Rumors of random drug testing prove to be false

Rumors have been flying through the halls of FHS that the administration may begin to randomly drug test students. Is this even a high school policy? Will lockers be searched, cars checked, and will the dogs be sent in? No, to all of the above.

As FHS policy currently stands, there will not be any randomized drug tests administered. Despite ru-mors of these random tests, there was never any talk of administering them, Mrs. Corris said.

She believes that these types of things spread from one or two incidents that are blown out of proportion just by the circumstance of a typical rumor.

In contrast, Ambridge Senior High School‟s hand-book basically says that any student who wants to par-

ticipate in anything school related - including sports, extra-curriculars, and even parking the in the student parking lot- could be subjected to the randomized drug tests.

If you‟ve ever cared to look, you would know the FHS Student Handbook devotes a whopping nine pages to their Drug and Alcohol Policy. In those nine pages, there are several potential situations that the admini-stration felt should be evaluated.

The handbook says a student would be violating the drug policy terms and conditions by demonstrating behavior of using drugs or alcohol, getting caught pos-sessing them on school property, or distributing them to peers.

Students in violation of these conditions may be subject to a locker or car search, any the police may be notified. They might also be referred to the Student Assistance Program (SAP).

The SAP Team is a group of teachers, nurses, counselors and specialists who the school has put through an intense, 4-day program that trained them to deal with students who are confronted with illegal sub-stances. All Pennsylvania public schools have this team available to their students.

If those sound serious, the punishments that will really affect you include being placed on probation for up to 90 days, exclusion from any and all extra-curricular activities - that includes sports, dances, and clubs - meeting with a prevention specialist numerous times a week, and even temporary or permanent expul-sion.

The Freedom Board of Education has the final say on any school and all school related policy additions or changes, and for the high school to turn to drug policies like Ambridge‟s all that would be required is a majority decision from the board of education.

Emily Francis Editor-in-Chief

Submitted by Mrs. Milanovich

Melanie Socash, Photo & Design Editor

Saturday, Dec. 11, Santa Claus actually came to town; the

freshmen class, with the help of sponsor Mrs. Kristen Milanovich,

hosted an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast in his name.

Though the fundraiser was a smaller turnout than last year,

there was never a shortage of activities. It was a morning filled with

pancakes, manicures, various arts and crafts, Christmas lists, and

some children crying because they were afraid of Santa.

Above: Junior Nate Neely takes a picture of Senior Nick

Turner as he finally gets his turn with Santa, played by none other

than Mr. Scott McGee. Right: Nicole Cummins helps at one of the

craft tables by coloring with a little girl.

~Emily Francis, Editor-in-Chief

DECEMBER 16, 2010 FREEDOM AREA HIGH SCHOOL’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER FREEDOM, PA VOL. III, ISSUE 4

Blood Drive

Get a date: check. Find a dress: check. Get a tie: check. Buy the tickets: check. Planning for the upcoming Christmas dance is no easy task: the list can be miles long!

This year the dance is being held Dec. 18 at Center Stage, which is a change from previous years when it was held at The Fez. The dance goes from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., giving students four and a half hours to dance, socialize, and have a great time. The cost for a single ticket is $35. There will be door prizes, food and drinks, a DJ, pictures, and favors.

According to Mrs. Hill, one of the door prizes is winning free pictures that would otherwise need to be purchased; any person could get a prize just for show-ing up.

However, not everyone is sold on attending the dance yet. The price of the ticket alone scares some students, let alone getting all the necessities needed for the dance. Some students, like Sophomore Austin Wall and Freshman Christian Edder, do not feel like “wasting” the money.

“I don‟t have $35; well, technically 70, because I would-n‟t go without a date,” Freshman

Ryan Whipple said. Dance coordinator Mrs. Hill

said the reason behind changing the location of the dance was “because [The Fez] wasn‟t big enough and the floor was com-ing up.”The dance was almost cancelled due to low ticket sales, but Mrs. Hill ended up selling 224 tickets as of Tuesday.

According to Center Stage‟s Web site, “Center Stage offers the biggest dance floor and the best food in Beaver County. With over 30 years of experi-ence, Center Stage is perfect for all occasions.”

