The Wildcat Times

To our readers: Thank you

2009-06-01T17:21:00.002-04:00

by the staff of the Wildcat Times

We just wanted to give you all a quick thank you for your active readership through the school year. Through the ups and downs of a long year, we try to keep you informed on what is newsworthy at Pittsford Area Schools and beyond and do so to the best of our ability. Though we can always strive to do better, we think we improved through the year and by the creation of this blog we were better able to keep you informed of the local news that's important to you in a more timely manner.

We wish you all a safe, healthy, fun-filled summer and look forward to a partnership in news with you next school year.

Thank you all again.

The Wildcat Times staff

Carnival comes to PAS to reward kids for good behavior

2009-05-26T12:26:00.002-04:00

by Emily Hines and Tommy Verdon

On May 22 the National Guard put on the annual carnival for the elementary students here at Pittsford. The 3rd-5th grade students participated in this event rewarding kids for their good behavior all year long. “We are doing the carnival as a reward for positive behavior,” shared elementary principal Mr. Shaw.

Not only is it just a chance to be rewarded for good behavior, it’s a fun reward. “It gives the kids a chance to get some air and have fun because they’ve earned it through the Positive Behavior Rocks Program,” commented 4th grade instructor Mrs. Burkhart.

The kids had specific requirements that they had to meet in order to enjoy this special day. Every student got to go out and play on the carnival inflatables, but children who met their goals of over 130 points got the privilege of staying outside as long as they wanted.

The event was also popular among students as well. “I like the one where you do sit ups and get prizes,” commented 3rd grader Jaden Howell. “I like the one where you throw the football in it. I like it because I like the National Guard,” shared Jenna Butts.

The students learned that positive behavior is important and by being positive even when it’s hard, your actions will be rewarded

Softball team drops final double-header before districts

2009-05-22T12:46:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

Sadly, the last games of the regular season for the ‘Cats ended on the wrong note, as they Ladycats dropped both ends of a double-header to the Bobcats, 3-1 and 5-0.

Junior Nicole Culbert took to the mound in Game 1 and struck out seven Bobcats, but she didn’t get enough offensive support for the W. Freshman Samantha Cole and junior Katie Stiver were the leading hitters for the ladies in the first game.

In the second game, Culbert again tried to lead the team to a victory, but the offense and defense just weren’t up to snuff. “I pitched as well as I could, but sometimes it gets frustrating when we can’t make common plays like fielding groundballs and pop-ups. The heat didn’t help us at all either, we were all tired after playing eight games in four days,” Culbert explained. Stiver led the team from the plate in Game 2.

Wildcat baseball team shows no mercy to Burr Oak

2009-05-22T12:35:00.000-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

It was a Thursday afternoon and the Pittsford High School baseball team was looking forward to their game. It wasn’t because they got out of class early, either. P-ford would have to travel to Burr Oak, a very small school whose talent pool is slim to none and it showed in this double-header. The ‘Cats would mercy the Bobcats both games, one in the third inning and one in the fourth inning. The feat in the first game was Pittsford: 21 Burr Oak: 0. In the second game much of the same continued as the Wildcats would cruise to an easy victory scoring a mere 16 points and their foes scoring a lonely one point.

In the first contest, junior Seth Weber needed only 47 pitches before the game ended with a 21-0 Wildcat victory. He struck out four batters and walked three. Senior Adam Anspaugh drove in nine RBI, including a HR.

In the second affair, the Wildcats let up a little but still laid it on thick to the “competitors,” winning 16-1. Junior Cody Krasny went the distance on the mound for the ‘Cats, striking out six. Senior Chase Weber brought in four RBI with a pair of HRs.

Hornets sting Ladycat softball team, sweep double-header

2009-05-21T14:02:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

On Wednesday night the Ladycats were swept by the Hillsdale Hornets in a double-header, 9-0 and 17-3. The girls are not giving up and plan on trying their best to win against Burr Oak tonight.

Junior Nicole Culbert took the loss on the mound in Game 1 for the ‘Cats. There were many hitters who got on base, but just couldn’t make it around to score. Katie Stiver, Amber Stump, and Leah Ward all hit singles for P-ford early on, while Stacey Elston, Stiver, and Marissa McEathron contributed hits late, but they didn’t lead to any scores.

During the second game the ‘Cats mustered up three runs, but fell far short of their opponents’ 17. Senior Marisa Hamilton took the loss on the mound, striking out three Hillsdale batters. Culbert, Amber Helton, and Jessica Plessinger each had singles in Game 2, for the extent of the Ladycat offense.

Ladycat softball team’s roller coaster ride continues

2009-05-21T12:14:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

Despite the ‘Cats stomping the NA-J Rams on Monday, they fell back into a losing gutter on Tuesday, losing both games to Lenawee Christian by scores of 5-0 and 8-1.

Senior Marisa Hamilton was the pitcher for the first game, taking the loss but striking out eight Cougars. Sophomore Heather Mason was the only person to get a hit for the ‘Cats, knocking a single. The defensive mistakes really cost Pittsford in this one. “As far as the team I think other than a few errors, we did a pretty good job. The other team was a good wake up call to some things we need to improve on,” explained Mason.

During the second game, junior Nicole Culbert once again took the mound for the Ladycats, getting the loss and striking out five LCS batters. Freshman Samantha Cole was the only Ladycat to get a hit, wrapping a single.

Boys track ‘Cats win 6th straight SCAA title

2009-05-21T12:12:00.000-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

It all came down to this. This day, May 19; arguably the most important date on the calendar for the Pittsford Wildcats boys track team. The reason why this date was so important was not because this was such a new and difficult league, as powerhouse Pittsford found out when they lost during the regular season to Colon and Bellevue, but that they had to prove that they could win their sixth straight league championship.

The odds were favored in Hillsdale Academy’s corner, and having already dropped two dual meets to Colon and Bellevue, the mountain to climb was steep; Pittsford was looking at a grim bronze metal for the 2009 track season, but the ‘Cats had other things in mind.

As we all know, stats are irrelevant and that is why we play the games, and the Wildcats proved that with what they did last night. “I thought they (the team) gave a tremendous effort,” expressed head coach of the boys track team Mr. Burger. “They wanted to win really bad and it showed in how hard they worked and I was pretty happy,” continued Burger with a faint smile. Not only did the Wildcats grab the championship in what you might call an “upset” or “unlikely,” P-ford won by a sizeable margin and so the streak continues. But we all know it was because of the outstanding performances that carved the way to this memorable moment.

Senior Ben Wines was the league champion in the discus, heaving the disc 138’2’’ and in the shot he placed second with an effort of 45’10.25’’. Sophomore Brandon Williams took 7th in the discus with a throw of 107’4’’. Junior Garet Lee took third in the high jump with a leap of 6’, 2nd in the high hurdles, and fourth in the 300m hurdles. Sophomore Austin Billington and junior Kurtis Brackman went one-two in the pole vault. Brackman also took 6th in the high hurdles and fifth in the 300m hurdles. In the two mile relay the team of Jake Osborn, Brent Smith, Luke Irwin, and Kyle Wyatt scored a third place for their respected team. In the 800m relay the team of Osborne, Blake Toner, Brad Beach, and John Sattler brought home a fifth place finish. Brent was the league champion in the mile and the two mile. “It was really cool to win because I worked so hard,” expressed Brent. The Pittsford 400m relay crossed the line seventh with the team of Osborn, Sattler, Steven Rose, and Michael Benedict. Kyle took second in the 800m run with Brent finishing just a split second behind his teammate for third. Luke Irwin took fifth in the two mile and the mile relay took fourth credited towards the team of Osborn, Lee, Beach, and Kyle. “It is pretty amazing when you think about it,” acknowledged Burger. “It just goes to show how lucky I have been to coach some pretty good athletes.”

Boys track team wins 6th straight league title

2009-05-20T12:42:00.000-04:00

In a stunning performance, the boys track team overcame their two individual dual meet losses this year to pull off the upset at the league meet, capturing their 6th straight title.

Details coming tomorrow.

Softball sweeps Rams

2009-05-20T12:23:00.001-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

With the softball season coming to a close and the team is gearing up for districts, the Ladycats are shaping up and pulling in all the wins they can muster. Monday night’s games were both wins, beating North Adams-Jerome 3-1 and 18-8.

Junior Nicole Culbert got the win on the mound in the first game for the ‘Cats, striking out six. Amber Stump, Marissa McEathron and Stacy Elston were on fire at the plate, smoking the Rams by scoring Pittsford’s three runs. “I was excited because I try my best every game to score. I worked on turning my top hand over to get my hits harder than the past game,” reported Stump.

The second game saw many Ladycats cross home plate, as the team scored 18 runs. Senior Marisa Hamilton and freshman Sam Cole each wrapped three hits, while Katie Stiver, Amber Helton, and Stacy Elston each smacked a pair of hits.

Girls track team sending five girls to state meet

2009-05-19T12:30:00.000-04:00

by Carley Bruner

On Saturday, May 16, the girls track team traveled to Hillsdale College to the regional track meet. Many girls had a goal of making it to the state meet, and five girls from Pittsford are fulfilling that goal. No matter what the situation may be, the girls track team has pushed themselves as hard as they can this year and worked their butts off to make it this far.

Girls qualifying for the state meet in individual events are sophomore Jackie Page in the pole vault (8’3”) and 100m hurdles (16.81), sophomore Morgan McFaul in the 3200m run (12:40.08), and junior Elainee Poling in the long jump (15’11. 25”) and the 800m run (2:26.37).

The 3200m-relay team consisting of sophomore Amber Lennox, freshman Jentry McAdams, McFaul, and Poling (10:25.83) also qualified for the state meet.
Though we weren’t able to send girls in more events, they pushed themselves the best they could and tried for their season goals because they wanted to impress everyone. Most of the girls were happy with their overall performance at Regionals. “I was very pleased with myself because I made it to state in the two events that I wanted to go in, the two mile and two mile relay. And our two mile relay team has a really good chance of making the all-state team this year so I am pretty excited for state,” said McFaul.

Hard workers awarded for academic excellence at honors banquet

2009-05-19T12:21:00.005-04:00

by Brooke Maxson

Throughout the 2008-2009 school year, many high school students have worked hard academically for themselves and to impress their parents, students, and friends. Whatever the reason for their good grades, they were rewarded Wednesday, May 13 at the academic awards banquet at the school.

