We were the first ones to get past the first round of districts and I’m extremely proud,” Castro said. “This entire year has been monumental for ’Stoga volleyball. I’m really proud of them.”

Chris Donovan As a striker on Conestoga’s varsity boys’ soccer team, senior Chris Donovan has scored 50 goals so far in the regular season, smashing the previous record of 23, set in 2010 by Michael Gonzalez.

And as the leading scorer on ’Stoga’s team as a sophomore and junior, Donovan’s often scored the game-winning goal.

Last year, he netted the single goal that led to ’Stoga’s victory at the state championship.

“We had so many chances in that game that the goal I ended up scoring was the one I’d least expected,” Donovan said. “I think the way that we play helps the most. The thing we do best is not thinking about the pressure.”

Donovan attributes this year’s success to the fact that this is his first full season as a striker, opening up opportunities.

“I think I’ve matured, gotten faster and stronger, but mainly

it’s the position change,” Donovan said. “From the wing you don’t get as many chances to score. “ In addition to the position change, he’s improved his skill.

Senior and soccer captain Nick Jennings, a lifelong friend of Donovan, appreciates this improvement.

“He’s just put in so much work.

Every day in the summer, he’s at the track running two miles, always getting better,” Jennings said. “There hasn’t been a defender that’s been able to keep up with him. His speed and technical abilities are just amazing.”

Soccer head coach David Zimmerman appreciates Donovan’s contribution to the team, not only as a soccer player, but also as a teammate.

“He’s the king of goal scoring,” Zimmerman said. “And sometimes you get players that are like ‘I’m too good for you,’ but Chris is nothing like that at all. He’s a very genuine, down-to-earth person.”

Charlotte de Vries The exhilarating thrill that rushes through an athlete after scoring a goal is an indescribable feeling, but for Charlotte de Vries,

Aimee Buttenbaum/The SPOKE

Racing forward: Junior Charlotte de Vries pulls the ball across her body in preparation for a shot against Dowingtown East. De Vries reached 100 goals in her high school career on Oct. 10. it is something that she has now felt over 100 times in her high school career.

De Vries is an attacking center mid player for the Conestoga girls’ varsity field hockey team and recently hit her own personal record of 100 goals, as only a junior, during the team’s game against Penncrest on Oct. 10.

With an assist from senior captain Kiley Allen, de Vries fired the ball into the cage with a reverse chip. The game ended with a 5-0 win for the Pioneers and a celebration for de Vries’ achievement.

“I kind of knew it was coming,”

Courtesy The Philadelphia Inquirer

Sliding in: Senior Chris Donovan takes the ball from an opposing player from Henderson High School. Donovan currently has 48 personal goals this season.

de Vries said. “It was in an easy game, but I felt accomplished.”

De Vries began her field hockey career at the age of four when she lived in Belgium. Following in the footsteps of her mother, de Vries is going to continue her field hockey career in college at the University of North Carolina beginning in 2019.

“I have a bunch of friends going to UNC and I really love the campus and the coaches. I fell in love with it,” de Vries said.

While de Vries has become an amazing player on the field, this sport has also aided her with other aspects of life off the field.

“It’s made me a really busy person and it has helped me with time management,” de Vries said. “It taught me how to work with other people.”

Outside of Conestoga, de Vries made the U17 team in ninth grade and then moved on to the U19 team in 10th and 11th grade, both of which are Junior National Teams for Team USA. De Vries hopes to take her talent to the next level after college.

“I am going to try and make it to the actual national team which goes to the Olympics,” de Vries said. “That’s my goal in life.”

Cut junior varsity; We’re not playing games here

Avery Maslowsky Sports Editor

Stop what you’re doing.

NOW. Sound the alarm, call the police, do something. PLEASE. Conestoga is infected and in dire need of intense sterilization. It’s bad, really bad. Junior varsity sport players actually think they are athletes.

It’s crazy, I know. I mean let’s all be honest with ourselves; the only reason the school’s keeping around the junior varsity teams is to keep the uniform manufacturing company in business. But the players themselves think that it’s actually more than this.

They actually believe they’re essential to the development of each sport.

And it’s spreading. Junior varisty sporting teams sparked a movement across social media platforms, creating their own pages and wrangling up support for their teams. It’s just all gone too far.

