October 2013

By thenumbers

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101340

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teacher selected for the H.O.P.E. award

(see page 2)

parades the band partici-pated in this

month(see page 3)

foot tall bird in downtown Pittsburgh(see page 5)

year wait, but golf team returns

to playoffs(see page 10)

the cut-offage for

trick-or-treating(see page 6)

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When was the last time you went to the library to check out a book and were completely unsure where to look? If you’ve been to the high school library at all this school year, you probably experienced this feeling for at least a few seconds.

When you enter the library, you will see to your left 12 large bookshelves where there used to be tables. Where the computer desks and both fiction and reference sections used to be is now a classroom where different courses are taught like Holocaust Literature.

This was more than just a change in arrangement to the library; it was a total renovation. Over the summer, Mrs. Carole Hartman and a few helpers removed all of the books from the shelves that were affected by the change. “It was an unbelievable mess,”

Hartman said as she described that day. The carpet had been completely removed and replaced. Half of the library was painted a bright yellow to match the colorful chairs in the classroom portion of the library.

Another change was the teachers’ conference room being relocated to one of the offices connected to the library. The goal with these changes was to make it more like a college library and prepare the students for what to expect.

Hartman questions the students who have yet to visit the library this year. “What are [you] doing? Books are really really really good sources.”

New books have also made their way to the shelves of the Freedom High School library. Newly added books include fiction, nonfiction and resource as well as SAT preparatory books. Because SAT-prep. books can be quite expensive, this is a great resource students can use at any time.

One feature that many students do not know is that the card catalog is student laptop accessible, meaning you can look up the status of a book from your own home. The school has the program, “Destiny Library System,” pre-installed on the laptops in the “Library Resources” folder. A new research database was added over the summer called Proquest.

This database is “reliable and scholarly, and is always very current and up-to-date,” Hartman said. Though an online source can be great, she does want to build up the reference and nonfiction, too.

“Weed out the old and build up on updated,” Hartman said

The library is still changing; this is just the beginning. Plans for the library stretch into next school year.

New look for the old stack of booksJennifer WallisManaging Editor

Comments? Email Jen at [email protected]

Camo 4 CodyFHS students come together to support Cody Zedak

On Oct. 17, the entire student body came together to support one cause: “Camo 4 Cody.” Almost every student

was covered from head to toe with different “camo” clothing. After a car accident involving Senior Emily Parish and Sophomores Marshal McBride, Kyleigh Zedak, and Cody Zedak on Oct. 13, Cody was hospital-ized. Friends and family decided that awareness should be spread through-out the school.

As Cody remains in the hospital, the amount of support Freedom has shown for him is outstanding. Awareness days have allowed for students to become involved as FHS pulls together in support for Cody.

“This is going to go on for a while…There are a lot of things the family is going to need support with,” Principal Mr. Timothy Dadich said. Dadich is prepared for more awareness days to happen down the road for the Zedak family. Money jars are now placed at local establishments so that the rest of the community can get involved.

According to Zedak’s sister, Sophomore Kyleigh Zedak, the VFD is planning on raising money through a spaghetti dinner and Chinese auction around the beginning of December. There are also camouflage shirts for sale, which can be ordered over the “Camo 4 Cody” webpage on Facebook or by seeing Kyleigh directly. By the time spring comes around, there will be a biker benefit with a few bands playing a free concert.

Currently, Cody is in a coma and has endured surgery with more to follow in the future.

“I had practically melted down,” Kyleigh Zedak said. “Camo 4 Cody” day greatly affected her. “I couldn’t believe everyone actually cared…I pretty much wanted to stand there and cry and say thank you.”

Mr. Dadich stresses the fact that he believes that the student body of FHS is a family. He wasn’t surprised that nearly everyone wore camo because he knew we would be able to come together for something so important. “Not everybody here talked to Cody…but again he is still a part of our family. You have your own personal family you might not talk to all the time but what counts is it impacts the entire family. They might not know Cody, but they might know

Kyleigh; they might know Marshal and they’re affected by it. In the end we’re all affected. It’s one of our family members,” Dadich said in response to all the support that had been shown.

Though this is an unfortunate situation, the student body is coming together for one cause: to show support and love for a brother and a sister. One day, Cody will be able to see everything his peers have done for him and his family, and even though he may not be fully aware as of the moment, it’ll have a great effect on him. Continue to wear camo for Cody, even if it’s not a designated day. Be the person who goes out and donates. Buy a shirt, and show all the love you can for the Zedak family.

Carly ParkContributing Writer

Comments? Email Carly at [email protected]

Friends of Cody wear camouflage to support him when he needs it most.

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NEWSFHS-PRESS

7the iOS update reviewed in the “Sassy Sidebar”

(see page 6)

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Driver’s Education (Driver’s Ed.) is one of the few opportunities future and current drivers at FHS have to learn and educate themselves on the rules of driving and the precau-tions to take.

Driver’s Ed. is meant to teach students not only the rules of the road, but the dangers of driving under the influence and texting while driving. “In the class, students read articles about teen car accidents, discuss the Pennsylvania Driver’s Manual and watch videos on different topics,” Instructor Ms. Kelly DeFilippo said.

The class began on Sept. 24 and runs every Tuesday. There are only eight students who are enrolled in DeFilippo’s class. With such a small amount of students, the class is extremely relaxed and is not as stress-ful as some of the classes we offer here at Freedom. The lack of participation may be due to the poor advertisement for the course. Students who wished to participate in this course had to search endlessly for information to ensure they were enrolled correctly.

The class teaches the students beneficial knowledge of the road. “I think that Drivers Education benefits the students because what they learn in class is what we hope you would

do on the road,” Defilippo said. “You learn things in class that really teach you what to do and what not to do and hopefully [it] prepares you for when you are actually in these situations we learn about.”

Another program offered by FHS is behind-the-wheel training, which is only six sessions compared to Driver’s Ed.’s 14. The class is a great way for students to increase their knowledge about the rules of the road and driving techniques.

2 October 31, 2013FHS Press

Grace HutchisonStaff Writer

Driving students crazy

Comments? Email Grace at [email protected]

Government shutdown

For the first time in the last 17 years, the United States government failed to pass a new spending bill to keep the government operational. This means that starting on Oct. 1, the government went into a partial shutdown. Thousands of federal workers deemed not essential for the safety and well-being of the public, such as national park workers and presidential aides were furloughed. As a result, all of these employees did not receive paychecks as long as the shutdown lasted.

The reason for the shutdown was because the Republican-controlled Senate did not want to fund the Afford-able Care Act, popularly referred to as ObamaCare. Since the government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, when it no longer had money set aside to spend at the deadline, the stage was set for a shutdown in order to avoid accruing more debt. It is against federal law for government agencies

to spend any taxpayer money without it being set aside for that purpose by Congress. This forces the govern-ment to have to shutdown any agency deemed non-essential, such as NASA and the National Science Foundation.