Many awards were given to students in 9th-12th grades. Awards were given out from teachers and academic advisors, as well as scholarships for the seniors. As usual, some students expected their awards, and some are better academically than they thought. “I expected a few of the awards, but not that many! I got quite a few. I got a couple last year, so I kind of figured that I’d get a couple and I’ve been working really hard all year,” explained junior Elainee Poling. Elainee was given awards for four of her classes and also received an honor roll award.

Hard work and dedication to academics paid off this year when the honored students were given a fancy meal and were given the opportunity to watch their fellow classmates receive awards and get some of their own. Remember to work hard next year and it’s very likely you will end up in their position.

The awards are as follows:

Teacher Award/Student

Aaron Bulgrien

English 11-Cody Krasny
English 12-Jessica Ruder
Speech & Drama-Leah Ward

Mike Burger

Physics- Eva Gucker
Earth & Physical Science- Elliot Krasny & Morgan Lennox

Darick Clark

Trig- Cody Krasny
Algebra 1- Jesse Smith
Applied Math- Stephanie Marshall

Stephanie Clement

Anatomy- Eva Gucker
Chemistry- Cody Krasny & Elainee Poling
Biology- Abbie Brackman

Mick Curtis

Algebra 2- Elainee Poling
Geometry- Jackie Page

Lucy Davenport

English 9- Elliot Krasny
English 10- Melinda Hegeman

Wanda Ervans

Student Council- Pres. Leah Ward
VP –Derra Clark
Secretary – Stephanie Marshall
Tres. – Garet Lee

Chris Hodos

Health- Elliot Krasny
Physical Education- William Belson

John Hoeft

Drafting 1- Melinda Hegeman
Drafting 2- Ben Wines
Senior Athlete Awards

Ryan Hoover

Computer Literacy- Virgil Schrom
Journalism- Dillon Cooper

John Irelan

Government- Elainee Poling
Economics- Cody Krasny
Psychology- Eva Gucker
Sociology- Jessica Beard

Scott Lovell

World History- Amber Helton
US History- Virgil Schrom

Joanne Marowelli

Library Assistant- Melinda Hegeman

Jack McDonough

Art-Jessica Beard

Kathy Oberlin

Accounting 1- Holly Bastien
Office Automation- Melinda Hegeman

Mary Sanderson

Michigan Merit Awards

Betty Spahr

Spanish 1- Kyle Wyatt & Amber Helton
Spanish 2- Cody Krasny
Spanish 3- Elainee Poling
Spanish 4- Casie Bail
Ed. Practicum- Casie Bail

Brian Spitler

Band- William Belson
Luke Irwin
Cody Krasny
Elliot Krasny
Morgan Lennox
Jackie Page
Elainee Poling
Jessica Ruder

Trisha Weaver

Ed. Practicum- Ashley Derr
Leigh Pauken- for Ms. Burkhart
NHS- Holly Bastien
Jessica Beard
Maggie Chisolm
Ben Farley
Eva Gucker
Marisa Hamilton
Steven Kuster
Jeff Page
Clark Pelham
Jessica Ruder

Kay Winchel

Ed. Practicum- Andrea Shaedler

Scholarships

Pittsford Area Lions Club Scholarship

Eva Gucker
Marisa Hamilton
Jessica Plessinger

Hillsdale Moose Chapters 921 & 564 Scholarship

Maggie Chisolm
Clark Pelham
Jessica Plessinger

Military Scholarship- Athletic Recognition Awards

Marisa Hamilton (Army)
Chase Weber (Army)
Marisa Hamilton (Marines)
Ben Wines (Marines)

Katherine McNutt Zakrzewski RN Memorial Scholarship

Marisa Hamilton

Hillsdale County Art Guild Adabelle Hill Scholarship

Jessica Beard

Hillsdale County Community Foundation:
Ione “Ma” Gordon Scholarship

Holly Bastien
Cheryl Yearling Memorial Nursing Scholarship

Holly Bastien
Pittsford Area Scholarship

Eva Gucker
Roger Boyd Memorial Scholarship

Holly Bastien
Kiwanis Scholarship

Holly Bastien

Pittsford Education Association Scholarship

Maggie Chisolm

Richmond First Generation Scholarship

William Belson

JCC Foundation Scholarship

Holly Bastien

Hillsdale County University Of Michigan Alumni Club Scholarship

Eva Gucker

SAR

William Belson

DAR

Eva Gucker
Wagner Memorial- Athletic Boosters Scholarship Chase Weber

Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program

Jessica Ruder

Robert C. Byrd Scholarship Program

Eva Gucker

Elks Scholarship

Eva Gucker

Boys track team sending Wines, Smith to state meet

2009-05-19T12:15:00.000-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

May 16, 2009 was a day many track athletes have been working all year for. It was a one-time shot; if you made the cut, you were going to the pinnacle of track, which we all know is the state meet. If you have a mishap, then your dreams are shattered. For many seniors this was their last opportunity to make a lasting impression and give their school a representation of greatness.

Among the seniors (there are only two on the team: Ben Wines and William Belson) there was an outstanding performance superb to all the rest. Wines qualified for state in both of his field event (shot put and discus). Last year Wines qualified for state just for the discus, not the shot, so this is a very exciting point late in his high school athletic career. He threw a personal best 48'1.25" in the shot put and an outstanding 150’2’’ in the discus. Wines grabbed a second place finish in both competitions.

Another not-so-surprising state qualifier hailing from Pittsford is sophomore Brent Smith. Brent qualified for the state meet after a determined performance in the mile, finishing with a time of 4:38, good enough for state competition. In the two mile, Smith took fourth and had a terrific time (in the windy conditions) of 10:30, which also resulted in an invite for state.

Steven’s Puppets put on Wizard of Oz for elementary

2009-05-19T11:50:00.001-04:00

by Emily Hines and Tommy Verdon

As tradition for the elementary would have it, the K-5th grade students attended the annual puppet show on Wednesday, May 13, put on by Steven’s Puppets. The puppet show he put on was a classic and a favorite of many, The Wizard of Oz.

The man who put on this show was named Dan Raynor. He travels the northeastern district and there’s another man who travels in the southern, and one in the west. Individually they pick up about 100 schools a year.

Elementary secretary Mrs. Clark mentioned Steven’s Puppets had many stops to make that week, including a trip to Maryland after visiting our school.The puppet show was also a big hit for the students; it was obvious to teachers that the children enjoyed the presentation. “The kids enjoyed it. It was very entertaining; the guy was very energetic. He got the kids going before the puppet show even started, so I think the kids were really more entertained at the beginning so it kept them entertained through the show,” stated 4th grade teacher Mrs. Burkhart.

Time to flip the script; I'm grading the school

2009-05-15T12:55:00.001-04:00

by Mike Fauls

The end of the school year is coming and to all of the students (especially this year’s seniors) it means freedom. No books, no homework, no teachers and their rules…it sounds really nice. But before all of this happens we have to face the dreaded exams. And if we fail both the exam and the class…well, that isn’t what any of us want. As they give us our grades for the year, I think it’s fair that I get a chance to grade them on a few things. Pittsford, you will be graded on five levels: Teachers, Policies, Enforcement, Safety, and The Ability to Listen to Your Students.

Teachers: Pittsford you have a solid set of teachers here, with that said DON’T GET RID OF THEM!!! KEEP THEM HERE!!! It would be a massive mistake to screw with a formula that works great. Pittsford, most of your teachers get A’s all around. I mean, let’s face it--they relate to the students and seem to honestly care about what’s happening and how they can help. Whether it’s by making some sort of personal sacrifice or talking about how you played the part of defender for a young woman, they teach both morals and lessons of courage, honor, and self-respect in their own unique ways.

Policies: Guys, your policies need work. Some of them are enforced to the extent of pure ludicrousness. Like the T-shirt thing; some of the t-shirts that you guys catch are genuinely bad, so good job on that. But others that mean absolutely nothing at all? Come on, people, work with us. iPod’s are another chink in the school’s policy armor. Some teachers allow them in their classes while doing work; others look at them as if they are evil little demons that will suck your soul out of through your ears. Pittsford, you get a C in your policy department.

Enforcement: This could go hand-in-hand with the policies, but I feel that this covers all general rules as well. And you know what? You guys do all right in this area, you stick to the basics, kid gets a warning, and if he doesn’t knock it off he gets punished to the next degree. But that’s as far as consistency goes. You don’t really know what to expect from class to class as far as enforcement goes. I know teachers that let their kids go crazy basically, and yeah that’s pretty awesome from a student’s point of view, but it doesn’t give us a floor to stand on. It just kinda pulls the rug out from under our feet every hour. Pittsford, I give you a solid C- in this category; if you improve the enforcement of the policies, then the policies could definitely go up, and vice versa.

Safety: I think that this goes to show how good of a place Pittsford really is at its core. Pittsford, you are a safe school. Between your practice drills and assemblies, you do your best to prepare and warn your students. Unfortunately, you have some major building problems, like the wall in the gym. Congratulations Pittsford, you get an A-.

The ability to listen to your students: This is your Achille’s heel though; you do not listen to your students’ opinions. Take this article, for instance. You might read it and you might not. What is guaranteed, though, is that most of you, if not all, will simply ignore this because I am a student and I don’t really know what I’m talking about because I’m just a young whipper-snapper. Sorry guys, but you drop the ball in this area. Pittsford, you get a D in this area. You just don’t listen all that much. A really nice thing that could fix this is even if you didn’t act on our opinions, let us know that you at least heard us. Bring us into the office, or even just at lunch, walk up to us and tell us that you didn’t think it was a great idea and tell us why. This is what bugs most students, we hear about certain things like the need to cut things out and paste other things in their spot, but tell us why that’s happening so that our imagination doesn’t go crazy.

Culbert no-hits Magi as softball team splits double-header

2009-05-14T13:23:00.001-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

After a long bus trip to Colon, the Ladycats played sluggishly in the first game, getting mercied 10-0 before bouncing back in the second game behind a no-hitter by junior Nicole Culbert to win 2-1.

There was no offense of note in the first game, and senior Marisa Hamilton took the loss on the mound. The ‘Cats rode the arm of Culbert and her nine strikeouts in the second game, though, and were able to eek out a one-run game as the Magi scored on three Pittsford errors.. The two scores for the night were made by freshman Samantha Cole and senior Jessica Plessinger both hitting doubles for the Wildcats winning game.