Senior Justin Baumiller is looking forward to going to the dance “with the most beautiful girl in the world: Shannon Schimmer.” Not to be outdone, Senior Emily Winterbottom is looking forward to attending the dance “with the most beautiful boy in the world: Derek Le-hockey.”

Not everyone has found the perfect date yet, and the search has been a daunting task for some students.

“I tend to procrastinate when getting dates,” Junior Alex Hawk said.

However, when all the preparations are done and stu-dents make their list (and check it twice), they will be ready to rock the night away during the most wonderful time of the year: the 2010 Christmas dance.

As the winter season has quickly crept upon us, students have become ea-ger for possible school delays and can-cellations. Surprisingly, though, school has been cancelled twice already but not because of snow, but rather a lack of power. Freedom has had two power out-ages in recent months; the first occurred Oct. 27 when an electrical transformer in the school was damaged as a result of a severe storm. The second, on Nov. 19, was due to an automobile accident that took out a telephone pole and electrical lines.

The question everyone automati-

cally asks is, “will we have to make these days up later in the year?” Well, these instances could be considered „state of emergency‟ situations. Each district is required to attend 180 days of school, but the Department of Education is willing to pardon a maximum of three emergency days per school year without the need to make them up.

Freedom Superintendent Dr. Ron Sofo, while staying within the depart-ment‟s guidelines, is in charge of making school cancellation decisions when con-ditions become dangerous or pose a threat to the safety of students. Yes, he makes a phone call the day-of, but he does not get the final say about whether the day must be made up.

Afterward, Dr. Sofo must write a

petition letter describing Freedom‟s situation in hopes that the department will make an exception to the 180-day rule.

It may not seem absolutely neces-sary to call off school when there is a power outage, but when you think about it, so much of the average school day depends on or requires electricity. With-out the typical lighting, the hallways would be dim. Elevators would fail to work. Meals for students could not be prepared in the kitchen, and laptops would become essentially useless.

School could simply not function properly without electricity. The overall safety of students is the biggest factor in the decision. “We cannot conduct school

safety without power,” said Dr. Sofo. “[The decision to cancel school] is al-ways made purely on safety reasons.”

Yes, there is a potential for the school to lose money when days are called off; however, the welfare of stu-dents, in Dr. Sofo‟s eyes, is more vital. “Whether we lose money or not is not the main concern,” Dr. Sofo said.

So what does this mean for students in terms of possible upcoming snow days or delays? Well, the state doesn‟t give the district the same exceptions when it comes to inclement weather, since slick roads and typical icy conditions are not considered emergency situations.

An excessive amount of snow days will call for make-up days, but two-hour delays do not count against the students.

FHS Press 16 December, 2010 2

Melanie Socash

Photo & Design Editor

Brianna Haglan

Contributing Writer

Above: A phlebotomist locates a vein in Keith Braun‟s arm. Left: Senior Caitlynn Milligan waits as she fills her one-pint bag.

Every year, the Health Careers Club helps host an annual Blood Drive, along with the American Red Cross. This year‟s drive was held on Dec. 14, and roughly 20 students donated blood, which yields a to-tal of 20 pints of blood. The outcome was hurt by the two-hour delay, but any amount of donations is still considered a success.

There were no casualties this year, but several students did lose the free doughnuts and water provided. “The Blood Drive had its ups and downs; kids threw up, kids fell down,” Mrs. Hastings said. Then again, each pint of blood saves roughly three lives. So good job, FHS; we just saved 60 lives.

- Jake Cruise, Managing Editor

Jake Cruise, Managing Editor

Missing class, saving lives:

Amanda Hryckowian, Web Editor

FHS Press 16 December, 2010 3

So you‟re watching the football game on Sunday afternoon with your friends. Big Ben totally botches the play, and a chorus of “Oh, come on! Anyone could have made that pass!” pours from the mouths of you and your fellow spec-tators.

If you‟re really being honest with yourself, though, you probably aren‟t anywhere near as good as the guy who warms the bench for any professional team.

This seems to be a recurring theme: one is unhappy with current products or performances, is often judgmental and quick to offer criticism, but in actuality, can only produce or perform to what is usually a lesser extent.

This doesn‟t just happen on a pro-fessional sports scale, either; think of things like our own football team, DTV, the musical, or even the yearbook.