One of the agencies included in the shutdown was the National Park Service. They run all of the national parks that millions of people visit every year. However, without any funding, the park service was forced to shut down and ask everyone that was camping within the parks to leave within the next two days. This left many tourists scrambling to find something else to do on their trip or find somewhere else to camp. In addition, all other government funded programs, such as AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, were left unfunded. These programs provide help to both America and many other countries.

If the shutdown would have continued, more disastrous effects would have happened within the economy. The stock market was expected to fall and the likelihood of new jobs being created was slim. Since

1977, there have been 17 shutdowns. Most of these shutdowns have ended within three days. The last shutdown lasted for a total of 21 days, from Dec. 16, 1995 to Jan. 5, 1996, during the Clinton Administration. According to CNN, if the shutdown surpassed a month, there would have been signifi-cant damage to our economy, most of which would take months to reverse.

The new spending bill was put into effect on Oct. 16. As soon as the bill was signed, the new spending act became effective, and most govern-ment offices reopened around noon the next business day. Had the new spending act not been signed by Oct. 17, many people expected the govern-ment to run out of borrowing money to continue operations. This would mean that the United States government would have defaulted on its loans for the first time in its history. This would only have happened if Congress did not pass the bill to raise the debt limit by its deadline.

Jacob LandisAsst. Business Manager

Comments? Email Jacob at [email protected]

When almost every classroom was moved for the beginning of this school year, there was one change that seemed slightly larger than the rest. This new change was made to create the Freshman Academy. The academy is described by English teacher Mrs. Andrea Niedbala as, “the idea that all freshmen have the same teachers for each of their core classes.” These core classes— English, History, Science, Mathematics and Computer skills— are taught by Niedbala, Mrs. Maria Porter, Mr. Craig Atkison, Mr. Ed Shephard and Mrs. Valerie Marburg-er, respectively.

“These classes have the same expectations,” Niedbala said. These expectations affect Academic Assistance Period (AAP) policies, homework policies and writing expectations. For successfully meeting these new AAP expectations, students

will earn .25 credits towards gradua-tion.

The students are also required to have an “Academy Binder,” which holds all items for each core class. This limits the likelihood of students losing papers or forgetting them in their locker.

“It is not how all kids organize themselves,” Freshman Devin Daley said. He believes the binder is a good idea, though. Daley feels that the binder hasn’t improved his organiza-tional skills.

Other students have differ-ing opinions. “The Academy Binder has kept [freshmen] much more organized,” Freshman Maddie Edder said.

The main goal for the academy is to help the freshmen adapt and grow into their new environment as they enter high school. Though the teachers say the students are adapting to the changes quickly, some students find the change unnecessary.

“I think the academy is a good

idea to help freshmen transition more smoothly into the high school,” Edder said. “But I think it would help even more if we were mixed in with upperclassmen more often.”

Sophomore Stuart Skogsholm feels that his freshman year was successful and that it was “way better than [his] middle school years.”

So, why was the system changed? Now that students have the same teachers, the core class teachers are able to work together towards helping underperforming students, multi-class projects and other various tasks the teachers would have never been able to do without the establish-ment of this academy. Ultimately, the Freshman Academy allows teachers to both connect better with students and with one another to make the freshmen have a smoother transition into high school.

Fresh mess vs. fresh successDereck Majors

Asst. Business Manager

Comments? Email Dereck at [email protected]

H.O.P.E. Award

In September, the first H.O.P.E. Award was given for the school year. H.O.P.E. stands for Honoring Outstanding Professional Educators. All high school staff members are eligible for this award, and the recipient chosen must demonstrate the characteristic(s) for the specific theme of that month.

September’s H.O.P.E Award, with the theme kindness and compassion, was given to Mrs. Maria Porter. Students vote on who should receive the honor and Porter received the most votes and positive evaluations. She was recognized at the October school board meeting and had several students say many kind words about her.

Porter was very touched and honored to win the award. ”I really do put my heart and soul into my job and to realize that my kids notice that effort and realize how much I do care about them—not only as students but as kids—just warms my heart,” Porter said. “It is the best type of paycheck that a teacher can get.”

Porter also added that she tries to attack each day with a new attitude and tries to remember that everyone is dealing with something that we don’t always get to see.

“A little bit of kindness, even something as simple as a smile, does wonders and if I can be the person who makes someone smile or lets them know that they are loved and cared about, that is what I want to be,” Porter said.

Porter doesn’t go to work every day to teach history and leave; she goes to make a difference and tries to let her students know that her door is always open.

“To be honored with the H.O.P.E. Award means the world to me, but I would not be the teacher that I am if I did not get to work with so many wonderful students every single day,” Porter said. “I am who I am in the classroom because of the students at FHS.”

Emalee SekelyCopy Editor

Comments? Email Emalee at [email protected]

Back open for business

The Chain of Kindness is a way for people to show their good deeds to the entire school. Any time you see someone doing a good deed (or you yourself do a good deed) you will write it down on a paper link found in the cafeteria.

After you write the good deed down, you will submit them into the box with your grade on it in the cafete-ria. Additionally, teachers will be starting chains in their rooms.

Due to the positive response received after starting Rachel’s Challenge in our school, the chains are an easy way to keep track of the success of staring a chain reaction.

We hope that this will help keep Rachel’s sense of kindness inside our school. The Freidns of Rachel Club (FOR club) really hopes you will partic-ipate so that at the end of the year we can have a huge rally to show off your chains and your acts of kindness.

3October 31, 2013 FHS Press

Student of the Month awardKindness and compassion were

the two characteristics highlighted as the theme for September’s Student of the Month. A male and female from each grade were chosen as recipi-ents that exemplify compassion and kindness. The teaching staff looks for these qualities within students and votes on who they feel deserves the honor.

Junior Ryan Edder feels honored to win an award like this. “Kindness is just a gift I was born with,” Edder joked.

Freshman Jarrett Boyd also expressed the same feelings of honor by the award. “It’s nice to know that teachers and students feel that I can lead other students by example,” Boyd said.

The recipients of this award were recognized for these qualities at the September school board meeting.

Emalee SekelyCopy Editor


From left to right: Mr. Timothy Dadich, Senior Gigi DeWeese, Junior Ryan Edder, Junior Hope Ruckert, Freshman Jerrett Boyd, Sophomore Allison Bonaparte, Mr. Frank Hernandez, Freshman Hannah Shumsky, and Mrs. Ellen Hill.Missing from photo: Sophomore Brett Adams and Senior Tristan Cumberledge.

Photo submission: E

llen Hill

Firetrucks, instruments and candy

During the month of October, the band participated in two distinct parades: the Fireman’s Parade and New Brighton’s Halloween Parade.

The Fireman’s Parade took place on Oct. 12 and was the first year that Freedom’s band has marched in this parade.

Followed by several firetrucks, band members led the parade as they marched throughout New Sewickley from Suncrest Camp to the Big Knob Grange.

The second parade, took place on Oct. 23, was New Brighton’s Hallow-een parade. Several bands and

firetrucks also participated in this parade as they march the streets of New Brighton.