The Wildcats had some disagreement within the team but pulled it together for a win in the ending game. “We weren’t getting along like we could of in the first game, but we pulled out of the disagreement and won the second, making it a great learning experience for the whole team to endure,” explained sophomore Keely Sanders.

PHS student making contributions at Hillsdale Daily News

2009-05-13T12:52:00.001-04:00

by Emily Hines and Tommy Verdon

Among Pittsford High School’s very talented students is an especially talented student, sophomore Dillon Cooper. Dillon writes for our school newspaper and about a month and a half ago accepted a job writing for the Hillsdale Daily News.

“It has always been my dream to be a journalist and working with the HDN is a great step in the right direction,” shared Dillon. According to Dillon, Mr. Hoover helped Dillon land this job of his dreams. “I had a long talk with Mr. Hoover and he said he would talk to the sports department, and then I went for an interview and next thing I knew I was writing stories for the Hillsdale Daily News,” commented Dillon.

HDN sports editor R.J. Walters assigns specific articles to Dillon every so often. “Some weeks he has me swamped, and others I hardly have anything to do,” shared Dillon.

As we all know, having a job can have its advantages as well as its difficulties. “The toughest part is probably balancing all of my priorities and keeping them in order like school, sports, a social life, and a job,” expressed Dillon. And like any other job, there’s deadlines for every employee. “I have to write a story and get it in by 10 p.m. at the latest, but that isn’t too difficult unless the sporting event runs into overtime; then I have to really focus and get the job done,” explained Dillon.

There are also many steps to finishing his assignment. Besides collecting facts and writing the article, Dillon usually checks and proofreads his work about four times before he is finished. Even when he’s finished and his work is out of his hands, his articles go through three or four proofreads by other people.

Dillon also brought in a few newspapers with his articles in them and gave some people at school an opportunity to take a look at his work. “Dillon’s article about translating to a different sport was very informative,” commented Mrs. Davenport. “His writing was impressive!” she also expressed.

“I thought Dillon did a good job reporting the facts. He had the important facts; he interviewed other coaches, which was good,” complimented Mr. Burger. Mr. Burger also noticed that Dillon is a fan of the major sports media, and with that in mind, left Dillon with a small piece of advise: “Dillon needs to lay off the ESPN quotes,” joked Mr. Burger.

It’s obvious when asking Dillon about his new job that he is very excited about doing something he loves. “The best part of it all is probably the overall experience. Learning how to exactly phrase words and put them in the correct tense and even simple things like interviewing coaches and/or players which isn’t hard at all,” shared Dillon.

Dillon is very talented and PHS is very lucky to have him at our school and writing for our school newspaper. Make sure to keep up with Dillon and find out when his next article will be posted so you can read it and then give him a giant high-five!

Softball team goes 1-3 over the weekend

2009-05-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

On Friday, May 8, the softball team took on Battle Creek Saint Philip in a double header, and unfortunately lost both games.

The Ladycats fell 3-2 in the first game, as junior Nicole Culbert took the loss on the mound. Freshman Sam Cole provided the offense for the ‘Cats, knocking in two runs. Despite the sweep, Cole was encouraged by the performance. “Our team did awesome against Battle Creek,” said Sam.

The Ladycats dropped the second game 3-1. Senior Marisa Hamilton took the loss on the mound, and again Cole led the offense, wrapping two hits. Though they lost both games, the softball players are chalking it up to bad luck and not letting it effect their playing; it only means they will work harder at their game.

Going to Britton for a tournament the very next day, the softball girls took on league foe Waldron. They lost to the Spartans, 7-3. They fought hard but couldn’t quite beat the opposing team. Culbert started the game but got injured in the 4^th inning making a defensive play, so Hamilton took over for her.

The second game the Lady Cats played was against Britton, winning 7-5. Hamilton got the win on the mound, and Cole kept her bat hot, smoking two more hits. All the team members agree with the fact that the team tried its hardest. “I that the team did fairly well the first game. We could have done a lot better though, but the second game we pulled it together and did great,” remarked Shay Osmun.

Golfers face marathon week of disappointment

2009-05-12T12:52:00.001-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

It was by far the most active part and most grueling part of this year’s schedule for the Pittsford Wildcat golfers. It included a match every day of the week, plus another on the following Monday. Needless to say the ‘Cats got their fill of golf competitions for a while.

On Cinco De Mayo (May 5, for those who are not familiar with foreign affairs), the Wildcats had a match. This affair was against the Royals of Jackson Christian. JC won this competition by the final say of 180 to 209. Junior Zack Broughman led the way for P-ford, scoring an even 50.

On the following day the Wildcats gave up a nail bitter to a talented Morenci team. The men in blue had many players break the barrier of 50 including Broughman who received a 47, junior Chase Stratton and junior Alex Reinbolt both finished just a stroke over Broughman, scoring 48s. The Wildcats lost by a mere five strokes (190-195).

On May 7, the ‘Cats had another chance to show their stuff but suffered the same result—defeat. Broughman led the way this time matching his previous best (for this year) with a 47.

Monday, May 11, was the last leg of the marathon. The Wildcats had arguably the biggest meet of the year on their hands and had an opportunity to grasp it, but failed to do so. This league-meet was to be played on 18 holes, not the standard nine that the Wildcats are used to. Regardless, Broughman led the way for the ‘Cats, shooting an even 100.

Boys track places 8th at Purdy Invite

2009-05-12T11:59:00.001-04:00

by William Belson

Pittsford, as always, put forth a great effort at the Purdy Invitational, but the effort was only good for an 8th place finish, as the depth of talent was considerable. Potterville won with 112 points, while Pittsford netted 19.

Junior Jason Smith medalled by taking 5th place in the shot put (44’04.50”), junior Garet Lee placed 3rd in the 110m hurdles (16.36), the 3200m relay team took 5th place (9:00.41), and sophomore Brent Smith took 3rd in the 3200m run (10:13.06).

Though he didn’t medal, sophomore Brandon Williams did a great job Saturday. For the shot put Williams threw 41 feet 3 inches and he continued his PR-setting rampage, throwing 117.5 in the discus. “The thing that helped me throw well in the shot was keeping my head up and exchange my feet, and for discus was when I spin to keep my arms (orbit) up,” explained “Too Tall.”

It’s an Obamanation

2009-05-11T12:32:00.000-04:00

by Mike Fauls

A lot of people are going on about our President’s first 100 days in office and whether or not, based on these days, he will be a good president. Quite a few people think that he’s doing a wonderful job in office. I do not.

Personally I think that he’s running this country into the ground and some time in the near future we’ll be extremely close to a communist country. I swear though, people think that because of this reason I’m racist or something like that. I’m not, for the record; I have friends that are black.

Some people label my stance as rather extreme, while others completely agree with me, but really let’s take a microscope and maybe a crystal ball into what his first 100 days are and how some students around here are responding.

Senior Henry Fether is not a fan of the President’s first 100 days. “He’s done nothing useful, and he’s released all of the people from Guantanamo, so they’re out doing what they were before,” explained Henry. This makes me wonder. Let’s say that most of the people in Guantanamo were innocent civilians caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. To them, this is a miracle. But at the same time, let’s say that about 15-20% were actual terrorists ready to kill America’s, or any other free and democratic country’s, citizens. What then would we do? Would we strip away more freedoms for the sake of “safety” and hope for the best?

Some people think that he is doing the best that he can though with all of the stuff that’s he’s been given. “He’s done within expected parameters,” said senior Steven Kuster. I’ll give our President credit where his credit is due he has had to deal with a bad economy and I’m sure that racist people have given him a hard time. He also has two daughters to raise and worry about.

But we’ve gotten rid of so many things that we were used to. Everything that we’ve come to know is basically upside-down. My dad and I were talking about this and he brought up a really good point, saying, “Ya know, people talk about how this isn’t the America that it used to be 20 years ago. Look around, though, this isn’t the same America it was just a year ago!” Truth be told I think Obama should just stick to comedy; he’s more successful at being a stand-up comedian than being a president.

Boys track team falls in heart-breaking fashion to Bellevue

2009-05-11T12:20:00.001-04:00

by William Belson and Dillon Cooper

On May 6, the boys varsity track team received their second dual-meet loss of the season to another talented track foe, Bellevue. The score was 70-67.

The men worked their hardest with almost everyone on the team obtaining a PR (personal record). In the shot put junior Jason Smith took first (46’01.50”), with senior Ben Wines right behind taking second (45’00.00”). Wines took first in the discus (142’02.00”), junior Garet Lee won the high jump (5’08.00”) and the 110 hurdles, Kurtis Brackman won the pole vault (10’00.00”). Sophomore Brent Smith won the 1600m run (4:46.13), the 800m run (2:07.25) and the 3200m run (10:35.50).

Now onto some of the outstanding PR’s that occurred on that Wednesday afternoon. Smith had an epic throw which clearly was his best throw ever in a meet. “I was working hard over the week. Mr. Buckner helped me out over the week. I figured just do it and not think about it,” expressed Smith. Wines’ throw felt effortless. “When I threw the shot, it didn’t feel like anything; it was amazing,” explained Ben.

Coach Burger knew there were many options for this meet to unfold. “There were many different possible scenarios that could have worked out,” said Coach Burger. “It came down to the mile relay and it was real close. If we could have won any one of the mid-distance relays, that would have been big.” But Burger would find a shining light through the darkness of this loss. “Ultimately I thought we did the best we could. We really ran hard and I thought we made a good stand. We’ll focus towards winning the league championship.”

Without a doubt that is the main focus for the ‘Cats. Before each track participant left the track, every student-athlete put his hand up towards the sky and formed a pyramid with one thing on there mind… to be determined within the next ten days and to bring home the sacred hardware that Pittsford is no stranger to.

Art class impressed by Toledo Museum of Art

2009-05-11T08:44:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

On April 30, the art class took a special trip to the Toledo Museum of Art. The museum helped the students get a better idea of what the quality of their art projects here at Pittsford should look like. There were many models at the museum that the students could look at and get a better idea of how their project should look like versus watching a movie or looking at a picture; there in person, they actually got to see a 3-D, real-life model.

Many of the students had different opinions on what their favorite exhibit was. Sophomore Braily Lee’s personal favorite was the glass museum. Not everybody thought the art museum was the best part, though; sophomore Jimmy LaFollette’s personal favorite was the lunch at McDonald’s.

