thursday r a m p a g e may 7th 2020 celebrating seniors
TRANSCRIPT
Bringing Pine-Richland High School Weekly News…One Page at a Time
Issue #30
Thursday May 7th
2020
R A M P A G E
CELEBRATING SENIORS
Teachers and staff members surprised seniors with signs this past week. Photos from Mrs. Bowman.
Why Pringles are Overrated Dissecting the Average Taste of these Chips
ETHAN SILIPO STAFF REPORTER In many regards, Pringles are a classic.
Their unique shape and packaging have
earned them a reputation amongst all
snack eaters. For so long, I too adored
Pringles, but recently I realized that for
years and years, I had been brainwashed
into thinking these chips were anything
special. Let me start off by saying this, I do not
think Pringles taste terrible, I just think
they are ranked too highly on the snack
tier list. The packaging of Pringles is
great. The design is efficient, it can fit in
a cup holder and it can hold more chips
than an average bag that is filled halfway
with air. Furthermore, the shape of the
chips is genius. Thin, crunchy and easy to
eat. Everything about Pringles is well
designed apart from the flavor itself. Even though there are several flavors
of Pringles, none of them are special or
unique. Yes, they taste good, but any
other chip could taste twice as good and
people would still pick Pringles. Why?
Well, it’s because of a reputation they
have earned. Pringles are heavily
advertised and well known, so they
become an automatic fan favorite despite
the average taste. They just taste so
artificial. I know that potato chips are not
exactly the most real tasting food, but at
least other brands incorporate a bit of that
potato taste. As for Pringles, their chips
just taste like a salty piece of paper.
You do not
have to agree
with me, and I
do not expect
you to. I just felt
that mediocrity
of Pringles
should be
recognized as
people tend to
look over the
taste for other
factors, like
packaging.
The Time I Lived Through a Pandemic What Will You Share with Future Generations?
LIZZI MONTANTI STAFF REPORTER
We are currently living through a
historical event. This is difficult to
comprehend for many reasons. First, no
one ever thought anything like this would
happen again. With modern medicine,
vaccines, and technology, who would
have thought a virus could have the
impact that it has. On a separate note, it is
hard to believe that we are living through
a historical event because, at times, it
doesn’t feel like we are. When I think of
something historic, sitting at home with
nothing to do is not the first thing that
comes to mind. That being said, there is
still so much to remember about what has
happened since the coronavirus outbreak.
It is important to remember what your life
was like during these times. Have you
considered what you will remember from
this experience? What will you tell future
generations? It is interesting to note that the primary
sources we have from past historical
events are mainly from people who wrote
letters, journals, or newspapers.
However, now there are videos, countless
articles, tweets, social media posts, news
broadcasters, and other ways that
document this time for us. Your own documentation of this time
period is just as important as a news
broadcast or article. Everyone has had a
unique experience in some way. Future
generations that did not live through this
pandemic will not be able to fully
comprehend it. In other words, it is
important that you remember what your
life was like during this time. What will you tell future generations?
Did you miss a sports season? What was
a typical day of online school like for
you? What did you miss about school?
How did this impact your mental health?
What did you do to keep busy? How did
this impact your family? Did something
important to you get cancelled? The answers to those questions will be
unique to everyone and are the part of this
historic event that is entirely up to you to
document. One day, you will want to
remember what life was like during this
time, as boring as it may seem.
Ultimately, even if the days blend
together, try to keep a sense of what your
day to day life is like; this time will be
remembered and studied forever.
OPINION
Image from Walgreens.
Lizzi Montanti (far right) and teammates this past field hockey season before school closure.
Wish You Were Here Anniversary Pink Floyd’s Album Celebrates 45 Years JOSH PALKO SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
Wish You Were Here was released on
September 12th, 1975 and was Pink
Floyd’s ninth studio album. I honestly
don’t know much about the history of
Pink Floyd, especially up to this point, so
I won’t go much into it. The album
features Roger Waters on bass and vocals,
David Gilmour on guitar and vocals, Nick
Mason on drums, and Richard Wright on
piano.