This is a favorite of both band members and bystanders. Not only do band members dress up in costumes, but onlookers often do as well.

A few years ago, the school stopped funding the transportation for Freedom’s Big Red Marching Band to participate in this event. Thankfully, the New Brighton Band Boosters provide the necessary funds to transport our band to and from the parade.

Gigi DeWeeseEditor-in-Chief

Comments? Email Gigi at [email protected]

Chains of kindnessJennifer Belair

Contributing Writer

Comments? Email Jennifer at [email protected]

Money rules our lives. Virtually nothing can happen in this society without the use of money. This is especially true on the topic of public schooling. The government only gives schools so much money to divvy up between their athletics, and somehow in the turbulence of funding, the balance between education and athletics has become uneven— tipped against education.

In total, Freedom Area School District (FASD) spent $452,757 on athletics in the 2013-14 school year. A large portion of this budget is spent paying coaches, officials, announcers and on other expenses. Entry dues and fees take $22,600 from this number, transportation has $41,501 allotted and $84,530 goes towards supplies.

On the contrary, FASD contributes no money to its clubs. Yes, it’s true: there is absolutely no funding towards clubs of any kind, even for clubs such as DECA, National Honor Society, and Science Club.

The purpose of an education is to learn, but based off of the budgeting of money, school is meant to encour-age students to play sports because it is the only way for one to be rewarded financially. Schools spend a tremen-dous amount of money on athletics, but other clubs are responsible for their own fundraising. Colleges give out money left and right for athletes instead of giving money to students that will give a good reputation to their school.

Athletics are an important aspect of the society in which we live. Encourag-ing young children to become involved with physical activity promotes healthy lifestyle choices and, how to work better with others. However, this does not mean that the education aspect of school should be neglected.

Even in the job market, employers look for people who are most qualified for the job. This decision usually falls on their educational backgrounds—how smart they are. So, why then are schools paying so much for non-educational activities?

Despite the money, sports do offer many benefits. They help developing teens and children gain essential life skills such as communication, collabo-ration, time management, responsibil-ity, hand-eye coordination and much more.

In contrast, according to Cleared-ToPlay.org Inc., “High school athletes suffer 2 million injures, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year.”

Why should taxpayers be paying for schools to encourage children (with developing brains and organs) to play sports and injure themselves only to find that those injuries require medical

attention? Then, those monies are put towards healing the injuries while those children lose brainpower in the process, therefore lessening their learning capabilities and the amount of scholarships available due to their lower grades. This requires more money out of the parents’ pockets, restricting their children from attend-ing prestigious schools as well as the jobs they can get in the future. These students now make a lower income and it is more difficult to support a family.

Obviously the outcome is unreal-istic, but the process is reality. How can anyone reasonably support what goes on in this system? Schools should be funding things that do matter: education.

Though many clubs are purely recreational and social, there are many clubs at Freedom that will help students that are interested in their futures.

Soccer, football, and other sports are funded through the regular season as well as when they make it to playoffs. In contrast, clubs do not even get the preliminary funding.

On the bright side, we can thank the coaches and coordinators for cutting down on expenses. Three years ago, the swimming and golf teams were going to be eliminated, but other sports teams cut out a total of approximately $44,000 to save these sports.

FASD “trimmed the budget 10% last year,” Athletic Director Mr. John Rosa said. “[We are] trying to save taxpayer money just by being smarter with our spending.”

Athletics are not to be blamed for the lack of funding for extracurriculars. In fact, many students that participate in these activities are also members of Freedom’s various athletic teams.

A balance between athletics and extracurriculars must be found. Surely there is a way to allocate district funds to meet the extracurricular needs of all students regardless of their interests.


STAFF EDITORIAL:

FHS Press — Editorial Board

Editorial Policies: FHS Press is the official student newspaper serving stu-dents and staff at Freedom Area High School, in Freedom, Pennsylvania. The views presented herein are not representative of the school, faculty, or adminis-tration; they are solely the views of individual student writers. The staff edito-rial is written based on the majority opinion of the student editorial board. The newspaper accepts and strives to publish signed letters to the editor under 250 words, which can be sent to [email protected]. To submit comments, questions, or press releases, or to purchase advertising in the paper, e-mail [email protected], or contact Mr. Fitzpatrick in Room 226.

News Editor: Hope RuckertAsst. News Editor: Courtney Schreiner

[email protected]

Sports Editor: Desiree DavisAsst. Sports Editor: Nick Schreiner

[email protected]

Art Director: Ally [email protected]

Web Editor: Kelsey [email protected]

Section Flags: Kelsey Velemirovich

Editorial Cartoon: Louis Dubovi

Features Editor: Jon BittnerAsst. Features Editor: Brianna Frashure

[email protected]

Business Manager:Louis DuboviAsst. Business Managers:

Dereck Majors and Jacob [email protected]

Newspaper Adviser: Mr. Aaron Fitzpatrick

[email protected]

Photo and Design Editor:Emily Hawk

[email protected]

Social Media Director: Courtney Schreiner

[email protected]

Editor-in-Chief: Gigi [email protected]

Managing Editor: Jennifer [email protected]

Copy Editor: Emalee [email protected]

Lauren DuboviMarley Hoko

Staff Writers:Michelle Keith

Grace Hutchison

Show me the moneyWhat is our budget funding?

Scan the QR code with your smart phone and go to

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Looming over the city of Pittsburgh was the presence of a mysteri-ous creature. Reaching a height of nearly 40 feet and a width of 30 feet, citizens of all ages stared in awe at the ferocious beast. Some feared it, others looked toward it with joy. Flocking to Point State Park, people looked for answers, searching for what all the fuss was about. Giant, yellow and surrounded by

unanswered questions, the infamous rubber duck of the Allegheny River is floating on.

On Sept. 27, the adorable addition to the city floated straight out of the bath tub and made its way along the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers, reaching the Roberto Clemente Bridge, where hundreds of onlookers welcomed the giant duck. Pittsburgh is the first city in North America to host this inflatable excitement. Before reaching Pittsburgh, the duck was stationed in Hong Kong.

Probably the biggest question asked by people, not only from our area, but anywhere in general is, “Why?” Personally, I wouldn’t ask for any explana-tions—a giant rubber duck is a giant rubber duck. I think a better question is, “Why don’t we always have a 40 foot tall duck floating for all to see?” But for those asking the former question, I think I can give you some answers.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not necessari-ly a recent event. In fact, the movement first started in 2007. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman designed the beast, and each city hosting it builds their own duck based off of his original designs. The goal of the duck is to float throughout cities, bringing joy. According to an interview with Hofman, he stated that the duck has “healing properties” because it knows no frontiers, doesn’t discriminate and doesn’t have a political connotation. So basically, everything you’d want in a giant rubber duck.