Many of the students learned a lot from this trip. “I learned a lot about the art and how it is important part of our history,” stated Lafollette. “I learned that art can be created and appreciated by everyone, no matter what their age is,” explained Lee. Not only was the trip educational, it also was a fun day for the students to get away from the every day hustle and bustle of Pittsford schools.

There were many things at the art museum, such as the afore-mentioned glass museum, many statues, and of course paintings. “I thought the statues really stood out at the museum because they were so real and life-like,” retorted Lafollette. The artwork in the museum was very unique and creative; as it gave the students the understanding that everybody can profit from exposure to art. “The Japanese art work, they had a little sculpture of a mythical being but when you looked in its mouth there was a human face. It was very unique!” explained Lee.

“Overall it was a great trip,” thought art teacher Mr. McDonough. Not only were the students very respectful, they also enjoyed the trip very much; it was just an overall good time.

Girls track team goes undefeated in dual meets

2009-05-07T12:51:00.000-04:00

by Carley Bruner

On May 6 the girl’s varsity track team held their last dual meet of the season against Bellevue, and the girls took another victory, dominating the Broncos 122-11. The girls have had a wonderful season this year, going undefeated in the regular season. Good job girls!

The girls took a lot of 1st and 2nd places throughout the night. The individual first places for the day were junior Katelyn Kipfmiller in the discus (90’5”) and shot put (27’0”), sophomore Jackie Page in the pole vault (7’6”), high jump (4’6”) and 100m hurdles (16.44), freshman Andrea Hill in the long jump (13’0”) and 300m hurdles (55.49), sophomore Morgan McFaul in the 1600m run (5:58.23) and 3200m run (13:03.71), junior Elainee Poling in the 800m run (2:35.43), sophomore Amber Lennox in the 200m dash (29.42) and the 400m dash (1.05), and junior Jocelyn Elarton in the 100m dash (14.30).

Relay teams placing first for the day were the 800m relay (2:03.40), 400m relay (58.13), and the 1600m relay consisting of Amber Lennox, Morgan Lennox, Kipfmiller, and Poling.

Could the swine flu come to PHS? When pigs fly, if precautions are taken

2009-05-07T12:27:00.001-04:00

by Emily Hines

We’ve all heard a few things here and there about the swine flu virus (H1N1). It has traveled far from where it originated from and now has the United States taking precautions.

You might have heard every day when you were younger to make sure you wash your hands. Our parents must have said it to us a thousand times, but now it’s very crucial. “Wash your hands with soap and water,” emphasized our school nurse Mrs. Laws.

Everybody has most likely heard a lot of different things about this virus and most of the time information can be passed on incorrectly, so the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has listed many facts on their website about this virus and how to stay healthy and avoid getting it.

First off, you may be wondering what exactly the virus is, besides a form of flu. Swine Influenza is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by a type of the A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza of pigs. The first swine flue virus outbreak in 1903 was isolated from a pig, but the reason it is spreading today, even if you’re not around a pig that is infected, is through other infected people.

Also, the virus is more serious than you might think. Even though it’s not a major problem to us in Pittsford yet, that doesn’t mean that it won’t be in the future. Some symptoms of swine flu are very common to regular flu, such as fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing, and incontinence. Swine flu can spread mainly from person to person, from someone who coughs or sneezes. The symptoms are mainly those of the regular flu. Many ask the question of whether this H1N1 flu is any more deadly than the regular flu, “Most of us have never had influenza A or B. Swine flu is worse than ‘Pittsford flu’, but equal to influenza, which kills 30,000 people each year,” shared Mrs. Laws.

Another big issue with the news about the swine flu is that eating pork may lead to you catching the virus. This information is false. “Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit kills the swine flu virus, as it does other viruses and bacteria,” sys the CDC website.

The CDC has issued an emergency response in response to the outbreak in the U.S. The CDC’s goal as stated on its outbreak response is to provide information to help health care providers, public health officials, and the public address the challenges brought on by the new virus.

The U.S. must consider itself very lucky to have programs like the CDC working to prevent and inform the public about harmful diseases. Also, if you are sick you should stay home and avoid contact with other people as much as possible, says the CDC.

Golf team struggling to score

2009-05-07T12:03:00.000-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

Monday was the start of a marathon week for the Pittsford High School golf team. Every day this week there will be a match and it is safe to say that by Friday these student-athletes will be broke in, to say the least.

But this was just the start of things, the first match. This affair was to be played at Allwyn Downs, a place that the Belleview Broncos call home. Needless to say the ‘Cats would fall again, dropping their record to a disappointing 1-17 on the season. Junior Zach Broughman led the way for P-ford, carding an even 50.

The next contest was not quite a carbon copy but still ended in the same, reoccurring result--a loss. The Wildcats picked up the big number 18 in the loss column, falling to Lenawee Christian. Broughman led the team, again scoring a 50.

Softball team upsets C-F, splits double-header

2009-05-07T09:03:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

Camden-Frontier sports two of the very best pitchers in the entire SCAA, but in the first game, one was outdueled by Pittsford’s own junior Nicole Culbert, as Marisa Hamilton’s RBI single in the 9th inning was the only run scored in a 1-0 Ladycat victory.

Culbert struck out seven and walked none on the mound. “It feels really good, finally beating Camden after so long. It was a long, hard, fight and we all contributed somehow, but knowing that we can beat a tough team like Camden gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season,” explained Culbert. Freshman Sam Cole doubled in the 9th, and was plated by Hamilton’s single. A 1-2-3 9th followed for Pittsford and the celebration ensued.

The second game didn’t go as well as the first for the ladies, as the Redskins enacted revenge to the tune of a 13-2 loss.. Hamilton was the pitcher for the second game and she struck out five but walked four.

Sociology class observes patients at Northcoast Behavioral center

2009-05-06T12:46:00.001-04:00

by William Belson and Justin Fish

The sociology class took a field trip to Toledo to visit Northcoast Behavioral Health Care to learn more about mental illness. “The main purpose for the trip was the just let the kids see how the people actually were treated in the mental health field,” said sociology teacher Mr. Irelan.

On this field trip they learned a variety of things. One of the things the class did was take a tour of the Mental Recovery Recreation Room. Also in the mental hospital they have the patients play certain video games, such as Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) and the Nintendo Wii, to help them stay in shape because of the medication they take and the food that they eat. The trip was beneficial to the students’ understanding. “It helped me understand what the mental people have to deal with every day, and what problems they have,” said senior Ben Wines.

The hospital volunteers also helped the students understand what is going on in someone’s head that has schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. For this experience you have someone asking you questions about how you are feeling and you have two different people talking to you who are your “voices in your head.” Everybody there tries hard, and cares about each other and the patients. “My favorite part about the field trip was to see the people doing the best they can to help all of the mental people,” explained Wines.

To further explain the recuperation process, one of the staff members at the hospital sang something called the “Side Affects Song.” The song is both humorous and seriously explains that side affects are much better than a relapse when you have a mental illness. At the psychiatric hospital there all different types of patients, from level one (having to be in the hospital all the time) to level five (self-admittance, and can leave the premises).

In the late 1800s there were 1,000 people buried in the hospital’s cemetery. Most of the headstones are buried underground. The sociology class also got to go find the headstones that were buried underground. We were given steel rods to poke in the ground and try and find the headstone between 3-6 inches. After a headstone was found they would dig up the headstone with a shovel, then fill the hole with sand and make the headstone flush with the ground to make it stand out. “We got to help out people who have been dead for 100 years or so that nobody remembered, which was nice,” said Mr. Irelan.

Band trips to Mackinac

2009-05-06T12:25:00.001-04:00

by Derra Clark

The high school band took a very much-needed trip to Mackinac Island May 3-4. The trip included performing on the island, free time to wander around, and very long bus rides.

The band played for the visitors and natives of the island on Sunday. “Our fan-base was two half-(dressed) people playing frisbee,” said junior saxophonist Cody Krasny. They played a compilation of songs they played for the festival concert and songs they will be playing May 7 for the spring concert.

The trip was quite enjoyable for the band, but they all had their favorite parts. Junior flutist Elainee Poling came prepared with many games to pass time during the six hour bus rides, and her bandmates appreciated it. “The games we played on the bus rides were fun,” said Cody. Other band members enjoyed the time off to spend with their friends. “My favorite part was hanging around with my friends,” said junior clarinetist Desirae Swope

The trip was a fun excursion for all of the members of the band, and they hope to take a journey back to Mackinac Island again.

Ecology class makes landfills

2009-05-06T12:18:00.001-04:00

by Carley Bruner

This year Mr. Cushman’s ecology class has done a lot of new and educational things. They have done a couple of projects such as dissecting owl vomit, recycling every Monday, and on days when it’s nice they go outside and do some landscaping around the school and help make our school look better. The most current project they have done is building their own landfills.
This project had a couple of very specific purposes. “A hands-on project, to help you remember and visualize how it’s supposed to be, how it looks, how it’s actually physically built, just a model/replica of a landfill,” said Mr. Cushman. Most of the students learned something from doing this project. “There are many layers to a landfill, and there are a lot of different equipment that you need to put with it”, said senior Danielle Seabolt.

A landfill is a low area of land that is built up from deposits of solid refuse in layers covered by soil. There are many important layers to a landfill, such as a lechate pond, soil layer, drainage layer, gravel, lechate collection pipe, plastic liner, and compacted clay. They all combine together to make sure that nothing toxic or anything that would harm the environment will leak out. The students got to use whatever material Mr. Cushman had in the classroom to build their own model of a landfill. The items they chose each had a different part in their model and they had to explain what they used each item for.

The students (and Mr. Cushman as well) had a little bit of difficulty on some of this project. Mr. Cushman says the hardest part was “getting the students to do it.” Some of the students had troubles with different areas of the project. “Doing the research on what goes into the landfill (was difficult),” stated junior Shelby Strang. “The hardest part for us was getting all of our materials together and trying to figure out what we are going to do with it,” commented Danielle.

Baseball team splits double-header with Camden-Frontier

2009-05-06T12:14:00.000-04:00

by Justin Fish

The Pittsford baseball team would head into Camden-Frontier Tuesday night in high hopes of stealing a pair of victories from them, but they’d have to be happy leaving with a split.

The ‘Cats would squeak out a win in game one by a score of 5-4. Junior Seth Weber (3-1) had three strikeouts to get the win on the mound. The leading hitters of game one were seniors Chase Weber going 3-3 with an RBI and a run, and Clark Pelham going 2-4, running out a double and scoring a run. Junior Greg Hodos went 2-3 also scoring a run.