For example, let‟s say DTV is on, and the wrong image appears on the screen and doesn‟t match the anchor‟s words at all. Before you think, “Wow, this is so lame,” think to yourself: “Do I know how to use ad-vanced computer pro-grams, and can I produce a product daily that will be judged and critiqued by the student body?”

The answer for many of us is no. Remember that three-minute video that took you four weeks to make? Yeah, DTV does that every day. For those of you who can do those things, why not get involved? Think of how much could be accomplished if rather than criticizing the productions of the student body, students contributed their talents and skills for the good of everyone.

For those students who aren‟t an exceptional physical specimen, tech wiz-ard or on-stage prodigy, no worries. Just being supportive and positive can make a world of difference. Rather than being judgmental, keep in mind the effort that goes into all of these productions.

The next time you‟re feeling judg-mental of the musical or your favorite sports team, try to keep in mind how much effort actually goes into the prod-uct that you‟re seeing. Besides, many students would have trouble doing much better.

STAFF EDITORIAL:

Editor-in-Chief:

Managing Editor

News Editor:

Features Editor:

Sports Editor:

Copy Editor:

Photo & Design:

Web Editor:

Faculty Adviser:

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

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

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

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

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

Emily Francis

Jake Cruise

Sarah Choflet

Emily Bittner

Taylar McCoy

Jordan Kusich

Melanie Socash

Amanda Hryckowian

Mr. David Hartman

FHS Press — Editorial Board

Assistant Editors: Karla Knauff, Aubrey Sprecker

Contributing Writers: Liz Brunner, Rosalyn Nye, Brianna Haglan, Zac Wilson

It’s a school, not a singles bar Ask yourself, “how many times

do I see low-cut shirts and extremely short shorts in school?” The answer to your wonderful question is, “too of-ten.”

The way you dress says a lot about you. I can almost guarantee that every time you meet someone new, you judge them in some degree by the way they are dressed. You want people to think good things of you on a first impression, right? So don‟t show too much of yourself. And guys, don‟t think you‟re off the hook, because this ap-plies to you too. After all, we are in school, not on a French beach. Ladies, seeing eight different guys looking at you as you‟re walking down the hallway isn‟t always a good thing. You don‟t want them looking at you because of your provocative at-tire.

Next time you pick out your clothes for the day, pick a nice shirt that doesn‟t expose your upper half. Also, don‟t wear the shortest shorts or the shortest skirt to school. Trust me; your peers will judge you on how

much skin you show. If you are dress-ing like that to impress the boys any-way, most guys don‟t like girls who are thought of as provocative. And how is dressing provocatively going to help you and the others around you, learn any more? School is a place for

education; it isn‟t a singles bar or a nightclub. So just wear a nice pair of jeans and a nice t-shirt, sweater, or hoodie. Now guys, I want you to think about this: who really cares about the color of your underwear? Are you having some trou-ble thinking about who that may be? The answer in most cases is nobody. Others, including myself,

don‟t like to see your boxers. Pants come in different sizes, so just wear a size that fits and if it does sink a little, wear a belt. I‟ll admit that I am no fashion expert, but I think following my tips can benefit everybody. So tomorrow when you get dressed, think about your appearance to others. After all, if you don‟t respect yourself, you can‟t expect to get respect from anyone else.

Zac Wilson Contributing

Writer

Christmas movie round up

He‟s good at sports, so he must be as dumb as a bag of bricks. They‟re in band, so they must be geeks. She‟s a cheerleader, so she must be a snob. You‟re a ginger, so you must have a horrible temper. We‟re young, so we must be naïve. Stereotypes are one of the biggest prob-lems in American high schools today. It doesn‟t show much here in Freedom,

but we all know it‟s lurking in the dark corners. Stereotyping people is hypocritical,

since you‟d fit into at least one of the groups, believe it or not. Not only that, but it‟s a complete overgeneralization. Personally, I don‟t even know what people think I am, nor do I care. I play sports like a jock, my hair is purple like a scene kid, I was in band for three years, I listen to “screamo” and indie music, I get good grades, and I study like a nerd. Where would I go? Exactly, I would fit into a ton of groups; stereotyping is idiotic.