While the duck seemed pretty lovable, some people didn’t agree. In 2009, while ported in Belgium, vandals stabbed the yellow giant 42 times. Un-bill-lievable! The motive was unknown, for the main goal is that it is supposed to bring joy to people. Perhaps it looked at them the wrong way. Other than this minor setback, though, the movement has been quite the success.

Whatever you may think of this giant rubber duck, people have really been quacking about it. This beautiful creature has brought the communi-ty together in more ways than one, creating large gatherings at both the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the Point. It can also be argued by supersti-tious folks that it was a good luck charm for the Pittsburgh Pirates, in which case maybe it should stay here forever. While the next stop for the charming yellow giant is unknown, I am sure it will make a splash.

Something to quack about

Comments? Email Courtney at [email protected]

Courtney Schreiner

Asst. News Editor

The ultimate guide for a happy (and safe) HalloweenHaunted houses

and trick-or-treating. Costumes and candy fill store shelves. The scent of pumpkin-flavored everything in the air. This can only mean one thing: October is here, and with it comes Halloween.

There are so many fun activities that celebrate Halloween. First on the list is pumpkin carving—a Halloween classic that has no age restrictions.

Whether it be a silly or scary face, it’s a glowing work of squashy art. As for haunted houses, there are some local favorites like Freddy’s Haunts, the Scare House, Cheeseman’s and who could forget Kennywood’s Phantom Fright Nights? Although Kennywood isn’t exactly a haunted house, it still brings the same amount of Halloween fun. Maybe you’re more into Halloween parties with costume

contests and sweets that look gruesomely delicious, because who doesn’t love dressing up? You get to reinvent yourself for a night where your only limit is your own creativity.

According to Senior Jordan Kester, his favorite thing about Halloween is the creativity. “Hallow-een really seems to bring out the creativity in some people. I enjoy seeing the thought and effort put into things like Halloween costumes,” Kester said.

Maybe you’re reading this and you’re thinking, “I’m just not the partying type.” Don’t forget that there are always Halloween movies, too. It’s so easy to flip channels and find different horror movies or cartoon Halloween specials. Gather with some friends for a movie marathon, throw in a bowl of snacks or some pumpkin spice lattes and just chill out for a night.

Halloween is fantastically fun as is, but it is even more fun if you are safe about it. If you’re heading out to check out a haunted house, make sure you drive safely and follow rules or instructions given by the people running the haunted house. Maybe you’re not going trick-or-treating, but if you’re going

to be out on the road during trick-or-treat hours, be sure to be cautious of pedestrians. Small children in crazy costumes all hyped up on candy and Hallow-een spirit can be highly unpredictable, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Also, if you or your younger siblings are going trick-or-treating, make sure you are cautious and travel in groups with flashlights readily available, and also check the candy before eating it as fast as you can (as reckless and fun as that sounds). And by check it, I don’t mean just check for gross excuses for treats like crackers or a box of raisins, look for anything that may have been tampered with or opened. If you find something like that, just be proactive and throw it away.

If you’re one of those people that gets their Halloween kicks from putting firecrackers in their decaying jack-o-lanterns on the first day of November, just be safe and try not to get pumpkin guts everywhere. Other than that, have a Happy Halloween! Comments? Email Kelsey at

[email protected]

Kelsey Velemirovich

Web Editor

Countless students complain about the food served in our cafeteria, yet that hasn’t stopped anyone from eating it. Why eat something you don’t want when you have the option of bringing your own lunch, which is more than likely to be a healthy alternative? The food served for lunch in our school isn’t as bad as everyone claims. Contrary to popular belief, the school lunch isn’t different parts

of Frankenstein’s monster. There are some serious problems that should be addressed, though. The lack of juice on certain days of the week, C Lunch and the occasional expired pack of apples found at breakfast in the mornings leaves everyone in chaos when entering the cafeteria.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are the two days of

the week when tears are shed over the lack of juice served. Why this happens, and why it only happens on these two days of the week, is the biggest mystery in Freedom High School. Students have become so aware of the days where juice is not served that the terms “Dehydration Tuesdays” and “Thirsty Thursdays” were coined for the occasion and is now widespread in the school. On top of this, we have to pay extra money if we want water instead of milk. Any student who may be lactose intolerant has to pay more to avoid major digestion issues. Does this make any sense?

The lunch menu is generally consistent, giving a choice of a wrap, chicken salad, pizza or a fourth choice that is randomly selected each day.

Junior Ryan Kaufman noticed that this fourth choice the cafeteria serves contains a lot of the same lunches. “I’m pretty sure we’ve had Chicken Patties for a few weeks now,” Kaufman said. While everyone would love to see a wider variety of food, it’s doubtful that doing so would result in fewer complaints.

All those issues aside, the real flaw of the food system is C Lunch.The question of there being enough food for everyone in the cafeteria at that time is a delicate one. It’s not unlike the end of the world. It’s practically like Dec. 23, 2012 in the lunch room during C Lunches. Most of the time, they’ve run out of enough food for everyone to be able to get what they wanted to eat. The chance of getting any leftovers from the lunch room that day is scarce, but the rays of hope from the possibility of extra food being handed out encourage the students to try to look forward to this dreaded lunch.

Everyone understands that the cafeteria food has downfalls, but it’s sort of a first-world problem, isn’t it? The choice to pack a lunch you would rather enjoy with as much juice and food as you want is always there. And, maybe by doing that, you’d help save some lunch for the poor kids with C Lunch.

Ally Wolf Art Department

Food for thought

Comments? Email Ally at [email protected]


Let me just come right out and say it: I am 100% against high school students trick-or-treating. The last time I participated in this event, I was probably 13 years old, and I think 13 should be the cut-off age for everyone. Trick-or-treating is meant for little kids, not young adults.

I am in no way against Halloween or the festivities that come with it. I love the fall season in general and, when Halloween rolls

around, I love partaking in all of its events. For example, every year for as long as I can remember, my family decorates the woods around my house and throws a Halloween party. Another favorite Halloween tradition of mine is going to haunted houses. There is something about being scared that I love. Parties and haunted houses are the things kids our age should be doing this Halloween season, not bumming candy off of strangers.

If you stop and think about it, the act of trick-or-treating is really weird. You’re telling me that we are going to dress up as monsters, walk around a neighborhood at night and collect candy from strangers. Yeah, that sounds just as normal as putting a tree in your living room when it gets cold outside— but that’s another story.

Halloween is meant for

children. I will one day

expect m y k i d s to do it, and

I’m not g o i n g

to be u p s e t

whenever that time

comes. In fact, I’ll be excited to

dress my kids up and steal some of

their Halloween treats. Another thing that

bothers me is when teenag-ers complain about being

treated like kids but still do childish things like trick-or-

treating. If you want to be treated like the young adult that you claim

to be, then you have to actually grow up.

To recap: I’m against teenag-ers trick-or-treating; however, I’m not against Halloween in general. Go out and have fun, but have age-appropriate

fun. If you’re old enough to watch movies like “Scary Movie” and “The Exorcist,”

then you’re probably too old for trick-or-treating.