However, the Wildcats would lose game two by a slim margin as the bats went cold. Senior Adam Anspaugh would go 1-2 with a double.

Efron leaves HSM behind and leads funny, thoughtful 17 Again

2009-05-06T12:04:00.000-04:00

by Brooke Maxson

Have you ever been afraid that one day you might wake up and decide your life didn’t really turn out the way you would have liked it to? This is precisely what happened to someone in the new hit, 17 Again, that was released into theaters on April 17.

This movie, starring Zac Efron, is basically about a middle-aged man (Matthew Perry) who is dealing with a pending divorce with his high school sweetheart and the mother of his two children, who also aren’t the biggest fans of him. He’s decided life has gotten the best of him and is regretting his past decisions, mainly the one to drop his popular reputation and his basketball career in high school to take care of his baby he learned they were expecting. It’s right around that time he wakes up to find himself in a shower…17 years old again. This movie takes us on the laugh-out-loud journey of a man who gets the chance to live his senior year all over again, while trying to discover the reason he’s there for a second time in the first place.

From the time Mike O’ Donnel looks at himself in the mirror for the first time to find himself as a 17 year old, this movie is a hit. Although it could be said to be just another version of Freaky Friday, 13 going on 30, or Never Been Kissed, it still has surprises. An interesting thing about the movie is that when Mike O’ Donnel makes the change to 17, he’s the one who changes. His family and friends remain the same, so he must learn to live with his family around who have no idea about his change. In every movie like this one, the main character is transferred to a different time in his or her life to make a change for the better, and this movie follows that tradition. These movies may all be similar because they involve someone getting the chance to relive a certain part of their life, but they’re also different in the fact that each person is getting a second chance for a different reason. I believe a really good thing about 17Again and movies similar to it is that it winds up teaching people a lesson and making them want to change their life now, because we all know if we regret it someday there’s no just turning back magically.

So, it won’t hurt to go see this movie or rent it when it comes out on DVD. Who knows…maybe it will teach you a lesson and motivate you to make the right decisions now rather than regret them later, especially if you’re 17.

Elementary kids ready for year-end carnival

2009-05-06T12:02:00.000-04:00

by Tommy Verdon

The school year is finally coming to an end. That means seniors are leaving, awards are being received, and the elementary finally gets to attend the long, awaited, end of the year carnival!

The carnival will be May 22,and will last about an hour for each grade. Since the elementary kids have behaved all year long, elementary principal Mr. Shaw thought that it would be nice to give the students a reward for their hard work and determination. “It’s a reward for the kids and their positive behavior,” explained Mr. Shaw. There will be many things that the kids will be able to enjoy. “There will be obstacle courses, rock walls (climbing wall), maybe a dunk tank, and possibly one other thing,” hinted Mr. Shaw.

Basically, the elementary students are ready to let loose and have some fun… especially fourth grader Jordan Williams. “I’m excitied for all of the fun stuff that will be there,” exclaimed Jordan. Also, fourth graders Ethan Fellows and Skyler King are ready to get out there and show some kids what fun is all about. “I’m ready to have some fun,” explained Skyler and Ethan.

Summer movie line-up full of blockbusters

2009-05-05T12:05:00.003-04:00

by Mike Fauls

This summer is going to be oozing with awesomeness thanks to this year’s movie line-up. Obviously some of the movies that are on here already came out, but they are still labeled “summer movies” to most. I won’t be able to list all of them because of the amount (45 releases from May to October), and some that I list won’t be until the fall, but I believe that they are still worth mentioning in case next year somebody in journalism drops the ball.

Starting out in May is Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and X-men Origins: Wolverine. These movies seem to be drawing the most attention and seem to have the most potential. On the 8^th is Star Trek; the 15^th is Angels and Demons. The 21^st holds a special place in most people’s heart because we finally get to see John Connor as the bad mamma-jamma military leader that we all knew he was deep down. That being said Terminator Salvation should be pretty sweet. The next day Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian will be coming out. This is the sequel to Night at the Museum. Wrapping up the month of May is Disney-Pixar’s Up and Sam Raimi’s new movie Drag Me to Hell.

Now on to June. This month is really the official start of the summer season and it doesn’t mess around, getting the feeling into people. On the 5^th is the release of Land of the Lost and on the 12^th is The Hangover and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. The 19^th gives us Year One and The Proposal. The 24^th, arguably the best movie day out of the year, releases unto the world Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This movie is obviously the sequel to Transformers and looks absolutely fantastic. Finishing the month is My Sister’s Keeper on the 26^th.

With June being over with and summer being in full swing, lets start the July list out with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Public Enemies coming out on the 1^st. On the 10^th is Bruno. And to all you muggles out there, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince comes out on the 15^th. This will be the 6^th book-to-movie for the Harry Potter saga. The 24^th gives us G-Force, Orphan, and The Ugly Truth. Funny People comes out on the 31^st, which brings us right into our next month.

The summer is starting to wind down, but not before its big finish. August brings with it a few gems that should be mentioned. On the 7^th is G.I. Joe, and Shorts. G.I. Joe is an old cartoon with even older action figures, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be bad. Personally, I think this movie is going to be awesome and that everybody should see the trailer. Shorts looks to be more of a kids movie with a magical rainbow-colored stone that grants wishes. The 14^th brings to the silver screen District 9 which is produced by the famous Peter Jackson (the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and looks pretty awesome because it deals with an alien-containing facility in a foreign country; watch the trailer and you’ll see what all the hubbub is about. On the 21^st Inglorious Bastards comes out and on the 28^th is yet another Final Destination sequel labeled Final Destination: Death Trip. Also on the 28^th is a movie called The Boat that Rocked.

Just in case someone forgets next year you should really check out these movies in the fall. September 9^thbrings a movie that looks awesome called 9. And on the 18^th is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. And one that’s personally close is Where the Wild Things Are coming out on October 16^th.

Well ladies and gents, that wraps up the summer season and I hope that this gave you a small look of what’s to come and some info on movies that you might not have known about.

New student council elected, already forming plans

2009-05-05T11:44:00.002-04:00

by Brooke Maxson

In preparation for the ’09-‘10 school year, a new student council was recently elected. The positions were up for grabs for anyone in 9^th-11^th grade. The PHS student body elected junior Leah Ward as president, junior Derra Clark as vice president, sophomore Morgan McFaul as secretary, and sophomore Abbie Brackman as treasurer.

Our new student council is already making plans concerning what things will improve after we return from summer break and throughout that school year. A couple things you may have heard about are the attendance proposal and the attempt to bring back seminar. In the past, seminar was a part of our school day designed to give students time to finish work and attend important meetings. Because students didn’t use the time wisely, it was taken away.

As president, Leah has big plans for the student council. “We want to reinstate seminar; not every day, but once a week or once every two weeks. We want to get the exam policy going where if you miss two days or less you don’t have to take your exams, and maybe spice up homecoming and blood drives and stuff,” said a hopeful Leah. I’ve heard from Leah and Derra that president and vice president will work as a team. “Derra and I started all those things and we want to see it out, so we have it for our senior year. One more thing we wanted to get was more respect for the student council because everyone thinks it’s just a group that makes plans for homecoming, so we’re probably going to do more community service this year,” explained Leah.

Derra takes her position as vice president very seriously. Like Leah, it’s important to her that the students at PHS are satisfied, and since Leah and Derra are working as a team, many of Derra’s goals are the same as Leah’s. “Our biggest thing that we want to do is bring back seminar once a week, every week. We’re going to try to finish the attendance proposal and make petitions for seminar. Leah and I do a lot together, so we can bring a lot to the table there,” explained Derra.

Usually there’s a reason people run for student council, and many times this reason is that past experience was successful. “I was on student council as representative and I really liked it. My job is to just basically discuss things at the meetings. We don’t really have a lot of power, but that’s what we want to do. That’s something we want to do next year, get more power in the student council. We’re also going to try to do community service,” explained Derra.

Some may think the jobs of secretary and treasurer aren’t as important as president and vice president, but the truth is that each job serves equal purpose. Morgan’s job as secretary is intended to keep organization and record things. “I plan to keep everything organized and just do a nice job,” said a determined Morgan. As far as I know, Morgan doesn’t have past experience, but wanted to create experience anyway. “I really wanted to be a part of the student council this year and I thought being secretary would be a job that I would be good at and take the position seriously and do a wonderful job,” explained Morgan.

The student council keeps track of many events that raise money, and someone has to be appointed to record that money. So, Abbie is going to do just that. “I handle all the money,” explained Brackman. Sometimes, as we all know, something just falls into a person’s hands even when they aren’t necessarily looking for it. “Funny story: Garet (Lee) came out of a meeting and asked if I would be treasurer because no one else was going to do it, so I became the treasurer!” said Abbie with a laugh.

Hopefully during this upcoming year the students at Pittsford High School will learn that we owe the student council a lot. So remember, the jobs on student council should be taken seriously and it isn’t just a group that makes plans for homecoming. Hopefully we’ll see more power in and respect for the student council in the 2009-2010 school year.

Golf team falls again to Jonesville

2009-05-05T08:31:00.001-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

It was a Friday and that meant the Pittsford Wildcat Golf team would be back in action. This time it would be a familiar foe, the Comets of Jonesville High School. This would be a rematch of a previous affair that ended in the same disappointing outcome, except this time the match was closer, as the ‘Cats fell to J-ville 199-218. Junior Zach Broughman once again led the way for the men in blue, swinging his way to a 51.

Ladycat softball team starting to pull in wins

2009-05-04T12:23:00.003-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

The Ladycats had a double header on Friday against the Indians of Tekonsha, mercying T-kon both games, 13-1 and 18-3. Many of the players were excited because they pulled in two more wins for the team. It’s a step in the right direction for the softball team. “Even though Tekonsha hasn’t had a softball team in years I feel that they represented a challenge and played fairly well,” explained freshman Melissa McEathron.

Senior Marisa Hamilton had three singles, junior Katie Stiver hit two singles and McEathron matched Stiver’s two singles to lead Pittsfrdom from the plate. On the defensive side Hamilton walked four but struck out six to earn the victory.

The second affair was even more lopsided. Freshman Stephanie Reyome led the way for the Wildcats with two singles and a double. Hamilton added to the act, knocking two singles, and junior Amber Stump had one single and one double. On the defensive end, junior Nicole Culbert received the W.

