By Natasha McLane
Staff Writer Every year after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, comes an equally important date to our economy, Small Business Saturday. Throughout the nation, small businesses strive to support the economy and job growth. Small businesses are an essential part of our lives in Red Lion. According to Forbes, small businesses account for 60-80% of all U.S jobs. That’s 25-28 million businesses, outweighing corporate industries 1,162 to 1. In addition, 44% of America’s payroll comes from small businesses. In Pennsylvania alone, nearly 30% of the payroll comes from small businesses. Small businesses impact the world around us in a huge way, “It all breaks down to small businesses, even big businesses,” Harley Moser, Computer Technician of Moser’s Custom Computers said. Running a small business is a “very demanding, very high stress job.” Moser has had his business for 11 years now, and counting. Red Lion alone practically runs on small businesses, whether it be manufacturing clothing and plastics, having excellent customer service, giving health care to patients, and providing goods and services. Red Lion has a wide range of shops that are independently owned in the center of town. These businesses have many purposes, including computer repair, candy distribution, locksmith services, and pet supply. By providing a high quality customer service, small businesses are able to give back to the community. What us, as customers put in, we get out. Although most profit goes back into the business, Moser donates to much of the community needs, such as church events and Salvation Army efforts and even offering free services to our veterans on November 11th, since he too is a veteran. But with an expected $100,000 profit, imagine how much comes back when we are to spend as little as $60 on repairs. To a business owner it’s not just a job, “It is my life, my whole life reflects in my shop.” Moser said. Throughout the past 10 years small businesses have tended to change according to the fast pace in our world today. To keep up with the newest trends Harley said “Keep learning everyday.” He provides all of Red Lion with computers needs, by updating Jerry’s Great Valu computer software. As much as we would like to think small business are small, they are the foundation of our economy. Without small businesses, we would not succeed in bigger corporations. At one point in time all corporations, such as Microsoft, started small. No matter how small a business may be, its impact can be massive at a local level. Moser’s Custom Computer’s alone has given back to the community in numerous efforts. If all businesses did this our economy would be booming. Next year when Small Business Saturday arrives, it shouldn’t be taken lightly, because without them we would not be a proud Red Lion family. They are the foundation among us.
0 Comments
By Liz Irvin Staff Writer Thanksgiving has been celebrated throughout America by millions of people, so what makes this holiday so special to the Red Lion community? Many people are thankful for things when it comes to Thanksgiving and that’s one of the key components in this holiday. When asked, many of the Red Lion students and staff said they are very thankful for family, friends, and their health. “It’s a time to spend with all of your family together, and even get your friends together and have a good time with everyone,” Mrs. Missimer, a guidance office secretary, said. They are not limited to just family, friends and health though, many people were also thankful for their education, their teachers, and even the strong Red Lion bond everyone has with each other. “Thanksgiving is where you should be thankful instead of taking,” junior Lauren Ferree said. “You should be giving to people in need and who have less than you.” Red Lion is truly thankful for many things, and many of the things they are thankful for are for themselves, such as their bed and their house. However, what really brings Red Lion together is the amount of thanks we all give for the things that really matter such as family, friends, and health. We all think differently about what Thanksgiving means to us and how we represent Thanksgiving in our own household. “It’s a time for life to slow down and for us to give thanks for all that we have,” business teacher Mrs. Krouse said. Thanksgiving is a time for everyone to be brought together whether you’re friends or you hardly know each other. It’s a time for everyone to give thanks for something they believe in and become closer the people around them. “Everyone has at least one thing they are truly thankful for,” senior Dillon Boring said. He’s thankful for his freedom and the great music program here at Red Lion Area School District. Sophomore Cara Warntz is thankful for her band family, drumline, and being able to perform in front of her friends and family while being in band. According to Red Lion’s students, family is very important to give thanks for this Thanksgiving, but our school is so much more than that. It's a time to get together with all families including sport families, music families, or just friends who are so close it seems like they are a part of your real family. Red Lion is brought together not only by their bond but by sharing thanks to all that applies to everyone who is in this school including, family, friends, and everyone brought together by the bond of the school district. By Rachel Lau
Staff Writer Some retailers are backing out of the famous shopping day, Black Friday. Companies are asking themselves if it’s worth opening at all. The few businesses that are opting out believe their workers need more time to feast with their families, and the others are still in for the rush, and are making their employees spend their holiday working. Executives say that staying closed helps employee morale. This decision spares retailers from the huge competition, the door busters, and overtime pay for the holiday staff that come with opening on Black Friday. Black Friday used to always be the top day for sales for different companies. Since a few retailers are pulling out of the tradition, other companies are calling it a publicity stunt. GameStop, which used to open most of its stores at midnight on Black Friday, decided to open many hours later this year to give their employees the holiday off this year. Recreational Equipment Inc., concluded to close all of their stores on Black Friday, ignoring the day of great discounts, because many of their employees requested time off or the customers choose to shop online