Even though this album only has five
tracks, even though track 1 and 5 can be
considered the same song, it doesn’t mean
the album lacks in value. All five tracks
are great with no dull ones. If I had to pick
a personal favorite out of the five, I would
go with the title track since I feel like I
listen to it the most in my spare time. That
doesn’t mean I don’t like all the other
ones. Have a Cigar is a great bluesy tune
and Shiny On Like a Crazy Diamond is
long and melodic, this album really has a
lot going for it.
The album received mixed reviews
when it first came out, saying it was
uninspired and inferior to their previous
work, that being Dark Side of the
Moon. On retrospective, though, the
album has garnered a lot more positive
reviews and is considered one of the
greatest albums of all time. Even
though this is the only Pink Floyd
album I’ve listened to as of writing this
article, I really enjoy this album. It truly
feels like a musical journey listening to
this album. It rewards the listener for
listening through the whole album by
giving you flawless transitions one
after another.
I highly recommend this album for
anyone. If you don’t like listening to
longer songs and more instrumental
sections than vocals, I would still
recommend this album. It may even
change your perspective on music. I
don’t promise that will happen though
but try to keep an open mind while
giving this album a listen. It truly feels
like a perfect album to listen during a
time like now.
British Steel and Painkiller Anniversaries Albums Celebrate Milestones JOSH PALKO SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
I’ve been waiting to talk about Priest
for a while now, and now is the perfect
time. Judas Priest celebrates two album
anniversaries this year, British Steel and
Painkiller. British Steel celebrates 40
years and Painkiller celebrates 30 years.
Both albums are important albums in the
Priest discography and metal in general.
British Steel was released on April
14th, 1980 and was the sixth studio album
by the band. It boasts classics like
Breaking the Law and Living After
Midnight while also supplying Priest
classics like Metal Gods, Rapid Fire, and
Steeler. This was the album that helped
Priest become more mainstream and more
of a household name. This album
also helped spark the sudden
boom that is The New Wave of
British Heavy Metal and the metal
scene in general in the early 80’s.
This is a great album and a great
place for beginner Judas Priest
listeners to start since it’s not as
aggressive as their later albums.
Speaking of which….
Painkiller was released on
September 3rd, 1990 and was the
twelfth studio album by the band.
Whereas British Steel had popular
hits in mainstream radio,
Painkiller didn’t have those types
of track, though. That didn’t hold
the album's power back. The
album has heavy hitting Priest
classics like All Guns Blazing, Between
the Hammer and the Anvil, Nightcrawler,
A Touch of Evil, Metal Meltdown, and,
of course, the soaring title track. This is
also the first album with new drummer
Scott Travis. This is also the last studio
album until 2005 with famous lead singer
Rob Halford. This may be the perfect
Priest album. It starts with the pedal to the
floor and never let’s go. It’s Priest’s most
aggressive and fastest album up to that
point. This may be a harder album to
suggest to newer fans and the average
music listener, but you won’t regret
listening to it. Both albums received
positive reviews both from when they
were released to today. Out of the two
albums, I much prefer Painkiller but that
doesn’t mean I completely despise British
Steel. I can put on Painkiller any day and
have a blast with it. Both albums have
everything you want out of Priest. You’ve
got great drum work, great guitar playing
and harmonies, and, of course, Rob
Halford’s screaming vocals. If you’ve got
nothing else to listen to during the
quarantine, give these albums a shot.
ENTERTAINMENT
Wish You Were Here Album Cover
from Ultimate Classic Rock.
British Steel and Painkiller album covers
from Azintex Music.
My Five Most-Missed Memories What I Miss at School LIZZI MONTANTI STAFF REPORTER
As my sophomore year has come to an
end, I’ve begun to realize that there’s
quite a bit that I miss the most about being
in school. I didn’t expect to miss some of
these things as much as I do. Looking
back, I took so many simple day-to-day
interactions and happenings for granite.
