By Zachary Rhine News and Feature Editor On Saturday January 9, a group of eighth, ninth, and tenth graders dressed up as doctors and mathematicians to give a presentation that would earn Red Lion an honor the school hadn’t received since 1993. Student Councils are a long running tradition in schools across the nation, where a group of students band together to perform tasks for their peers and the betterment of their school. Recently, Red Lion’s very own student council’s efforts have won them the right to hold the Pennsylvania State Student Council Conference at Red Lion in November 2017. At the 2015 State Student Council Conference Mrs. Jane Dennish, English teacher and Red Lion’s Student Council Adviser for the past ten years, was asked if Red Lion would be interested in holding the conference. “I approached the kids after we got back from the state conference,” Dennish said. “We had a big discussion about it, and it was a unanimous vote that they wanted to go through with it.” But that was only the first step, because next the students had to come up with a twenty minute presentation that Dennish described as, “almost like the Olympics, where you bid for your site to host the conference.” The students had to figure out details such as hotel facilities and organizationally how the conference would play out. They then had to present everything, along with their chosen theme, to the PASC (Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils) board in the allotted twenty minutes. The theme that Student Council chose was “Every problem has a solution.” They enlisted the help of freshman Chance Riddel to help design a gif, an animated picture, used during their presentation that spelled out their theme. Red Lion went up against North Penn High School and was declared the winners, earning them the honor of hosting the conference. Now the group has to decide on a president that will not only be the president of the conference, but also attend the National Student Council Conference and represent Pennsylvania on a national scale. Dennish stressed the fact that the conference isn’t just a win for student council, but a win for the entire school. She already has plans to incorporate other organizations such as the cheerleaders, the band, FFA, National Honor Society, and more into the events.
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By Kailey Smith Business Manager In late January a major blizzard known as winter storm Jonas produced up to 2-3 feet of snow across the east coast and certain parts of Pennsylvania including York County. Governor Tom Wolf declared a state of emergency for the state of Pennsylvania from January 20 until January 22. This declaration kept everyone off the dangerous roads except for emergencies. York County Schools were closed for 2-3 days including, 2 hour delays days after the storm passed through. The roads weren’t cleared and it wasn’t safe to send students to school. Being snowed in for multiple days with your family, friends, and neighbors means you have to find something to do to keep yourself busy. Some may have shoveled. Some may have made igloos. Perhaps some went sledding down that awesome hill near their houses. Many people prefer to do different things on cold white days and nights. “On days like that I spend my time with my younger siblings and parents. We don’t get to spend much time together so I always take the opportunity when it’s there,” Junior Tai Beck said. “We spent a lot of quality time together. We went sledding, built snowmen, and built an awesome igloo.” Most teenagers hate the snow and cold. A recent survey conducted with a group of Red Lion Senior High Students showed that twenty eight out of forty students would rather stay inside their home than go play in the snow. It seems to be that the older you get the less time you spend outside in the winter weather. Senior Sarah Hoskins explained why teenagers would rather be inside then out. “When we were kids we focused on playgrounds. We still had our imaginations when we were that young. But as a teenager we like spending our time watching television and being on social media all day and night.” 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. 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 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. By Paul Jones Sports Manager
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