Comments? Email Jon at [email protected]

There is only one day of the year where you can get free candy from strangers without it being creepy. This day involves being dressed in a ridicu-lous costume and basically begging for candy. It is every student’s favorite night: Halloween.

What age is too old for trick-or-treating? Is there one? Is there a birthday where something magical-ly happens and suddenly

you miss out on the fun night filled with sugar highs and friends? The answer to this question is no; there really is no age to stop going trick-or-treating.

Some parents and students believe that once you hit high school, it is the right time to stop going. Other adults and students, including myself, feel as long as you have fun and are safe, go for it!

No one should control your life and tell you what you can and can’t do. Even though teens tend to select costumes too inappropriate to walk around the neighborhood, you could always be creative and make your own. Halloween night is the only time that you can go around, get all the candy in the world and save it up for months on end. If you are a teenager, trick-or-treat night may be the only night that can bring out the little kid in you.

When you go up to a house to receive candy, you must show them that you are not too old to go trick-or-treating. You might receive a dirty look and hear some muttering under the homeowner’s breath. That is all the more reason why you need to show them that you don’t care how old you are and that you are still consid-ered a kid. The best way to avoid those things is to run up to their house with a big smile on your face and let them know how you feel, “I’m not too old to be going trick-or-treating!” Most importantly, don’t forget to say “trick-or-treat.” Another way to show them that you’re not too old to be trick-or-treating is by allowing little kids to get their candy before you.. By doing this, it will show the homeowners that you are mature and that you have very good manners, disproving their negative thoughts about teenagers trick-or-treating. If you enjoy something, don’t let the fear of judgment stop you from having fun.

On the night of trick-or-treating, there is only one thing that you need to remember: always do whatever makes you feel comfortable. Carry that lesson with you for the rest of your life as well. If you feel comfortable about going trick-or-treating, then go for it. If you don’t feel comfortable going, then don’t go, but don’t hold back anyone that wants to go. You are only a kid once in your life, so you might as well enjoy it. Have a fun and safe Hallow-een, everyone!

Jon BittnerFeatures Editor

Emily HawkPhoto and Design

Comments? Email Emily at [email protected]

Too old to trick-or-treat?The new Apple

operating system, iOS 7, was recently released in late Septem-ber. For days, iOS 7 was all people were talking about. From the classroom to Twitter, iOS 7 was the primary discussion for most Apple users. The new operating system is “the best thing to happen to iOS since the iPhone,” according to Apple, but in reality, it isn’t all that

it’s cracked up to be. Some people love it, some people hate it.

Is it better or worse than iOS 6? According to Freshman Chance Jerry, iOS 7 is great, and he feels that the update was a big improvement from the previous operating system. “It looks and feels cooler than before,” Jerry said.

However, not everyone feels that the new operating system is so great. “There is nothing special about [iOS 7]. They just changed how it looks, not how it works,” Senior Luke Hutchi-son said. Hutchison feels that it isn’t any more useful, only aesthetically different. “I mean, I like how it looks, but it’s no better than before,” Hutchison said.

Freshman Joey Pail is also in agreement with Hutchison. “iOS 7 is nice, but I miss the way [iOS 6] looked. There are some features from it that I wish were on iOS 7,” Pail said. However, Pail mentions “iOS 7 is kind of growing on me the more I use it.”

As always, there are going to be differ-ing opinions. Although I do not personally own an iPhone, I think the hype over it is unneces-sary. The differences between iOS 6 and 7 are mainly visual. There are minor changes to the way things work and the addition of a few useful features. One thing I always hear is “The clock icon keeps real time!” Don’t believe me? Take a peek. But honestly, who really cares? The time is already located at the top of the screen, so it is redundant. This is one of the many useless features of the “innovative” iOS 7.

Visually, the standard apps have taken a more minimalist sort of look. The Safari icon has gone from a fancy compass to a blue circle with a line. Sure, there are plenty of nice things about iOS 7. Apple boasts its ability to multitask (something most Android devices were already capable of), which is a useful addition to the iPhone. It also has a new, updated notification center, which is slightly better than the old one. The changes are fairly minor, such as the “Today” feature which gives you information about the day. In reality though, the notification center on iOS 6 basically did the same thing.

Apple also advertises updates to the camera app. This is great and all, but running iOS 7 on your iPhone 4 won’t make your (awful 5 megapixel) camera any better. It simply adds a variety of features, most of which can be done on Instagram.

Don’t get me wrong, iPhones are great. They may be slightly overpriced, but they are still decent phones. It’s not that iOS 7 is bad, it just isn’t fantastic. The major visual changes are a nice way to switch it up, especially considering it is one of the few major visual changes from any previous iOS updates.

Louis DuboviBusiness Manager

Sassy sidebar:IO-SASS-7Stay young at heart Grow up, people

Comments? Email Louis at [email protected]

Dear Brianna,

I’m fighting with my friend and I don’t know how to make it right again. What should I do?

Dear “Friendships,”

If you are fighting with your friend and don’t know what to do, the best thing to do is talk to him or her. Depending on what the fight is about,

you could apologize. Sometimes you have to be the bigger person and say you’re sorry. At the same time, though, if it wasn’t your fault, don’t let them walk all over you. When you talk to your friend, make sure you are being kind and not yelling. Tell your friend what is wrong and explain why you were mad. If apologizing doesn’t work, then maybe rethink who your real friends are. Though it’s okay for friends to fight occasionally, those occasions still hurt. Only good friends can power through these pains, make up and continue on. Good luck with your friendship!

Dear “Boy Probz,”

No, there is not something wrong with you, I promise. The guys that you talk to obviously are not looking for relationships and just like to “play the field.” They don’t want to settle down with anyone but, rather, want to see what all girls are like. If you notice signs of being led on earlier, then just let them go. That way you don’t get hurt. Signs of be-ing led on could be: he is always finding an excuse not to be with you around his friends, he only hangs out with you or talks to you when it is convenient for him or he talks to you for a long time with no commitment in mind. You can tell he doesn’t have a commitment in mind if he is always trying to avoid the topic. I am positive you aren’t the only girl that has gone through this before. In high school, the majority of relationships don’t work out. So, don’t worry if the relationships you have aren’t working out. Everyone still has a lot of growing up to do. I am sure anyone is lucky to have you. Just wait and take a break from the dating field for a while.


Let’s Bri honestBrianna offers advice for your issues

Dear “Getting Followed,”

Unfortunately, these occurrences can happen fre-quently. It is time to take action and let this girl know you are done with her pushing you around. I can understand this girl might be bigger than you or is able to talk over you, but you need to do some-thing. No one wants someone who is always making you do their work for them. You could nicely sit her down and talk to her, addressing the issue at hand. You could say, “Hey, lately I feel like you have been really intrusive and forceful. You also tend to be fol-lowing me around more than I find normal. When I try to do something, you always have to come with me. I’m sorry, but can you give me some space?” Just make sure you say it nicely without having an attitude. That is a very important part in ap-proaching someone with whom you have a problem. If that doesn’t work, then you could talk a teacher you trust and ask to move away from her.