But, I’ll admit it. I once too was squirming with the sickness. I lived and breathed junior varsity sports, attending as many games as I could each week. I cheered at the JV girls basketball games, screamed for the JV football team and even took pictures for the JV softball team. But I’m better now, I swear. I snapped back to reality, back to the real world, back to the world where varsity athletes are the only athletes at Conestoga.

I mean it was bad. I used to beg my friends to come out to the JV grass field for each one of my field hockey games. And I used to get nervous before playing each game, completely forgetting that no one ever really cared about what the JV final score was, even if we won. I was so sick. Sick with

JVsportsarerealsports-itis.

The saddest part is that it was only a few weeks ago I snapped out of my alternate reality. One Thursday morning, I tried to cram in some last-minute studying before class started when I heard the two girls in front of me talking about `Stoga sports being broadcasted on TETV. Feeling knowledgeable with my love of watching Channel 14, or the TESD channel, on my home TV, I replied back saying that the varsity sport she played only really aired once and sports like boys soccer aired more frequently. Furious with my criticism to her beloved varsity sport, she responded, saying she could “roast me so hard” if she wanted too. Delighted with the conversation, I told her to continue. Feeling accomplished with her argument she said something along the lines of “you are a junior on JVA field hockey, you shouldn’t even be talking right now.” And in that moment, I opened my eyes. I saw the truth that my

Jennifer Lee/The SPOKE

mind was trying to shield. I saw how superior varsity athletes are.

As I bowed down to her and kissed her feet, I knew I never again would allow myself to be-

come entangled in the lies that are junior varsity programs. I mean who was I kidding. It’s not like junior varsity teams are the fundamental environment for building skills, it’s

not like junior varsity teams can go undefeated in the Central League and it’s absolutely not like junior varsity athletes know how to kick the soccer ball or score a goal in a lacrosse game.

SPORTS

The SPOKE

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Senior slams national weightlifting competition

Crunching the Numbers

Emma Clarke Staff Reporter

When senior Gavin Bell deadlifted 524 pounds at a recent powerlifting competition, he was competing without a team or coach. While sports such as football emphasize the team aspect of athletics, Bell, who began weightlifting in eighth grade, has been flying solo.

While training for football, Bell discovered powerlifting, a form of competitive weightlifting in which competitors attempt the squat, deadlift and benchpress.

He is able to squat 458 pounds, deadlift 524 pounds and bench press 285 pounds.

“I quickly began to enjoy [weightlifting] much more than playing football and sports in general,” Bell said.

Bell just started competing in the squat, deadlift and bench press last February, participating in various state and national competitions.

“I had just quit lacrosse and was looking to compete in something again. I was already training pretty hard and wanted to see how I stacked up against other kids my age in weightlifting,” Bell said.

Most recently, he placed second at the National Championships this October.

Although Bell trains without a coach, he does not see this as a drawback.

“Since I taught myself how to train, I learned how my body responds to different training styles and learned exactly what works for me,” Bell said.

He said that this training does not only require building muscle, but also focusing on technique in the gym.

“Powerlifting is much more technical than people think. It takes a lot of time and practice to master the three lifts,” Bell said.

Since he started competing, Bell has excelled in several different competitions. He placed first at the Liberty Bell Classic and Mid-Atlantic Regional Cham-

The 1st weightlifting world championships was held in

London, 1891 8,543 weightlifting related injuries occurred in children 14 and under during the past year

700+ participants Neil Goldenthal/The SPOKE

Lifting big time: Senior Gavin Bell participates in the National Championship for weightlifting in Las Vegas.

Bell quit lacrosse last year to pursue a weightlifting journey; along the way he set his own personal record of 458 pounds for squatting, 524 pounds for deadlifting and 285 pounds for benchpressing. pionship and second in the PA State Championship and 2017 Raw National Championship in his division. At the National Championship, total lifts typically ranged from about 200 to about 800 kg, depending on age, gender and level.

Bell has also had to work to find a balance between school and training. He typically trains six days a week, coming into the school gym before classes, and takes Sunday as an optional day.

Bell’s self-reliance and determination have led him to this

point in his life, and he hopes for even greater success in the future.