instead. The National Retail Federation suspects there will be a 3.7% increase in sales over the shopping holiday. Sales are expected to reach about $630 billion from November to December. Black Friday is also the start of the holiday shopping season, which overall represents about a fifth of the retail industry’s annual sales of $3.2 trillion. But who knows what Black Friday will bring to the people and its industries. By Paul Jones Staff Writer In Mini-THON’s efforts to raise money for the Four Diamonds Fund, they partnered with the Harlem Wizards to raise money and put on a high flying show. The Harlem Wizards faced Red Lion teachers from around the district. Former Red Lion basketballs players like Mr. Dennish and Mr. Bull were on the roster. Math teacher Mrs. Grove and health teacher Mrs. Gillis also signed to play. Mini-THON is in its tenth year and is always looking for new ways to get people excited for the event. Cancer affects almost everyone in some way as it has taken the lives of millions of people. The American Cancer Society projects that 1.6 million people in this year will be diagnosed with the disease. When this many people are affected, even children will be affected as well. No child should have to go through such a horrible disease. That is where the Four Diamonds Fund comes into the equation. “(Mini-THON) provides any support for a family that comes into Hershey Hospital,” Ryan Small, Mini-THON advisor, said. Mini-THON provides families with support for medical expenses, medications, and research to combat cancer. Red Lion Mini-THON has raised tens of thousands of dollars every year. To better understand the mindset of a kid who has been diagnosed talk to Red Lion junior Trevor Vitz. He was diagnosed with cancer when he was just thirteen. Trevor was one of the rare instances where he was affected emotionally by his diagnosis. Other kids however may need extra support and need someone to lift their spirits. “It is just awesome to help them out and get them to smile or laugh at something and make their day better,” Small said. So bringing in the Harlem Wizards is just another way to do that. This year, Mini-THON is representing the Knapp family, who was in attendance for the Wizards game. 1,122 people were also in attendance for the game, raising over $7,500. Now to the game itself. The teachers were no match for the Wizards, but they put up a valiant effort. With dunk specialist “Flight”, who was part of the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest and “Kaboom” who had a seven foot wingspan, they put on a show for the fans. At half time, the teachers were down 25 points. With the aid of five and ten point plays, they were able to fight back to within two points of the Wizards. The away team however pulled the victory out in a 98-88 victory. There were plenty of hijinks throughout the game that made everyone of all ages laugh. There were games with the little kids and even some adults were invited onto the court. Water and confetti was spilled on some parts of the crowd and even a kiss from a Wizard to a female fan. The members of Mini-THON are still not done however as they prepare for Mini-THON and another successful year of raising money for the Four Diamonds Fund. By Julia Adams Staff Writer As the school year continues to kick off, new methods of completing assignments have arisen, most notably Google Classroom. Google Classroom is an educational app that allows teachers to assign work to students via Google. Many teachers have begun to use this application since its launch in 2014. Biology teacher Mr. Todd Barshinger is one of the teachers around the school who uses Google Classroom as part of curriculum. “I like the distribution to the students,” Mr. Barshinger said. “It’s great that they each get an individual copy and can turn it in as they finish.” This helps teachers to easily see when a student turns assignment in on time, as it will be marked late if it’s turned in pass a certain deadline. “They put all the assignments up so you know what all you have to do and you turn it in,” Junior Sam Howard said. “He (Mr. Smith) puts all the stuff up online and I can go back whenever I want and that’s helpful.” In some aspects, Google Classroom has been viewed as a positive, new way that students can learn in school. However, as with many other apps, there are still a few drawbacks that come with the application. “I don’t like that you can’t send assignments as a group,” Mr. Barshinger said. “It would be nice if that was different.” Students are also frustrated with the the lack of uniformity when it comes to using the program. “I kind of don’t like how some classes do use it and some don’t, only because I have to go back and forth,” Howard said. “So I think they should all use it or all just not use it.” Other discrepancies include students not having internet access at home and having to squeeze in the completion of assignments during class time. While there are both pros and cons to using Google Classroom, many courses are beginning to incorporate the app into their curriculum. By Shawn Gunarich News & Features Editor Ms. Heather Fogell, science teacher and accomplished scientist, has been working for many years on decoding the DNA (genome) of the squid in order to discover the medical characteristics of a certain muscle called “twitchen”, because it acts almost like a cancer cell. Every summer, Ms. Fogell travels to Maine in order to catch fresh samples of squid to test. These tests include utilizing radioactive phosphorus to see how genes are made. Such experiments need much training, which Ms. Fogell had acquired through a Masters degree in genetics, and two years of independent studies at Millersville University. Even though her research into medical purpose of twitchen turned out for the moment inconclusive, she is still hopeful for the future of her research. “Even though our data was inconclusive, I was able to strengthen my techniques for the future,” Ms. Fogell said. “Data is data and now we know where not to look.” These days Ms. Fogell stays busy working on a scientific paper based off of her research into the squid, and has spoken at scientific seminars on such topics. She has had breakthroughs in her research thanks to the octopus genome being mapped. She also looks forward to picking up on her research this summer to further explore the squid genome. “This new breakthrough in the octopus paves the way for the squid genome, and makes my job a lot easier,” Fogell said. |
AboutAll the latest right here! Archives
September 2018
Categories
All
|