Here are my top five most missed
memories from school. Giving my chemistry teacher
memes. By far what sophomores Clare
O’Connor, Caroline Vidic, and I miss
most. It would brighten everyone’s day,
especially Mr. Simko’s. Lunch. It was so nice to take a break
from my classes and see my friends at
lunch. Now, I just watch Youtube or TV
while I eat lunch, then I get back to work. Doing hands-on activities in school.
It was always fun to get up from my desk
and learn in other ways through different
activities. I really can’t do that through
my online classes, which takes away
some of the fun from learning.
Playing my instrument every day. I
liked having orchestra class because it
was almost like a break in my day. I didn’t
realize how much I miss being able to
play along with other instruments in
class. Seeing my friends in the hallway. I
miss seeing my friends every day,
especially because I don’t have any
siblings to hang out with at home. It
would be different if it was Summer, of
course, because then I could still see my
friends
Virtual Team Meetings Baseball team collaborates over zoom
NICK GUIDAS STAFF REPORTER
Due to this spring sports season being
canceled, the baseball team has been
getting together virtually. On these calls
we have been talking about what we are
doing during this time, how we are getting
better, and much more.
Last week we had a special guest on the
call with us to talk. It was Neil Walker
(former PR graduate who plays in the
MLB). On the call he was open to
questions from the team. We asked him
about various things such as what it is like
to be in the MLB, what he does in the
offseason, and many other things. He also
gave us some great advice on listening to
coaches and taking every piece of advice
from them to mind. It was a great
experience to listen to him talk to us and
discuss these things.
Today, we have another call and there
will be another MLB player discussing
things with us. His name is Blake Lalli.
He also played at PR in high school. The
team is looking forward to hearing what
he has to say and learning from him as
well.
Springtime Go and Smell the Roses
LAUREN SCHWAB FREELANCE SUBMISSION The season that comes after winter is
the least noticed, just as the obstacle we
have to get through in order to reach
summer. People complain about the
weather with the rain and the chilliness.
There are also no big holidays in the
spring for us to look forward to. Now that
we have a virus going around, we are no
longer busy with our daily lives. The
plans we may have had are canceled or
held back. Now we have time to focus on
nature and how it shows itself off in the
spring. What can a person do when you’re
not allowed to go anywhere? The answer
is simply outdoors. As long as you're
distancing yourself and not going where
you not supposed to of course. Go for a
bike ride in your neighborhood in order to
rid of that extra energy stored inside you.
I go on little explorations with my sister
every day on our bikes. We were able to
try new routes we usually would not go
along. Maybe a good idea is to get the
lawn work or upgrades around your house
that you wanted. With all
the chaos going around,
we still need to make
time to stop and enjoy
the beauties that spring
shows. Take a walk
outside and exercise to
stay healthy and bright-
minded. Spring is when
the Earth goes into full
bloom and new life
sprouts. The trees gain
flowers and the air gains
the sweet smell of
flowers. It’s easy to not
appreciate what has
happened every year. This once a year
occasion still needs to be admired for the
sights and the importance it has to the
other seasons.
JUST FOR FUN
Spring bear drawing by Illustrator Maggie English.
Facing Failure Why Accepting Defeat is Beneficial ETHAN SILIPO & MADDIE JEWART STAFF REPORTERS
Failure is often perceived as a
negative occurrence. This is one of
society's most common misconceptions.
Nobody aims to fail, but defeat and
unsuccessfulness are unavoidable when
striving for success. Failing can leave a
sour taste in your mouth, but recovering
from failure to achieve success is usually
more beneficial than succeeding on a
first attempt. Everyone experiences
defeat, but the greatest part about failing
is the opportunity it provides to learn.
Failure may not always seem positive,
yet failing almost always leads to future
success, but in order to bounce back
from defeat, you must know how to react
to failure. In today's world failing is
inevitable. Everybody experiences
failure countless times throughout their
life and failure is common in any
journey to success. Failure creates a
chance to improve and succeed in the
future. Facing a defeat puts you at a
point where the only place you can go is
up, so you are essentially forced to grow
and learn.