I see one particular stereotype a nauseating amount in the hall-ways. Come on, we all tell blonde jokes and we all laugh at them.

Some of the smartest students in our entire school have blonde hair, but for some reason, people still associate blondes with being stupid. When Albert Einstein was young, he had blonde hair, yet he isn‟t the butt of any of our jokes. Do you know what the E=mc

2 formula

means? Yeah, I didn‟t think you would… unless you took Physics.

Do you know what I hate? I hate when people judge someone else before they even get to know them. Don‟t ignore the girl in the back of the room that dyed her hair black because she is “emo” and you think she hates the world. Most likely she doesn‟t. She probably just likes the color black; get over it. Don‟t make fun of her because she isn‟t exactly like you and your

friends. For the stereotypes I do see, it‟s ridicu-

lous. Even though you are joking, the stupid antics are getting old. Leave the people who like to read, the peo-ple who wear black, the people who sit alone, and even the school‟s gin-gers alone- get a life, people. I like to think that all people are friends, and that life is about rain-bows, happy bunnies, and kindness, but it‟s really not. I assume you‟ve all seen “Mean Girls.” Well, most schools are a lot like that. They usu-ally have tons of cliques, but not us. We are an open school, I guess you could say (with a few exceptions). People that are in band are friends

with people on the football team, and the academic scholars are friends with the cheerleaders. We don‟t really group people together, and that‟s amazing for kids our age. We need to get rid of the stereotypes all together, though.

Maybe it‟s because we are such a small school, and everyone pretty much has to know everyone else, or maybe our parents just raised us correctly. One thing is for certain though, most of Freedom has class, and not just because it‟s a school.

FHS Press 16 December, 2010 5

I knew Christmas was close when my aunt made me devote an entire day to her while she awfully acted out cheesy

Hallmark channel movies. I‟m not a huge fan of every Christmas film, and I‟m the type of person who really only wants to watch the same movie one time; but, there are a few that I do en-joy.

One of my all-time favorites is “A Year Without a Santa Claus.” I remem-ber making my mom put this into the VHS player every single day for the entire month of December – and even more often – for my little brother and I to watch. The Heat Miser and Snow Miser are definitely the most memora-ble parts of the movie. I can‟t help but sing along when I hear the trombone start their little theme songs, no matter how bad or lame I sound. This is proba-bly one of the only movies that I can watch every year.

Another great movie is “Elf.” The

first time I saw it, I laughed so many times. It‟s still even moderately comical to me now. However, the reason I think I like it isn‟t just that it‟s funny, “Elf” is pretty original and not just another typi-cal Christmas movie about Santa and the North Pole. The end is still fairly predictable, but not in a bad way at least.

The list of Christmas movies that I hate is far longer than the ones I like. I‟m not sure what it is, but seeing holi-days portrayed in a movie or on TV really annoys me. Why is it that Christ-mas in a movie is so dreadfully stereo-typical? Families are always gathered around a perfect fireplace, describing the night to be magical, with everyone constantly happy. Maybe it‟s just my family, but my parents rarely look for-ward to the season. They spend the whole month complaining about the list of things I asked for, instead of baking cookies for Santa like the other moms and dads are doing on TV.

“It‟s a Wonderful Life” is more than guilty of this dramatization of sup-posed Christmas cheer, minus the whole emotional breakdown of George Bailey‟s. I have tried so hard to like this movie, but something about it makes me hate the 1940s. My mom watches it every year when she decorates our 16

feet tall tree by herself – which is mostly her fault due to the fact that she puts that movie on in the first place. Clarence‟s truly astounding advice rings throughout our entire house until “remember George, no man is a failure who has friends” pierces through my closed bed room door and forces me to put on head-phones. I will admit though, it has its moments and defi-nitely is not the worst movie ever made.

That title rightfully be-longs to “The Polar Express.” I saw it once and regret every second of the 1 hour 40 minute run time. There were special ef-fects that were far from special and the characters seemed more like inanimate objects then the hu-mans they were supposed to be. The story was boring and the movie generated too much hype for it to deliver like it did.

Even though I‟m not a fan of all Christmas movies, I really do enjoy a few. I can‟t imagine a Christmas without spending a few nights watching whatever version of “The Christmas Carol” they have come up with this year.