Dear Brianna,

So this girl I sit next to in a bunch of classes drives me crazy. She always follows me around and tells me what to do. What can I do to tell her off and stop being mean and bossy to me?

Dear Brianna,

Why does every boy I talk to play me? Is there some-thing wrong with me?

Brianna Frashure

Asst. Features Editor

Comments? Email Brianna at [email protected]

BOYS’ SOCCER:

Nothing could stop these boysSprint down the field. Now, turn, jump and hit

a hard soccer ball off your head. Play a straight 40 minutes with no stoppage of the clock. All these events take place during the boys’ soccer games. The fast-paced action of the sport keeps fans engaged throughout the game.

The Freedom boys’ soccer team showed both teamwork and athleticism this year. The team has remained successful throughout the entire season thanks to the training, conditioning and practice they’ve gone through.

The boys were victorious against South Side earlier this month, with a score of 7-0. The next game, the boys won 2-0 against Hopewell with goals made by Senior Gage Kemerer and Junior Lane Mankevich. With the amount of success this season, the Bulldogs made an appearance in the boys’ soccer playoffs. Despite the team’s 7-0 loss against Shadyside in the first round, the team maintained its optimism.

“We definitely exceeded people’s expectations. We were supposed to be nothing this year but we ended up being top seat in the section. So we met our expectations,” Senior Matt Pavlick said.

Senior leadership has been credited for much of the Bulldogs’ success this season. There’s no need

for fans to worry, though. Many underclassmen have stepped up and show a lot promise for future seasons. These younger athletes are ready for next season’s action, having gained experience through considerable playing time at the Varsity level.

Overall, the team believes that they put everything they could have possibly given on the field. “I think we’ve done great this season. We’ve done a lot better than we thought we’d do and the younger players have really stepped up playing

alongside the upperclassmen in the Varsity games,” Sophomore Eric Eisenbrown said.

With wins against much larger schools like Central Valley and Hopewell, the Bulldogs expect to be competitive for years to come.

Michelle KeithStaff Writer

Comments? Email Michelle at [email protected]

GIRLS’ SOCCER:

Their final kick of the seasonThe girls’ soccer team’s season has come to

an end this month and they “...had one heck of a season,” Sophomore Jodie Willis said. Now is the time for the girls to be looking back, and they are happy about the outcome of their season.

Though not all of the games the girls played ended with wins, they kept working hard through-out the season. The team’s final record was 5-7-1.

Their season ended on Oct. 14 against Blackhawk at home. Junior Madi Daubenspeck was anxious for this game. “Oct. 14 is going to be bittersweet; I love playing the game but it will be my last one with two of the best seniors I know. [Senior Joanne Barlamas] and [Senior Samantha McFarland] know how to make it fun and push us to our full potential,” Daubenspeck said. The girls were not victorious, finishing with a final score of 7-4.

Another game played earlier this month was on Oct. 7 against Sewickley Academy. Being one of their last games of the season, the team did not give up the entire game. The competition was seeming-ly equal throughout the game, and finally ended at a tie after double overtime. “It was a very hard fight and I am proud of all the girls and especially our keeper Willis. She had at least three amazing saves,” Daubenspeck said. The final score was 2-2. Daubenspeck and Freshman Alexa Schwab each scored a goal for the team.

The girls were not always as serious off the field as they were while on it.They all left with plenty of team spirit and hope that next year will be even better. “The way the girls showed heart definitely made our season better. Every game we put up a

fight. I am so proud of all the girls,” Willis said. The girls practiced every day that they did not have a game, leading to their success. Soccer is a commit-ment to both the sport and your teammates.

The girls are ready to work hard again next year so that successful seasons are in their future.

Grace HutchisonStaff Writer

Jon Bittner/FHS Press

Senior Matt Pavlick runs after the ball during a game against Central Valley.

Comments? Email Grace at [email protected]

Junior Casey Spieler runs for the ball during a game against Mohawk to keep theopponent from scoring.

Jon Bittner/FHS Press

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9October 31, 2013 FHS PressVOLLEYBALL:

Volley up for a successful end to the seasonThis year’s volleyball season has come to a close

and the Lady Bulldogs endured their fair share of ups and downs throughout this year. From the players and the coaches to the injuries and the games, the volleyball team pushed through their games until the conclusion of their season.

The girls had their “Pink-Out” game earlier in October. These Lady Bulldogs went all out for this special game. The players were decked out in pink: pink jerseys, socks, bows and headbands were all worn during this game. Sophomore Courtney Susan even had pink streaks in her hair for the game.

After this match finished, it was right on to the next.

“I would have to say that the practices are a little bit harder than the games because what we mess up on during the game is what we spend our time on, just more intensely,” Sophomore Hannah Leonberg said.

Freedom’s volleyball team overcame challenges of its own. “The attitudes are probably one of the problems we are constantly battling,” Leonberg said.

According to Leonberg, the only way to get the attitudes in check is through some serious pep talks from the captains and coaches.

Senior Night was the next game the girls had to look forward to. Though some fans viewed this game as just another one to go to and watch, the girls had a different view on it all. For some girls, Senior Night was heart-wrenching. There was a total of five seniors celebrated on Senior Night.

The whole team is really going to miss not

playing with their beloved seniors. “I’m going to miss [the seniors] helping everybody and the advice they gave to us,” Sophomore Haleigh Peterson said.

Not only will the underclassmen miss the seniors, but the seniors have faith in them for future seasons to come. “I think they will do great with all the girls that are playing and moving up, and I will miss all of the funny practices and bus rides we had, and just having a close second family that are

always there,” Senior Courtney Cummins said. As long as the ladies of the junior varsity and

varsity volleyball teams keep pushing through the obstacles that they are running into, hopefully the success continues into next season as well.

Marley HokoStaff Writer

Junior Hannah Fehir jumps high off the ground to hit the ball over the net during the “Pink Out” game against Ambridge on Oct. 8 at FHS.

Comments? Email Marley at [email protected]

Emily H

awk/FH

S Press


Seeing pink: Freedom raises cancer awarenessIt’s that time of the year: Breast Cancer

Awareness Month. There is pink everywhere and people all around are supporting those who have battled or are battling with breast cancer by wearing the color pink. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has lifted the hearts of many and has helped raise a lot of money for the cause. In the small town of Freedom, a “Pink Out” game is almost traditional to take place in October.

This year, Senior Courtney Cummins hosted a “Pink Out” football game for her senior project.

“I chose [this project] because I wanted to raise money for a good cause and raise enough money to give it to a local organization for breast cancer. [I wanted] to keep it in the community. I am not done raising money, but what I have now is $1,100,” Cummins said.

At the game, supporters of breast cancer awareness and friends of Courtney filled the stadium. Throughout the week preceding the game, she sold many items, like necklaces, bracelets, bandanas and t-shirts.