Pittsford baseball wins both side of T-Kon double-header

2009-05-04T12:23:00.002-04:00

by Justin Fish

The Pittsford baseball team would blow out Tekonsha in both games of a double-header Friday night, taking the first game 9-1 and the second game 16-1.

The first game’s winning pitcher was senior Clark Pelham (2-0), who had 5 Ks and only allowed two hits in the game. Seniors Adam Anspaugh, Pelham, and Chase Weber would hit the ball well in game one. Anspaugh would have an excellent night from the plate sending a bomb deep in center-field for a HR and also going 3-3 with a triple and an RBI. Pelham would go 2-3 with 2 RBI. Weber would go 2-4, tallying a RBI and running out a triple. Junior Cody Krasny went 2-3, running out a double and also collected a RBI. Senior Zach Vanlerberg would stay perfect on stolen bases, going 4-4.

In game two, Vanlerberg (1-1) would strike out 10 hitters and only allow four hits to get the win on the mound. Juniors Seth Weber, Krasny, and Tyler Wilson would step up in game two. Weber would go 2-3 with a double; Wilson would score two runs going 2-3 from the plate, and Krasny would send a bomb into left field for a HR. Seniors Weber and Anspaugh also kept hitting in game two. Weber went 2-4, scoring two runs, and Anspaugh would go 2-3, knocking in a run.

Boys track team finishes 5th at Quincy Invite

2009-05-04T12:22:00.003-04:00

by Wildcat Times staff

On a beautiful, but windy, day for a track meet, and ‘Cats put forward some very nice performances to take 5th at the Quincy Invitational.

Senior Ben Wines led a strong day in the field events for P-ford, winning the discus with a PR of 144’07”, and finishing 5th in the shot put with a throw of 43’05”. Junior Garet Lee jumped a season-best 5’11 to place 6th in the high jump, while junior Kurtis Brackman set a new PR with a 12’03” pole vault, good for 2nd.

Lee paced the ‘Cats on the track as well, finishing 2nd in the 110m hurdles (16.57s). Junior Brent Smith took 5th in both the 1600m run (4:48.87s) and 3200m run (10:43.66s).

The ‘Cats host Bellevue on Wednesday, and travel to Litchfield for the Purdy Invitational on Saturday.

Changes in store for classrooms next year

2009-05-04T12:22:00.001-04:00

by Emily Hines and Tommy Verdon

Every summer PHS changes things up at our school to help improve the way things work. This year some well-known improvements were the painted walls, newly planted flowers, and separating the middle school from the high school.

This summers to do list has been lengthened in hopes of making the school a bit more efficient and more comfortable for the students and teachers.

“Over the next summer we are going to paint and clean every room, like we usually do, and we are going to re-work all the elementary classrooms with a ventilator system. They’re all pretty bad right now. We need to re-pipe and re-valve,” stated high school principal Mr. Cook.
Not only are the elementary students receiving an update of their classrooms, the high school section has a few things on the way. “On the high school side we are going to put three-way valves and control units in so that we can regulate the temperature in each room. If you notice over the years, one classroom will be like Bermuda and the next like Antarctica,” shared Mr. Cook.

Most students at Pittsford think highly of these ideas and think the school will benefit from them, but one has some ideas of her own that she thinks might be helpful. “Painting the lockers and maybe giving different locker colors to each grade would be a nice way of separating grades,” shared senior Jessica Ruder.

We can only look forward to the possible changes for ’09-’10 school year with high hopes they will all work out as planned.

Softball drops two to Reading

2009-05-04T12:21:00.001-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

On April 27, the Ladycats took on the Reading Rangers; they played tough in their two games, but couldn’t pull out a sacred W. The score for the first game was 11-5, and the score for the second was 14-4.
For the first game, senior Marisa Hamilton led the team in batting. Hamilton slugged two hits to lead the Wildcats. However, Hamilton earned the loss on the mound, striking out six in the process.
In the second contest, junior Amber Stump and freshman Stephanie Reyome each belted doubles to lead the hit charge. “It felt good to hit a double since that was the first one this year. I felt that the hard work paid off,” exclaimed Reyome. Hamilton and sophomore Jade Smith combined to finish the game on the mound.
All-in-all the Wildcats are trying their hardest with performances that don’t really show the work they put in, especially with a 3-7 overall record, but things look better for the future as the ‘Cats are working from the ground up and it won’t be long before it will show out there on the diamond.

Kindgergarten roundup shows potential, though numbers are down

2009-04-30T11:50:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

Though many may hate school now that we are in higher grades, we can probably look back on our first day of kindergarten and reminisce. You keep those memories with you well beyond your high school years. This year’s kindergarten roundup was not as highly attended as superintendent and elementary principal Mr. Shaw expected, with only 24 kids showing up. He hopes to have a least fifteen more student to sign up before the school year start again next year.

The desired number is based on how many students are leaving in the senior class, compared to the amount of students coming in. This year we have 49 seniors leaving Pittsford and so far we only have 24 kindergarteners signed up for next year.

Kindergarten roundup is a chance for the children and parents excited for their first year of school. It also is to show them around the school and what type of things that they will be doing here a school. Most parents are very curious about what their children are doing here at school during the day and this gives them the chance to see what goes on and what their child will be doing every once they begin kindergarten.

The test that the kindergarteners take is called the ABC Inventory; it tests the student on how to define shapes, colors, numbers and the alphabet. It also tests common knowledge, asking questions such as, “What season do the leaves fall off of the trees?” nd “What season does the snow fall?” The children also received a hearing, vision and speech screening. These tests informed the parents of the possibility that their child has impairment. Also the parents could go and get their children checked out because they know well before the school year that their child had and impairment and hopefully get it fixed so their child can learn to their full potential.

All the children who showed up on the two days of kindergarten roundup received a free backpack. The backpack contained many of the supplies that the children might need for their first year of school. The supplies also will help the children learn some of the necessary skills that they will learn the following year. Most of the students are about 55 months old, so on the ABC Inventory, teachers are hoping that they will get a 55-month score or better.

The average amount of students that sign up during the summer is five to seven. We need at least fifteen or risk falling short of the goal, which would mean a lot less money for the school due to lower school enrollment than budgeted for. All the other school districts are about average or a tiny bit over in their kindergarten population. So we are hoping that there are some kids at home that just haven’t had the chance to sign up yet. We have advertised many places including the radio, newspaper and Pittsford’s Contact newsletter. Hopefully we can find fifteen more students to join us next year so we can be satisfied with our student numbers.

“The kindergarteners this year were very up-to-level academically and socially,” explained Mr. Shaw. All of the students sat politely waiting for their turn on all of the tests. None of the children cried this year; usually many of the children do because it’s their first time being left without a parent or a family member.

Overall it looks to be an awesome kindergarten class with a very promising future. The numbers are bit lower than what we would like to see, but hopefully they will improve as the summer progresses.

Baseball team wins both sides of Waldron double-header

2009-04-29T12:24:00.000-04:00

by Justin Fish

The Pittsford Wildcat baseball team won both games against the Spartans Tuesday in a make-up from earlier in the season.

The Cats’ took game one by a score of 4-2. Junior Seth Weber (2-1) would take the win Tuesday with 7 strikeouts and no walks. Senior Clark Pelham went 2-3 running out a double and driving in a run. Also, senior Zach Vanlerberg would go 1-2 with 2 RBI. Junior Weber would continue his hot streak from the mound and go 2-2 at the plate also bringing in a RBI.

Wildcats also took game two by a score of 8-4. Winning pitcher junior Cody Krasny (2-1) had 3 Ks. The leading hitters of game two were junior Tyler Wilson, seniors Pelham, Chase Weber, and Adam Anspaugh. Wilson would go 2-3 while Weber would go 4-5, gutting out a double and adding a RBI. Pelham went 1-3 with 3 RBI, and Anspaugh went 2-4. “[I thought our pitching] was consistent and we threw a lot of strikes, and that’s what you have to do in a high school baseball game,” commented Krasny.

Boys track team blows past Panthers

2009-04-29T12:21:00.000-04:00

by William Belson

After the two-point loss to Colon last week, Pittsford rebounded strongly with an 82-51 beatdown of Climax-Scotts.

The boys worked hard in this meet, and it paid off with some very good performances. Junior Garet Lee won the high jump (5’08.00”) and the 110m hurdles (17.00), senior Ben Wines took first in shot put (42’07.00”) and in the disc (128’11.00”), junior Kurtis Brackman won the pole vault (12’00.00”), the 3200m relay team took first (9:00.00), Luke Irwin placed first in the 1600m run (5:16.20), junior Bradley Beach won the 400m dash (56.10), freshman Blake Toner took the 300m hurdles (45.10), sophomore Brent Smith won the 800m run (2:11.00) and the 3200m run (10:57.00), and the mile relay team took first (3:46.00).

Brackman put forth a great effort, which helped him get 12’ in the pole vault against Climax . “The work I had put in to practice last week (paid off),” said Kurtis. “And I got a new pole which is really good; it helped me get up there. Hopefully I can get 12’06.00,” said Brackman.

Golfers struggling to find their stroke

2009-04-29T12:15:00.002-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

It is April and that means that golf is back in swing. The freshly cut grass fills the air and creates an aroma like none other. Talented student-athletes all have one goal and that is to put a small, little spherical white ball inside the cup in as few shots as possible and hope to improve each and every time they set out onto that course.

The Pittsford Wildcats, up to this point, have played in three invitationals and have struggled. The ‘Cat’s first major feat was played on April 13 at Riverside, where the Battle Creek St. Philip Fighting Tigers call home. The ‘Cats found themselves on the low end of the totem pole as they finished with a hefty 227 (as a team) as junior Zach Broughman lead the way finishing with a 54. “So far I have started off pretty slow but I worked really hard last week and this week should be better,” expressed Broughman.

The second invitational produced 5th place finish, as P-ford put a beat-down on Belleview, but rival Climax-Scotts was able to take home the gold in the event. Once again, Broughman was able to steer the team in the direction of success finishing with a 46.

In the last contest the Wildcats would be taking on Jonesville in a dual showdown. Needless to say Pittsford fell short, losing by a final tally of 28 strokes, and dropping another grim point in the loss column now bringing it to a double digit mark (1-10). Nevertheless Broughman lead the team, this time scoring a 48.