“It’s a sport where you compete against yourself just as much as other people, so I’m just always trying to be better and that’s all I really need,” Bell said.

Serving wins: Former TESD student takes second place win at Junior Wimbledon Lyvia Yan

Centerspread Editor

The last time two American female junior competitors competed for the Wimbledon finals was in 1979, and the last female-junior to win the event was Chanda Rubin in 1992.

attended the 2016 Youth National Championships

2017 was a year of change.

Former Conestoga High School student, Ann Li competed against the best junior players around the world in junior Wimbledon. The 17-year-old, although unseeded (a preliminary ranking), showed her grit and perseverance and made it to the finals, competing against

Courtesy Ann Li

Swinging to the top: 17-year-old Ann Li perfects her forehand swing.

Li started her tennis career when she was just five years old. Today she competes in competitions like the junior Wimbeldon held in London.

Claire Liu, No. 3 seed, also 17.

“My mindset was just to have fun because I love grass— it helped me a lot. I wasn’t really nervous, surprisingly. Besides the semis and the finals, obviously, but other than that I wasn’t really nervous,” Li said, “I kinda knew I was better than the other girls on grass, so that helped a little as well.”

The tournament takes place in July every year with 64 players competing against each other bracket-style. Although Li lost to Liu 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the final, Li beat No. 1 seed Kayla Day in the quarterfinals, marking her first victory over Day. “When she beat (Day) that was a really big win because it signaled a belief that said ‘Hey, I can play at this level. This girl is number one in the world in juniors,’” said Jon Glover, a former professional player and coach of Li since she was 10 years old.

Li started playing tennis at Teegarden park when she was only around five years old.

“My brother played before me, so I just wanted to go along with him,” Li said. She never imagined that 10 years later, she would be playing on the same court as her idols.

At the Wimbledon ball, or the dance of the event, she met her childhood hero, Roger Federer, and even took a picture with him.

“That was just such a magical moment,” Li said.

To accommodate training, Li transitioned to online school.

Her schedule allows her to complete homework assignments without strict deadlines and travel to various national facilities to sharpen her skills.

“My tennis career has really kicked off since starting online school,” Li said. “I get so much more time to train and travel to

Sources: International Weightlifting Federation, FACTA Universities, Barbend.com

COMMITMENT CORNER

tournaments and not feel the pressure of telling my teachers every time and giving a reason to the school.”

Li has trained around the nation at Arthur Ashe Legacy in Philadelphia, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) facility in Flushing, NY, and the USTA National Campus in Orlando. Aside from the training facilities and workout regimes, much of Li’s success can be attributed to Glover.

“When I started playing tennis right away I just tried to hit the ball as hard as I could, but but he really helped show me that I could (hit every shot) and helped me create a base and a bunch of tools I could use,” Li said.

After Wimbledon, Li returned to the US and won a professional tournament in Evansville, Indiana. She was awarded $15,000 for winning the women’s draw.

“Confidence is a weird thing—it’s hard to get but once you have it, it brings your game forward, and now you see she’s got a different look in her eye, she carries herself mentally, and she thinks she can compete with anybody,” Glover said.

That confidence helped Li get a scholarship to Louisiana State University for tennis. She looks forward to dedicating more time to her sport under the direction of Michael Sell, who used to coach Serena Williams, winner of the second-most Grand Slam tennis women’s singles titles of all time.

“When I was younger I wanted to be number one in the world,” Li said.

Her hard work and dedication have proven valuable in her career. Only time will tell if her childhood dreams will be fulfilled.

Caitlin Donovan School: La Salle University Grade: 10 Sport: Soccer Why La Salle?: “I love the size and location of the school. Also the coaches are really nice.”

Favorite ’Stoga Soccer Memory: “My favorite memory was beating Penncrest High School because it was a very important game and there was a great team effort.”

SCORELINE Football

W L T

• • •

1 9 0

B Soccer

• • •

16 0 1

Regular season scores as of 11/6

G Soccer

• • •

13 3 1

G Tennis

• • •

17 0 0

B XC

• • •

10 1 0

G XC

• • •

11 0 0

Golf

• • •

12 0 0

Volleyball

• • •

15 7 0

Field Hockey

• • •

16 2 0