The football players wrapped pink tape around their shoes and some even wore pink undershirts and socks, too. “I wore pink items with my football gear at the “Pink Out” to support Breast Cancer Awareness,” Junior Josh Battaglia said.

To show their support like the football team and fans, the cheerleaders used white and pink pom-poms and even dressed in special outfits. Each cheerleader wore a “Pink Out” shirt sold by Courtney and a simple pink bow worn in their hair. The band units also had different ways of support-ing breast cancer awareness.

“We had pink ribbons in our hair, and we had

pink lines painted on our faces,” Sophomore Reilly Collins said. All around the stadium, fans were cheering on the Bulldogs and showing off all the pink they were wearing at the event.

In addition to the football game, Senior Mercedes Sowinski held a “Pink Out” volleyball game for her senior project because she wanted to raise money for breast cancer awareness.

At the volleyball game, both players and coaches wore pink jerseys, bows or bandanas in their hair along with pink socks. There were posters informing bystanders about the cause the team was support-ing. Raffle tickets were sold and there were prize giveaways. All profits went directly to the Breast Cancer Fund.

The girls’ soccer team also showed a small

tribute to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The team wore decorated pink bows in their hair to support the cause before one of their games.

“It meant a lot to the team and [me] to see everyone support our game and support breast cancer by wearing pink,” Sophomore Jodie Willis said. “We had a lot of people come out and support us. I think we even played a lot better.”

Cummins and Sowinski both worked hard to accomplish their “Pink Out” projects. Both were able to accomplish their goals of raising money for a cause they wanted to support.

Brianna FrashureAsst. Features Editor

GOLF:

2013 golf team makes Freedom history

With the 2013 season officially over, the golf team has quite a lot of victories to celebrate. The team finished with a record of 9 wins and 3 losses. On top of that, two members made it to WPIALs and the entire team returned to playoffs after a 10 year wait.

Hard work and dedication clearly paid off this year for the student athletes. For the first time in 10 years, Freedom’s varsity golf team made it to the playoffs. The team was one of 20 to advance to the WPIAL Class AA semi-finals. “[Making playoffs] felt great. [It was] the first time in so long, and it was nice to be a part of that,” Sophomore Stu Skogsholm said.

The most successful part of the season for Coach Aaron Fitzpatrick was making playoffs. “The credit belongs to the golfers because it was through their hard work and practice that they were able to accomplish [making playoffs] that, but it was great to be along for the ride,” Fitzpatrick said.

Not only did the players find success as a team, but individual goals were also met. Seniors Kris Skogsholm and Jessica Canonge both qualified for WPIALs this year.

“I missed it by three shots last year, so I was glad I made it this year. I worked really hard,” Skogsholm said. “[WPIALs] was a pretty fun experi-ence, [getting to] go to the country club with a lot of other really good golfers.”

Canonge is also the only female golfer in Freedom history to make it to both playoffs and WPIALs. “[Qualifying for WPIALs] was exciting. Ever since I was a freshman, that had been my goal with golf. It was rewarding to finally make it my senior year,” Canonge said.

There are a total of 14 golfers on the team

between varsity and junior varsity players. Of that number, six of them are seniors. Almost half of the team will be lost next year, but the players have faith in the rest of the team. “I’m positively looking forward [to success] for them. I want them to find success; I’d like to see them go back to the playoffs,” Senior Christian Edder said.

The golf team encourages students to practice and give it a try next season. Kris Skogsholm suggests that aspiring athletes “start in the summer, get lessons and work a lot.”

“We’re always looking for more golfers to join the ranks,” Fitzpatrick said. “ Like most sports, golf is one of those things you have to practice to improve. Golf can be expensive, but what better way to practice and improve than by playing and practic-ing for free [with the golf team]? You don’t have to be a professional to join the team.”

Courtney SchreinerAsst. News Editor

Brianna Frashure/FHS Press

Comments? Email Brianna at [email protected]

The cheerleaders wear pink shirts and use pink pom-poms to support breast cancer.

The golf team celebrates after their victory against Western Beaver on Sept. 26 atRolling Acres Golf Course which put them into playoffs.

Courtney Schreiner/FH

S Press

Comments? Email Courtney at [email protected]


For a group of runners that started out not even being an actual team due to the lack of runners, the cross country team seemed to have turned around quite a bit. Unlike the girls,’ the boys’ team has grown exponentially. Starting out with only Juniors Danny Conrad and Luke Kiefer, many freshmen have become a part of the team.

“I did not expect there to be a boys’ team at all. That was a pleasant surprise. I thought it was going to be just me, [Senior] Gigi [DeWeese] and [Conrad] to be running, but we got a lot of freshmen,” Junior Kayleigh Roberts said.

Since the boys have more than a full team, they are able to compete against other schools. In a meet on Oct. 16, they finished in 14 out of the 16 teams that were there.

Before the runners could attend states, they had to run at WPIALs. The whole team attended this meet, and the outcome of the race determines who runs at states. Although the whole team made an appearance at WPIALs, the girls ran individually because they have a total of four girls. To qualify as a team, there must be a minimum of five. The boys, however, could

qualify as a full team because they have more than five runners.

States will be held on the weekend of Nov. 2. The PIAA State Championship is held in Hershey, PA, where the athletes run their last 3.1 cross country miles of the year. Cross country is Freedom’s only sport classified as single A due to the population of our school.

As a first year member of the team, Senior Lane Ward feels grateful that he decided to be a part of the sport. “I originally decided to join because I wanted to get in shape for wrestling season, but I ended up really liking the team and the sport and wishing that I would have started earlier in high school,” Ward said.

The team’s senior night was on Oct. 16, and Roberts, DeWeese, and Freshmen Madeline and Megan Kiefer tye-dyed sheets with senior names on them. The only two seniors on the team are Ward and DeWeese, both feeling bittersweet about the season coming to an end. Ward said he enjoyed the time he spent “running this year and getting to know everyone on the team.”

“I will miss the cross country team so much. I’ve been a member of the team for four years, and have made many life-long friendships,” DeWeese said. “The past few years

we have had such a successful team, and it was amazing to be a part of it all. All of the coaches I have had— [Mr. Shephard], Tink, Jesse [Bender] and Melissa [Bender]— have motivated me all the way. Cross country, though it is an individual sport, is all about being a big loving team. Although, sometimes it gets to be too loving with the guy’s team.”

The underclassmen that will be returning runners in the upcoming seasons recommend more students

to try out being a part of the team. “[People] should join because it

is a rewarding sport. The coaches, Shep and Jesse, are encouraging coaches that work to improve you and the people on the team are great and positive people to be around,” Junior Zach Kugel said.

Boys’ team is a ‘pleasant surprise’CROSS COUNTRY:

Desiree DavisSports Editor

Comments? Email Desiree at [email protected]

The girls on the cross country team run in a meet against OLSH and Vincentian Academy.