Prior to 1942, the FHS year book was called the Swastika.

Many symbols throughout time have changed their meaning; from the pentagram symbol that went from being a symbol of Christianity to a sym-bol of Satanism, to the Swastika that went from being an Indian symbol of peace, life and joy, to the corrupted symbol of hatred, death, and destruc-tion bestowed upon it by Adolf Hitler.

But did you know that our very own yearbook used to be called the very same thing we now know stands for hatred and discrimination? That‟s right, the Shawnee Yearbook, prior to the year 1942, was called The Swastika.

The school continued to defend the use of the symbol even after the Nazi regime besmirched it, that is until it became too widespread and the name was officially changed to The Shawnee.

-Jake Cruise, Managing Editor

Surviving the holidays, movie by movie

Emily Bittner Features Editor

Taylar McCoy Sports Editor

Christmas break is one of the things that most of us look forward to all December, if not the whole year. The week-long vacation- excluding weekends- from school is pretty awesome and usu-ally much needed. How-ever, the week following Christmas almost always results in either extreme boredom or spending all

the money that is received during the holiday in re-cord time.

That‟s why this year I‟m hoping to avoid both of those problems by creating a guide to help keep you thoroughly entertained for the entirety of Christmas break, without spending every last penny Grandma just gave you. That way, when January rolls along, we aren‟t all completely broke again.

Dec 23 – Sleep in! It‟s Thursday, you don‟t have school, and Christmas Eve is tomorrow. You‟ll probably spend the day getting ready for whatever festivities you have going on, but in between help-ing your parents, I recommend you get most of your homework done today. It‟s easier said than done, but it will pay off when you have an entire week of homework free days ahead of you.

Dec 24 – It‟s Christmas Eve and you probably al-ready have plans of your own for later in the eve-

ning. During the day, watch all of your favorite Christmas movies that are playing on TV.

Dec 25 – Surely you have plans for today too. Enjoy your family‟s company and have fun.

Dec 26 – Christmas is over, but don‟t fret, you still have New Year‟s to look forward to. Today is one of the best days to take advantage of stores‟ sales, so if you didn‟t get everything on your wish list, get it now while it‟s relatively cheap but don‟t buy eve-rything in sight.

Dec 27 – Go to a museum or an art gallery. There are a ton of museums around the Pittsburgh area. One of my favorites is the Andy Warhol museum. It‟s only $8 for people under 18 and even if you‟ve been there before, they always have new exhibits.

Dec 28 – Since today is Tuesday, every movie is only $5 at Cinemark in Monaca. There are always new movies out around holidays, so check the show times and go see one for a fraction of the regular price.

Dec 29 – In case of snow, today would be a great day to go sledding. There are a couple of good places to go around here if you don‟t have any hills nearby. If you can get access to them, parks are awesome places to sled. Economy Park has some big hills, and Green Valley would be the perfect place to build a massive snowman. Best of all, snow is completely free.

Dec 30 - Call up a friend or significant other and go ice skating at PPG. You probably haven‟t been ice skating since middle school and for $10 per person, includ-ing skate rental, it‟s a few dollars well-spent. If you‟d rather not go out to Pittsburgh two days in one week then there are a couple local ice rinks that can be just as fun.

Dec 31 – While you anxiously await the New Year‟s Eve party you‟ll be attending tonight, enter-tain yourself at home. Create a collage out of maga-zine clippings. Send some letters to your favorite celebrities - check out www.fanmail.biz. Look through old photo albums or get some digital photos printed and make a new one.

Jan 1 – Happy New Year! Celebrate by going out to dinner with a big group of friends and share your New Year‟s Resolutions.

Jan 2 – Christmas Break is just about over and you‟ve probably already begun counting down the days until June 9. Since school starts again tomor-row it might be a good idea to get started on that homework that you were supposed to do two Thurs-days ago.

FHS Press 16 December, 2010 6

A cheapskate’s

survival guide: Christmas break for less

Emily Bittner Features Editor

For some boys at Freedom, weight really matters.

It isn‟t just about looking aesthetically pleasing; though that is a plus. The team is lacking a few key weight classes such as 103, 189 and 285 pounds. They expect to have a very high win percentage, but since they are missing some key weights some matches could be potential forfeits causing them to start the match down by 18 team points.