Steven Horwitz, author of the article,
“The Importance of Failure,” uses the
analogy that says success accelerates us
towards goals, but failure steers us in the
right direction. By failing at something
important, you are forced to try again,
but with new knowledge and experience.
With this newfound knowledge you can
redirect your efforts in order to alter
your results. After experiencing defeat,
you can usually understand what you did
wrong. Because you know what it takes
to do poorly, you can essentially use that
knowledge to flip your results toward
success.
Take school example: a place where
we go every week for around 12 years.
Students experience defeat every day,
whether it is an unsuccessful friendship
or the inability to get an A on a test.
Horwitz explains that the slogan “never
give up” is actually tremendously useful
in times of failure where one must
persevere and find the light at the end of
the tunnel.
Michael Jordan once said, “I've
missed more than 9,000 shots in my
career. I've lost almost 300 games.
Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to
take the game winning shot and missed.
I've failed over and over and over again
in my life. And that is why I succeed."
Today, Michael Jordan is recognized
as one of the greatest basketball players
of all time, but before he was able to
succeed, he had to fail, just like me and
you. By losing games and missing shots,
Michael Jordan was able to win six NBA
championships simply because he
overcame defeat and did not allow
failure to define him. Every celebrity
and icon of today has failed at some
point when working towards their goals.
Thomas Alva Edison made hundreds
of different models of the lightbulb
before it worked.
Walt Disney failed countless times
before creating successful movies and
theme parks.
Even Bill Gates, one of the world's
richest men, experienced difficult times
before becoming a billionaire.
All of these people did not give up
and strived towards their goals even
when they were at rock bottom, and
because of this perseverance through
hard times, they found success. Although failure can have a direct
correlation with future success, the only
way to achieve this correlation is with
proper responses to failure. If you react
irrationally, the steps involved in
growing towards success could be
dismantled, inevitably causing no
success to be found in the long run.
In the article, “Succeeding at
Failure,” Benjamin K. Sanchez explains
that average people and achieving
people are set apart by their response to
failure. This essentially means that
those who strive to succeed, respond
with open arms to failure whereas
standard people may get frustrated by
failure. It is critical to respond positively
to defeat, because moping around and
being frustrated creates a mindset that
says, “I give up” and “I cannot do this.”
This mindset eliminates any chance of
growth and does not allow for any
progress to be made. Although you often
cannot control whether or not you fail,
you can always control how you react.
In this situation, failing is like falling
down. When you fall, your natural
instinct is to get back up and keep
moving, just like when you fail you are
forced to get up and give it another shot.
So when you fail a math test or lose a
basketball game, do not get angry or sad,
instead treat the defeat as a learning
opportunity, and you will surely see
improvement.
This brings us to the next point, which
is reacting to a failure by adjusting your
process. If your process stays constant
after a defeat your results will also stay
constant, so you are just going to fail
again and again until some part of your
process changes. The only thing worse
than not changing your process is
stopping completely after a failure.
Sanchez writes, “Too many people
let failure stop them in their tracks. This
is the worst thing you can do because the
effect of failure multiplies the longer
you stay still.”
FEATURES
Failure steers us in the
right direction. By failing
at something important,
you are forced to try
again, but with new
knowledge and
experience. With this
newfound knowledge
you can redirect your
efforts in order to alter
your results.
So by not reacting to failure at all, not
only will that failure weigh on you more,
but you will be less likely to succeed
simply because you did not take
immediate action.
Next we have to consider the ways
we assess and review failure. You need
to take a moment to think about why you
failed, or how you failed. Once you
understand where you went wrong, you
can fix that mistake much quicker than
just trying the same exact process that
failed you over and over again. If you
take time to think about your failure, you
can find a quick and easy solution rather
than just rushing back into where you
failed with the same understanding of
the situation. For example, let's say you
trip on your shoelace. Instead of getting
up and continuing walking with an
untied shoelace, you assess the problem,
the shoelace. Then once you tie it, you
have found a simple solution to a simple
problem just because you took 5 seconds
to think “why did I trip?” Although this
example is small, it just goes to show
how vital assessing failure is to finding
success. Failure is vastly present in the
current day, but knowledge of how to
succeed from failure is often
scarce. You have to remember to
always try again and to be open to
failure. You have to change how you
view failure and begin to enjoy failure.