Grace H

utchison/FHS Press

With all the excitement of fall, some have overlooked a certain sport. Freedom High School is breaking the norm, and softball and baseball aren’t just for the springtime this year. That’s right, “Fall Ball” has been going on right under the noses of most people. Both the FHS softball and baseball teams have participated in Fall Ball games this year..

As fall isn’t exactly the season for high school baseball, they faced some issues when it came to their Fall Ball agenda. The high school baseball field was having a new infield put in, which meant the boys couldn’t practice on a field under construction. Another reason for practice problems was that the boys’ soccer team used the outfield of the baseball field for practice, causing scheduling conflicts when it came to the two teams. Despite these little mishaps, the Fall Ball season still went on.

“There’s some good young talent on the team that we’ve discovered,” Senior Aaron McSorley said. The team only played a few home games this fall, but the learning experience and team building was more of a priority than the score.

The softball team faced their own problems during their Fall Ball season as well. The biggest struggle for the girls was lack of participation because

they never had any practices prior to games. New Head Coach Bill Boggs used Fall Ball as a way to assess his players and get to know them better for the spring softball season.

”I am glad I have gotten a chance to evaluate some of the players,” Coach Boggs said. “I would like to think everyone could have at least attended a minimum of one game.“

Starting in the beginning of September, the softball team played both home and away games on Sunday afternoons . For those who couldn’t make it out to play Fall Ball but are still interested in playing in the spring, Coach Boggs said that optional conditioning will begin in November and hopes to see returning faces as well as some new ones.

While these two teams seemed to have been flying under the radar this fall, they’ve still put in effort in order to prepare for their regular seasons. Keep up the hard work guys and girls!

Fall into ‘Fall Ball’Kelsey Velemirovich

Web Editor

Comments? Email Kelsey at [email protected]

Before reading this article, ask yourself: did you jump on the Pirates Bandwagon this year or do you suffer with acute “hipster-itis”? In either case, you’d have to be living under a rock if you didn’t realize that the Pirates, who used to be the team that the nation loved to ridicule, were actually in the playoffs this season. Any time prior to the past three months, it was a rarity to see anybody dressed in Pirates’ attire. Since the beginning of “Buctober,” one could barely look down the hallways here at Freedom without seeing someone sporting Pirates’ gear. Even though the Pirates didn’t advance in the playoffs, their popularity within our school has increased.

Of course all of this begs the question: is it really so bad that the majority of the students here at Freedom are Pirates fans now? Shouldn’t we just be happy that the student body is more unified now?

Senior Luke Hutchison, longtime Buccos fan, sure thinks so. “It’s kind of cool seeing the city get into it and just seeing people starting to get really interested and connecting with this team again,” Hutchison said.

I will be the first to admit that I’m more of a hockey fan, and I can’t really keep up with all the baseball games. However, I still enjoy attend-

ing them and occasionally sitting down with my dad to watch them on TV. Does that not qualify me as a fan? Maybe we should be focusing less on the “bandwagon” aspect and focusing more on the support our city’s team has gained. Besides the fact that we have another winning sports team in Pittsburgh, I love knowing that there is such a vast, positive group of people behind them all the way.

“I think it’s pretty cool seeing [this happen] because a lot of the people who were beating me up in elemen-tary school for wearing my Pirates stuff are the people who are walking around wearing their McCutchen jerseys now, and it’s pretty fun to see. I’m not kidding. [The bullying for being a Pirates fan] happened,” Hutchison said.

It’s safe to say that longtime supporters won’t receive any negativ-ity from anyone for supporting the Pirates any time soon.

Whether you just joined the bandwagon or you’ve been on it your entire life, everyone can agree that we have one thing in common; we all support our now successful baseball team. The Pirates may be out of the playoffs now, but let’s keep this support and positivity rolling into next year and every year after that.


BandwagonersEmalee Sekely

Copy Editor

BASEBALL/SOFTBALL:


Athlete Biographies

Jake Daubenspeck Nicole LindsayJordan GausJoanne BarlamasFavorite memory of your sport: “When me and Hannah Fehir and Courtney Susan went to JR’s before a home game and got a bag of Sour Patch Kids.”

Hobbies other than sports: “The E-Network and cutical care.”

Favorite season: “Fall; it is volley-ball season and it’s the season where you can wear sweatpants, hoodies and Uggs and the weather is perfect.”

Future goals: “I plan to go to a four year university to major in biology and then go to a two-four year univer-sity for my vet license.”

Favorite memory of your sport: “Being able to be a part of a team success-ful enough to make it to playoffs for the first time in a number of years.”

Hobbies other than sports: “Hunting, fishing and working on cars.”

Favorite season: “Winter because it opens the door for plenty of fun opportu-nities.”

Future goals: “To be a successful and wealthy welder.”

Favorite memory of your sport: “Camp week.”

Hobbies other than sports: “Hanging out with my family and friends.”

Favorite season: “Summer; there’s no school.”

Future goals: “To attend college and hopefully play basketball.”

Favorite memory of your sport: “The whole journey of making it to playoffs as a senior.”

Hobbies other than sports: “Just hanging out with friends.”

Favorite season: “Fall/winter.”

Future goals: “Get into oil and gas [industry].”

Injuries, mental blocks and starters not being able to play, which causes few recently unhappy players, are some of the troubles the football team had to face this season. These athletes faced several serious problems this season, but the boys were able to recover from them.

In recent games, the fans have noticed a difference in the team’s confidence. Senior Cheyenne Carr is one of the team’s student supporters, and before every game she lets them know.

“I always tell [the football team] before every game, ‘I don’t care what the score is, I’ll still be cheering for you guys.’ It’s about having fun and loving what you do, not always the scoreboard. If we show confidence, they show it, too. As a result, they have been playing harder and tougher every day, and I thank them for that,” Carr said.

Carr is a member of the Big Red Marching Band’s flag line, which means she is required to attend every game. She said that even if she wasn’t a part of the band, she would be present every Friday night. Sports teams always beg for fan support because it gives them strength and motivation to keep moving. Although

the scoreboard doesn’t always show an extravagant number, support from fans is important to the team.

As a captain, Senior Allen Moeller has also noticed a difference in the team. “We play more as a team and have a lot of confidence, we just need to work that into playing all four quarters without one person taking a play off and executing each play,” Moeller said. Moeller was diagnosed with a concussion at the beginning of the season, but he was cleared in time to play in the New Brighton game on Sept. 27, and said he felt great to be back on the field.

Freshman Scotty Lazaro is new to the team this year, but has had faith in them since the beginning. He feels that everyone should remember that the football team is in “the toughest conference in the [double A].”

“It’s not easy playing against three top 10 teams in the state: Beaver, Beaver Falls and Aliquippa. The fans shouldn’t lose hope in us as we are looking to turn things around soon in the next couple of years,” Lazaro said.

Overcoming struggles creates strengthDesiree DavisSports Editor

Comments? Email Desiree at [email protected]

The football team walks back onto the field after taking a brief break during a quarter.

Brianna Frashure/F

HS Press

FOOTBALL:

October 2013

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Transcript of October 2013