Even with this, they expect a good season with a fair chance of making it to playoffs for the first time in quite awhile.

The boys practice hard every day to stay in shape. “[Coach Covert] is pushing us harder and harder every day; we are getting up early for practices, but we all know that when it comes time for us to compete, we will be ready,” Senior Lenny Radzicki said

Even though they went to their first scrim-mage already, it didn‟t seem like it. “Keep in mind; it‟s not a scrimmage like other sports. We basically had one big practice,” said Sophomore Kurt Kitzman. “We did what we would do at any normal practice, but we only wrestled people from other schools, plus a little stretching and conditioning.”

“Entering the scrimmage we were pretty confident; however, a lot of our team didn‟t show up, but [the players] there ended up suc-cessful. As long as that carries out, I think we are destined for success,” Radzicki said.

The team will have their first official match of the year on Dec. 15, so come out and watch them win.

“All of the kids this year are keeping a winning mindset, which is „no complaining, just do it,‟” said Stroupe. “ Slacking doesn‟t figure in on that. We are doing less running this year, but our focus has shifted more to mat time. That consists of drilling, technique, and live wrestling, which most would consider harder than running.”

The wrestling team doesn‟t only work, but they also know how to have fun. One of the things that matters a lot in every teenager‟s life, music, is an important factor for the team. “Every year we have a stereo that we mess around with before practice. For match night warm-ups, it‟s always a big argument about who gets to pick the music, but the last match of the year, the seniors get to pick it without any say from any other member of the team,” Stroupe said.

If you‟re one of the people that don‟t know the wrestling scoring, this will break it down for you. Two players begin facing each other, and, at the referee's call, they begin cir-cling, anxiously awaiting an opening to strike. As soon as the opportunity arises, one oppo-nent will take the other to the ground, and when they gain control of them, receive two points.

When someone is on top of you, and they have control, but you stand up away from them, then you get one point. When you are on the bottom and you switch them, and get con-trol, then the pinner receives two points.

Finally, when you get them on their back and get close to pinning them but you don‟t get the pin, there are two options. When they are on their back for five seconds or more, you receive three points, but if it‟s three seconds you get two points.

Left: Zeke Stroupe and Scott Merckel get

up close and personal on the mats.

Right: Boe Bonzo and Heath Nye went up

against each other and battled it out.

This winter may be bringing the cold, but things have been heating up on the courts as the girls‟ basketball team is training to be better than ever. With prac-tice five days a week, these girls are pushing everything they have in order to make for a winning season. Their primary goal dur-ing these practices is to “keep up the intensity and remain fo-cused,” said senior player Kristi Tibolet.

From the way the girls played together at the first scrim-mage against Union on Nov. 27, Tibolet said, “we can tell that our team is going to be a lot bet-ter than previous years.” She

explained that each one of these girls are willing to give the team everything they‟ve got.

In past years, the girls bas-ketball team may have not been at the top, but this year will be different. There is a mixture of new talent, with five new fresh-man girls that are psyched to play, and new attitudes, as the entire team is pushing them-selves harder than ever in order to find success.

Their first game was Dec. 11, as they were a part of the New Brighton Tip-Off Tourna-ment. The girls played hard and strong, doing the best they could. That game alone is only a simple starting point for what will even-tually evolve into a solid season. “I think we‟re going to have suc-cess,” said Tibolet.

Top: Kristi Tibolet and Lexie Challis pass the ball to each

other in an attempt to make it down the court without

dropping it. Bottom: Carly Arbes plays defense as Maddi

Lewis shoots the ball.

Keeping Focused

Photos by Taylar McCoy, Sports Editor

Photos by Taylar McCoy, Sports Editor

Jordan Kusich

Copy Editor

Taylar McCoy

Sports Editor

Girls basketball

FHS Press 16 December, 2010 12

Pull on your socks and tie your shoes because indoor track is here. With less than a month until the first meet, indoor track has been hard at work getting ready to face their oppo-nents.

Like outdoor track, the indoor team has similar events that the team-mates can compete in, only there is a

roof over their heads. Like outdoor track, athletes can

partake in different jumping, throwing, sprinting and long distance and relay events.