Lions on the pathway towards success thanks to young draft prospects

2009-04-29T12:08:00.001-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

The 2008 NFL season was a memorable one, for the 0-16 Detroit Lions. Nevertheless, Lion’s fans want the whole nation to forget what had just happened only four months prior to today. Fans are looking forward, and the only way to go is up. With the Lions at rock bottom, a complete reload was to be in order. Changing the team’s logo and uniforms was a start for the team that has called Detroit home since 1930. But probably the most important piece of the puzzle for the Lions was that they had the number one pick in the 2009 NFL draft!

Now that the Bobby Layne curse has been lifted upon the ill-talented Lions, and fittingly after fifty years the last year would be the team’s worst record in franchise history, the organization couldn’t be happier with three of the first 33 possible picks, and five of the first 82; needless to say the odds were stacked favoring Detroit. With many talks circulating and rumors taking life about who would go where and who could slip and what-not, all was put to a halt last Friday as the Lions signed a young quarterback out of Georgia by the name of Matthew Stafford to be the first pick in the draft. His contract gave him more guaranteed money than anyone in the history of the game, $41.7 million. The exact amount isn’t quite sure but he could make as much as $78 million in six years, thus (hopefully) ending the search for a impact QB that Detroit has been long waiting for

The Lions followed up the Stafford pick by drafting in many positions of need, including two tight ends (Brandon Pettigrew from Oklahoma State in the first round, and Dan Gronkowski from Maryland in the 7th). The Lions also picked up a local boy in Western Michigan safety Louis Delmas, and a Midwestern star from Penn State in WR/KR Derrick Williams. Others that were drafted by the Detroit Lions include Deandre Levy a 6’2’’ 236 pound outside linebacker from cheese country (Wisconsin), hoping to turn him into a middle linebacker; Sammie Hill a defensive tackle from tiny Stillwater University, who was picked up in the fourth round; Aaron Brown, a talented running back from TCU; Lydon Murtha, a Cornhusker from Nebraska who plays tackle; and a California boy, Zack Follett, who is a skilled outside linebacker.

All-in-all the Lions look like a team on the rise. I am not predicting a playoff berth or a division championship in the notoriously weak NFC North, but there is always a chance and there is always a chance for the Lions to defend their crown and have the number one pick in the 2010 NFL draft. But let’s hope that déjà vu doesn’t take its toll on the young, new Detroit Lions!

Happily Ever After

2009-04-29T11:53:00.010-04:00

by Carley Bruner

On April 25, the Pittsford High School prom was held at Savarino’s in Hillsdale. Junior class advisor Mr. Spitler and the junior class did a great job scheduling and running the event. The cost of this prom was $20 per person and had a pretty good turnout. “The turnout is usually around 100 people, and it has been that way for the past 5 years. This year was about the same amount,” commented junior class advisor Mr. Spitler.

The theme this year for prom was “Happily Ever After.” There were quite a few people that actually liked the theme for this year’s prom. “I thought for the money we spent Mr. Spitler did a very good job of decorating and getting food,” stated senior Danielle Seabolt. However, there are always dissenters. “I didn’t like it at all,” said junior Erica Church. Most people talked to who didn’t like the theme weren’t at the meetings to discuss the theme.

Prom ran from 8 p.m.-11 p.m. in the banquet room at Savarino’s. Savarino’s offered a variety of food and drinks, from Sprite to chocolate covered strawberries. “The food was really good,” said sophomore Amber Lennox. “The chocolate covered strawberries were pretty darn good i am not going to lie,” said junior Ryan Titus. “I didn’t eat any of it but it looked good,” stated junior Desirae Swope.

Following tradition, a king and queen were crowned. Running for king was Jacob Gier, Zach Vanlerberg, and Ben Wines, and running for queen was Eva Gucker, Maggie Chisholm, and Jessica Plessinger. Eva and Jacob were voted the prom king and queen

The students who attended had a variety of favorite parts, from loving to be with friends and dancing, to the food, to the after-parties. “The after party was my favorite,” said Titus. “It was good. The dance was really fun,” stated Church. “I enjoyed the dancing because I have always loved dancing and I enjoyed having my fiancé there with me,” said Danielle.

Girls Track Takes First Vs. Climax

2009-04-29T11:51:00.000-04:00

by Carley Bruner

On Monday, April 27, the girls track team hosted a meet against Climax-Scotts and dominated them, winning 88-51.

Individual first places for the day were junior Katelyn Kipfmiller in discus (81’ 3”), sophomore Jackie Page in pole vault (8’ 3”) and the 300m low hurdles (53.20), junior Elainee Poling in the long jump (15’ 0”) and 800m run (2:41.50), freshman Brandy Combs in the 100m dash (14.30), sophomore Morgan McFaul in the 1600m run (6:00.30) and the 3200m run (13:51.90), and sophomore Amber Lennox in the 200m dash (29.10) and the 400m dash (1:04.80).

The relay teams placing first for the day were the 3200m relay team (McFaul, Meredith, Lennox, and Poling) and the 1600m relay team (Lennox, Lennox, Kipfmiller, and Poling).

Baseball team swept by Rangers

2009-04-29T11:50:00.001-04:00

by Justin Fish

Pittsford’s baseball team lost both games of a double-header in Reading Monday night. The first game was tight as the ‘Cats lost 6-5, but they fell in the second by the mercy rule, 16-6.

Junior Seth Weber would take the loss on the mound for Pittsford in Game 1while junior Tyler Wilson went 3-4 with an RBI to lead the team from the plate. Senior Clark Pelham and Chase Weber contributed mightily as well, both going 2-4 “[We lost because we had] too many errors; I thought we played well, just the couple of errors did us in. When you’re in a tight ball game you can’t have errors,” said Coach Hodos.

In the nightcap, sophomore Virgil Schrom (0-1) would take the loss on the mound striking out three Rangers. The leading hitters of Game 2 were uniors Cody Krasny and Seth Weber. Krasny went 2-3, gutting out a double, and also bringing in an RBI. Weber would go 3-4 also bringing in an RBI.

Softball team sweeps Terriers

2009-04-29T11:47:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

Last Friday night, the Ladycat softball team took on the Litchfield Terriers. They made a complete turn around from past games and swept the double-header, 13-2 and 15-0.

The leading hitter for the first game was freshman Samantha Cole. Sam hit her way to two singles and a double. The winning pitcher for the first contest was senior Marisa Hamilton. She notched 11 K’s in leading her team to the win.

Junior Nicole Culbert struck out four Terrier batters in leading Pittsford to the shutout in Game 2. “Litchfield wasn’t a very strong team, and we were all doing out part. I was happy that I pitched a shut-out but it would have meant more to have it against a team like Camden, Waldron, or Climax,” commented Culbert. She earned four strikeouts and zero walks. Amber Stump was the leading hitter in this game with two singles and a double.

The ladies played Monday at Reading and dropped both games of a double-header; check back Wednesday for details

Baseball team splits double-header with Terriers

2009-04-27T12:29:00.002-04:00

by Justin Fish

The baseball team split a double-header with Litchfield, winning the first game 9-7 and losing the second game 14-13.

Senior Adam Anspaugh (1-0) had 9 strikeouts with 4 walks, taking the win in the first game. Juniors Greg Hodos and Seth Weber would lead the team in batting, as Hodos went 1-3 with two RBI and Weber went 2-3, knocking in three runs.

In the second game, despite being down in the top of the 6^th by six runs and down to their final out, the ‘Cats would rally and score six runs to tie things up and send them to extra innings. But that would prove not enough when a Terrier sent a bomb deep into right field, providing the margin of victory. Senior Clark Pelham (1-0) had 7 strikeouts on the mound in his no-decision, while junior Cody Krasny (1-1) would take the lossThe leading hitters were Seth Weber going 2-4 with four RBI and Krasny going 2-3, driving in two RBI.

Girls track team beats Colon

2009-04-24T12:25:00.001-04:00

by Carley Bruner

On April 22 the track team traveled to Colon and beat the Magi. It was a very close meet, as the ladies won by a mere 10 points. “It was a really tough meet and everyone had to put in a lot of effort. Everyone worked really hard and it was really competitive,” said sophomore Morgan McFaul.

Individual first places were taken by juniors Elainee Poling, Katelyn Kipfmiller, and sophomores Morgan McFaul and Jackie Page. Poling took first in the long jump and 800m run, Page took first in pole vault and the 100m and 300m hurdles, Kipfmiller took first in the shot put, and McFaul took first in the 1600m and 3200m runs.

Two relay teams also contributed to a win, the 3200m relay team consisting of McFaul, sophomore Amber Lennox, freshman Jentry McAdams, and Poling and the 1600m relay team consisting of junior Ashley Buckner, Lennox, Kipfmiller, and Poling.

Wildcat boys track team drops rare league match-up to Colon

2009-04-24T12:18:00.000-04:00

by William Belson

For the Pittsford boys track squad their first meet was the infamous Warrior Invite at Grass Lake. For the first meet the Wildcat men took third, with 70points, behind first place Grass Lake with 87 points and Hanover Horton with 72 points. Though there were no first places for Pittsford that day, senior Ben Wines placed second in discus (133’), junior Jason Smith placed second in shot put (42’4”), the 3200m relay placed 5th (9:17.04), junior Garet Lee took 4th in the 110m hurdles (16.59s) and 4th in the high jump (5’9), junior Kurtis Brackman placed 5th in the 110m hurdles (16.70) and 5th in the pole vault (10’), the 800m relay took 4th (1:42.03s), the 400m relay placed 5th (50:43s), Brackman took 5th in the 300m hurdles (46:90s), in the 3200m run junior Brent Smith placed 5th (10:43.79).

The following Wednesday, Pittsford started off their dual meet season with a huge win over Camden-Frontier with a score of Pittsford 117 Camden 16. The shot put and discus were dominated by Wines who placed first in the shot (42’) and disc (132’2”). Lee won the high jump (5’10”), the 110m hurdles (16.25s), and the 200m dash (24.70s), Brackman won the pole vault (11’00”) and the 300m hurdles (44.8s), Smith won the 1600m run (4:46.44s), the 800m run (2:08.2s), and the 3200m run (10:55.90s).

The boys track squad did all right as hosts of the Ralph Crume Invitational, placing eighth out of the sixteen schools there. Lee placed 5th in high jump (5’08”), Wines placed 4th in the shot put with a personal record (43’03”), Brackman placed second in the pole vault (11’06”), sophomore Austin Billington placed fourth in the pole vault (11’00”), the 3200m relay team placed 5th (9:00.40), the freshman 800m relay took 4th (1:51.80), Smith took 2nd in the 1600m run (4:45.40), and in the 800m run, sophomore Kyle Wyatt took 5th (2:08.50). Wines had a feeling he would throw well. “Pretty much my form and effort that I put in that week of lifting, pushed me to another foot,” explained Ben.