The ultimate goal is to succeed after a
failure. Learn from those failures until
you have enough knowledge to
succeed.
School’s Out: What I Miss About PRHS
JOSH PALKO SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
Let’s be honest, most students are glad to be out of school.
We would all rather be home than at school. It’s just human
nature for teenagers. There are some aspects, though, that we
will miss, especially during these times. As a senior, March
13th was the last regular school day I ever had at Pine Richland
High School, and I never knew that until the end of the day
when the announcement came on. Now the big question comes
out, what do I miss about PRHS? Well, surprisingly, there is
quite a lot.
The first and biggest thing I miss about going to school
everyday was seeing my friends. I’m pretty sure most people
would agree with me that the best thing about school was seeing
friends. For all seniors, this may have been the last time we will
ever see some of our classmates, besides google meets. It sort
of makes me stop and think that I may never see some of those
people again.
Another thing I miss were some of my teachers. For the most
part, I’ve enjoyed the teachers I had for the past 4 years. It’s
kinda sad that I may never say a last goodbye to some of my
favorites before I graduate. I could email them but it kinda ruins
the emotion of seeing them for the last time and saying your last
goodbye.
The last thing I can think of that I miss is the classroom
experience. I feel like most classes benefit more from classroom
interaction and being in the same room as the teacher. Some
classes are harder for people to learn on their own, like math
and some sciences, and they learn better by lectures and seeing
the teachers do it in front of them. I know some teachers are
making videos on how to do certain lessons, but it doesn’t have
the same feel as it would in a classroom for 45 minutes.
There could be more I can mention, but I’ll leave it at
that. As a senior, I may never get to see the inside of the
school again. There are definitely benefits from this
quarantine I have experienced, but if I could go back and
choose from home school or going to an actual school, I
would choose the latter. If I was in a grade below or further,
I would’ve probably chosen the former, but being a senior
changes my perspective a little. Maybe other seniors will
disagree on my decision, I don’t know, but all I know is that
I enjoyed my high school experience and I hope most of you
did too. Stay Safe.
FEATURES
I may never say a last goodbye to some
of my favorite teachers before I
graduate. I could email them but it ruins
the emotion of seeing them for the last
time and saying your last goodbye.
What I Miss Most About School Quarantine in the eyes of a senior
TOM FREY SENIOR STAFF REPORTER At first, quarantine didn’t seem so bad. At home all day, naps,
video games, Netflix you name it. It didn’t start to really hit me as
to what is going on until prom was cancelled, which is weird
because before this I didn’t care about prom at all, but many of my
friends do. It’s weird to think about what I’ll miss most about
school. It started to hit me even harder when the Governor
announced the closing of all Pennsylvania public schools. I
remember the last conversation I had with some of my friends,
which is weird to think about, because the conversations I had were
not ones you have for your last one. We all thought we were going
back, obviously we didn’t. So yeah I guess that’s what I miss, that
there are people I’ve known since elementary school that my last
conversation would have been about, nothing of real value.
WHAT do YOU miss, PR? Email a
Rampage Staff Reporter to give us
the scoop.
The Latest Covid-19 Craze: Create Your Own Garden
ABBY LANE COPY EDITOR If it’s not buying chickens for fresh eggs or ducks for their cuteness, then you may be considering gardening as the latest craze
during Covid-19. Gardening has always been a wonderful spring/summer hobby. Now may be a good time to give it a try. You will
find satisfaction in tending to seedlings and plants, getting your hands dirty, and being outside in nature. Outlined below are the steps
you can take to establish your own garden. It’s time to start growing…. Step one for gardening: Take the time to research what you want to plant and what kind of attention that plant/vegetable needs.