What is a team without coaches to make sure the athletes can become their best? The coaches who are re-sponsible for guiding the students in the right direction are Ryan Smith, Stephen Tinker, and Ed Shephard. In addition, sports teams need seniors who have been through a few seasons

to lead the team to victory and be there for everyone. Unlike most sports in-door track does not have any official captains.

Because there are so many events in indoor track, practices are different depending on an athlete‟s event. For distance, the runners work on speed and run numerous miles to keep their times.

The sprinters, hurdlers and throw-ers all work on form to perfect their technique.

“Wet naps” and “cookies” are only some of the odd words that are said on the court. The boys‟ basketball team uses these words when things like baskets and steals happen.

The team works hard at their prac-tices, and they make the best of what they‟ve got.

Since the team received a new coach, John Lapic, they have also faced new challenges. One of the toughest challenges that they face is learning the new plays.

The team isn‟t used to Coach Lapic‟s new tactics on the court yet. “Our biggest strength is having everyone back and ready to compete, but our big-gest weakness is starting over with a new coach and all of the changes,” said Sen-ior Franzee Barlamas.

The team believes they can make it to play-offs this year. The last section title the team brought to Freedom was in 1985, but they think they can change that. “[The team] is pretty close to it.

We just have to work hard and get

used to our coach. I think it‟s possible; anything is,” said Senior Matt Willis.

Learning plays is hard, but getting used to a whole different type of game play takes a lot longer to master.

“[Coach Lapic] seems to like to play a slow-paced game, which is different for us. We like to play fast break,” said Barlamas, describing a fast break as sprinting up and down the court in-stead of walking, so that you can make a quick play.

Everyone believes that the taller players in basketball have it easier, but that really isn‟t the case.

Short players have just as much of an advantage as tall people. “[It is] a little bit easier, but the shorter players are quick and hard to defend,” said Willis, one of the tallest players on the team at 6 feet 3 inches. Coach Lapic wants to im-prove the communication on the court so that the boys‟ basketball team can break the mold and go to play-offs.

Though there is a lot of work to be done to make it, they are off to a good start.

Dedication and perspiration will be able to get them through the staff change, and they will come out stronger.

Beginning the season strong is one thing every sports team strives for. That‟s exactly how Freedom‟s swim team is starting out the 2010-2011 season.

The swim team had their first scrimmage Nov. 30 against Cornell. The scrimmage “went absolutely great,” said Coach Bill Layton. “I was very pleased with the perform-ance and sportsmanship.”

“It went really, really well. A lot of the first-time swimmers were nerv-ous, but as the season proceeds, the new swimmers will grow [to be] bet-ter than ever,” Sophomore Avery Creegan said.

While Coach Layton was im-pressed with the large parent turnout, he hopes to see more of the student body at future meets.

“It was a lot of fun; they were a competitive team. For a first meet, it was a good start,” Senior Cole Leon-berg said.

The scrimmage against Beaver

Falls on Dec. 9 was a very close com-petition, but the team pulled through. Coach Layton was ill with the flu, and the team‟s seniors coached them to the win.

The team‟s first official meet is Dec. 16 against Seneca Valley, at the home pool.

The swim team has been work-ing hard preparing for this season. A typical practice consists of 122 laps, which is the equivalent of swimming two miles.

“Practices have been absolutely awesome,” Coach Layton said, who is pleased with the team‟s effort so far.

“I was ecstatically proud of them [at the scrimmage],” Coach Layton said.

It‟s not too late to join the swim team, and any interested students should contact the coach or a swim team member to swim.

“We are in the process of build-ing a championship team,” Coach Layton said. Even if you‟re not inter-ested in swimming, come out and support the next Freedom success story.

Taylar McCoy

Sports Editor

Sophomore Nick Jackman and

Coach Shep are dedicated enough

to run in the snow.

Left: Avery Creegan

does breast stoke

during swimming

practice while

warming up with his

team.

Right: Senior Derek

Lehockey tries to get

past Sophomore

Nick Schwab on the

court to shoot the

ball.

Brianna Haglan, Contributing Writer Taylar McCoy, Sports Editor

Taylar McCoy, Sports Editor

Amanda Hryckowian

Web Editor

Brianna Haglan

Contributing Writer