Is it around the clock work or daily? Does it need plenty of sunlight or only a little? The same goes for the amount of water you
need. Step two: Determine if you will have an in ground garden or use planter boxes. Find a spot for your desired plant or vegetable
and make sure that you rake the dirt at least three to four inches deep. Make sure the dirt is extremely loose. If you have trouble
sifting through it add a bit of water or use a shovel to loosen up the dirt. Step three: Add some topsoil (only about half an inch on top of your entire garden) and mix in through the dirt with a rake. Step four: Go to the store (Home Depot/Lowes) and pick out your desired
plant/vegetable. You can buy seeds or seedlings. Make sure to buy fencing too if you do
not already have it at home. (Only buy fencing if you have an in-ground garden). If you
are doing seeds, plant them now. If you are doing seedlings or flowers wait until mid/late
May to plant them. It’s too cold and too early to plant them now. They will most likely
die. Step five: Once you have all necessary materials for your garden (fencing, gloves,
topsoil, seedlings, etc), get a shovel and make rows for your vegetables/plants. Have the
rows be about 2 inches deep for a planter or 3-4 inches for solid ground and have them
run the entire length of your garden. You can find planters at stores like Lowe’s and Home
Depot. Step six: Take out your packets of seeds or seedlings. Figure out what species of
plant/vegetable will go where. Once that is figured out take about 2-3 seeds and put them
in the trough. Separate each pile by about 2-3 inches depending on how long your garden
is. If seedlings, space out per directions provided. Step seven: Once all seeds are in the ground use your hands (you can wear gloves for
this if you do not like to touch the dirt with bare hands) to cover the troughs with dirt. If
you have any leftover topsoil, pack that on top too but only about an inch or so. Step eight: Check the daily forecast. See when it will rain next. If not for a while, give
your seeds some water. If it's going to rain the same day or the next do not water. You do
not want your seeds to die or be flooded. Step nine: This part is optional; add worms! You can find worms in your own backyard
but if you do not want to mess up your landscaping go to a tackle store and buy some
fresh out of the dirt nightcrawlers. Worms are great for your garden because they provide
fresh compost by eating dirt and then pooping it back out. If worms are not your thing
that’s okay. Maybe add some Jobes. These are healthy for your plants/vegetables as well.
But if you do decide to use worms, make sure to evenly spread them out around your
garden. Step ten: Measure your garden and then measure your wire fencing. (This is only if
you have an in-ground garden.) Cut your fencing to a measured length and put it into the
ground. Make sure it is installed deep enough so no animal can dig under your garden. Step eleven: Last but not least, put a smile on your face. You completed something
amazing! Watch it grow and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
FEATURES
RAMPAGE STAFF Design Editors:
Brooke Gray
Maddie Jewart
Cameron Perkins
Staff Reporters:
Ava Boyd
Jordan Burns,
Danielle Bursick
Ethan Crowell,
Maggie English
Tom Frey, Mikayla Goff,
Nick Guidas, Mara Hopf,
Ella Kasperowicz
Abby Lane
Steven Lemchak, Elizabeth Montanti,
Arnoldo Olsson,
Amitva Pal, Josh Palko, Ethan Silipo,
Emma Van Meter
Copy Editor:
Abby Lane
Teacher:
Mrs. Harshman
The RAMPAGE is a student-created
publication of Pine-Richland High
School, 700 Warrendale Road,
Gibsonia, PA 15044. The newsroom
is room 217. The RAMPAGE is
available in print and online every
Thursday. It is written by students,
for students, and will make every
attempt to report all school-related
news. We welcome freelance
submissions, suggestions, comments,
and story ideas from students and
staff. Since this is a student-
publication, we realize we may make
mistakes; we encourage readers to
report mistakes to the Copy Editor.
You may win a prize if you can
locate any/all mistakes.
PICTURES OF THE WEEK!
FEATURES
SIDEWALK ART: Chalk art in Abby Lane’s neighborhood: Art and Photos by Abby Lane.
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