On the trip to Colon, a rarity happened—the ‘Cats dropped a dual meet, losing 69-67. Though Pittsford lost this meet, the team did some really good things. Wines won the discus (124’11”), Austin and Kurtis tied for 1st in the pole vault (11’00”), the 3200m relay took 1st (9:07.15), Lee won the 110m hurdles (16.52), junior Brad Beach placed 1st in the 400m dash (56.85), Kurtis won the 300m hurdles (45.91), and Smith placed first in the 1600m run (4:55.10), the 800m run (2:11.34), and the 3200m run (10:49.33).

Softball team goes back-and-forth in first few games

2009-04-23T12:30:00.002-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

The Ladycat softball team started out the season with a bit of a struggle, as they dropped both ends of a double-header to North Central Pioneer, 7-1 and 7-6.

The ladies only accumulated one hit in the first game, a single by senior Marisa Hamilton. Junior Nicole Culbert took the loss on the mound, striking out three. The second game was much closer than the first affair, as the ladies had many chances to pull out the victory. Hamilton took the loss on the mound in the second game, punching out six batters on strikes. Sophomore Heather Mason, junior Amber Stump, and freshman Marissa McEathron got the hits for the Wildcats in the second game. “I think we could have worked a bit harder out there,” expressed Mason. “We needed to talk more to each other so we knew what was going on, but other than that I believe we will improve and start pulling out wins,” continued Heather.

Next up were the Waldron Spartans. The ladies lost both ends of that double-header as well. Even though the ladies had the home field advantage they still took a plunge in the first game, losing 6-0. Culbert took the loss on the mound again, as she struck out five. Hamilton smacked a single and a double for the first game to lead the hitters. The Wildcats lost the second game 9-6 behind Hamilton’s effort on the mound. Helping her own cause, Hamilton had two singles and a double. “As a team I think we need to realize our errors,” sophomore Keely Sanders explained. “We can correct what we did wrong and what we need to work on.”

The ladies traveled to Bellevue and split a pair with the host Broncos, losing the first game 13-2 and winning the second game 7-6. Hamilton took the loss on the mound in the first game, and freshman Samantha Cole led with a single. They won the second game 7-6 in extra innings. Culbert struck out 14 batters to lead the ‘Cats to a win. The players put their heads together and pulled through with one win so over all it was an okay night for the ladies. “In the first game we didn’t do as well as we could have and made quite a few errors, but in the second game we cleaned it up and won! In the second game the team worked really hard, and had good hits and very few errors,” commented sophomore Jade Smith.

Make like a tree and leave…some space on your calendar for Arbor Day

2009-04-23T12:09:00.002-04:00

By Emily Hines

Arbor Day is another Earth Day-type of holiday in the month of April. It isn’t as well known as Earth Day but is just as important. In fact, not many people know it exists, and if they do, they don’t know why we celebrate it when we celebrate Earth Day just a few days before.

Earth Day is a day of celebrating our earth and doing activities such as recycling, choosing to walk rather than drive, plant a garden, or finding another way to protect and revive our earth. Arbor Day encourages Earth Day also, but specifically encourages the planting of trees and taking care of them.

Arbor Day is a nationally- celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care. J. Sterling Morton founded Arbor Day in 1872. He was a journalist and in his later years became the editor of the state of Nebraska’s first newspaper. He spread agricultural information in his articles and his love for nature. His strong stance in needing more trees on the Earth soon became evident as Morton wrote more articles. He encouraged civic organizations and groups to join him in planned tree plating events. On January 4, 1872, Morton proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day” to the State Board of Agriculture. The Board thought it was a great idea and it became a national holiday.

As well as Earth Day, Arbor Day may not be very important to some people because they do not feel like the absence of trees on our earth affects them because we can never run out of trees, right? The truth is that they are needed and every tree lost makes a big difference. Freshman Aaron Skursky sees the importance of Arbor Day. “Trees help provide oxygen. More plants means more homes for animals. There’s no sense in growing more trees, though, if they’re just going to cut them down,” Aaron stated.

An Evergreen State College student did a project using NASA satellites to estimate the number of trees per person on Earth. With this student’s estimation being 61 trees per person on this Earth, it may seem like enough for each, but it isn’t. With that in mind and thinking about how many things trees are used for like furniture, home building, or paper your “section” of trees easily disappears. This example gives us a clear view of why protecting our trees and our environment is important. “Arbor Day is very important. You have different civilizations around the world that are deforesting their jungles and so forth; like down in the Amazon. We need to make up for that,” shared band teacher Mr. Spitler

Taking care of our Earth means more than just having views of beautiful trees. They are very important to life on Earth.

Girls Track Team Takes 5th Overall at Ralph Crume

2009-04-22T12:35:00.005-04:00

Pittsford hosted its annual Ralph Crume Invitational on April 18, and the girls track team placed 5th overall.

Elainee Poling, Jackie Page, and Morgan McFaul were the only girls to individually place for Pittsford. Page won the 100m hurdles and tied for 4th in the pole vault. Poling took 3rd in the long jump and 4th in the 800m run, while McFaul took 2nd in the 1600m run and 3rd in the 3200m run.

Two relay teams also contributed points at the invitational, as the 3200m relay team consisting of McFaul, Poling, Amber Lennox, and Jentry McAdams took 3rd and the 800m relay team consisting of Page, Poling, Lennox, and Jocelyn Elarton took 6th.

PHS holding blood drive May 4

2009-04-22T12:05:00.000-04:00

by Derra Clark

Pittsford’s student council will be hosting a blood drive on May 4 from noon to 6:00 p.m. They are trying to shake things up a little this year with a fun theme. “We are doing a vampire theme,” said student council advisor Mrs. Ervans. There will also be prizes to win for students who donate blood. “We are giving away movies for two students,” said Mrs. Ervans. The two movies that will be for the winning are Twilight and 30 Days of Night.

The goal the student council is hoping to reach is 40 units of blood. They did not make that goal at the last blood drive, and are hoping for a better turn out this time.

For students who need community service the blood drive is a great source. You can give blood or work at the blood drive and earn community service.

If you are thinking about donating blood there are requirements you need to fill. “You have to be at least 17 (years old), be in good physical health, and weigh at least 110 pounds,” said Mrs. Ervans. You can come to the small gym anytime from 12-6 and enjoy the vampire theme while giving blood.

If you are interested in working at the blood drive you can contact Mrs. Ervans before May 4.

Men and women who has the upper hand?

2009-04-21T12:21:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

As we all know, women have never really had equal rights with men. Starting back in the early 1800s, women have been a lower class. Times have changed, you say? Well, think again. One wouldn’t have to look as far as a Friday night basketball game here at Pittsford to see the huge difference. The bleachers here are overflowing with kids piling out into the hallways to see the game. You go to a girls game and it just simply is not the same. “The guys have more funding and support in all of the sports, not just basketball, but that is the most noticed. Everyone is expected to go to a guy’s basketball game but if it’s a girl’s game it really doesn’t matter if you attend or not. It worsened to situation when they moved girls basketball to be at the same time as boys basketball,” expressed sophomore Keely Sanders, an avid sports player and fan here at Pittsford.

Kobe Bryant makes a spectacular $216,082.32 per game (based on an 82 game schedule). The highest paid NBA player is Kevin Garnett. He will make, this year, an astounding $24,751,934 dollars! While on the contrary, the highest a WNBA rookie can make only $100,000. Some even made as little as $30,000! The only good thing that can come out of this for the ladies is that they can play in more then one league in a year, meaning the women go play overseas during the WNBA off-season in an effort to make more money. But even with that, their salaries fall ridiculously short of their NBA counterparts. Even though the NBA and the WNBA play the same amount of games in a regular season (82 games) the women’s salaries are noticeably eclipsed by the NBA stars profits.

Not only are the pay cuts sexist for the basketball players but they are also unfair in the LPGA and the PGA. The LPGA women are paid $585,000 for winning the U.S. Open, while the men earn over twice as much as the women, as the top price is worth $1.3 million dollars for the same event. That’s a huge pay difference and is quite unfair.

Not all professional sports are unfair to women. In tennis they are quite fair, with the U.S Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon all having equal purses. The French Open is unfair to woman because they only earn $998,000 thousand for taking first. On the other hand the men take home over a cool million racking in $1.02 million, so despite the difference being small, it’s not quite fair.

Most people say the pay difference is because guys are more competitive than girls and that its in their nature. Sophomore Abbie Brackman agrees with this opinion. “I don’t think the sports are equal at all but, I also think that guys get most of the attention in sport because (to me) they are more interesting and more intense to watch. That’s why they have more fans and get more attention,” explained Abbie. Is it really a competitive edge that keeps men in higher wages than women? I guess it’s really a matter of opinion.

So the next time that you get ready to go to a game, remember that girls sports are just as important as guys. Don’t pretend like we don’t notice the big fan difference that our sports have from yours. It’s very degrading and there is no reason for the salary differences, either. Women are just as equal and should be treated so.

Elementary students rewarded for hard work with trip to skating rink

2009-04-20T12:39:00.001-04:00

by Brooke Maxson and Tommy Verdon

This school year the elementary students have been working very hard to accomplish reading goals through their classes and the reading response intervention. It’s important to the faculty that the students improve upon their reading skills as much as possible, so it’s only fair to reward the kids for their hard work and dedication towards reading. Their reward was the opportunity to make a trip to the Hillsdale skating rink with the K-5th graders on Tuesday, April 14.

In order to be allowed to go skating, the elementary students had to accomplish certain reading goals. The goal was to pass four Accelerated Reader (AR) tests with at least 25 pages per book. Several students were allowed to go on this trip and it seems they all had a good time. “It was fun because all my friends were there,” explained elementary student Sarah Howell.

Even though it may hurt at times, falling is an important part in roller-skating. Though it gets frustrating, it still has the power to make us laugh. “It was fun because I fell!” laughed fifth grader Chelsie McCabe. She wasn’t the only one who experienced a few falls. “I fell six times; it was hilarious!” said fifth grader Danielle Mclouth. Some are, of course, more experienced with skating. “I fell zero times,” said proud fifth grader Alyssa Bowers. Even though the students had to read a certain amount to have the privilege of going skating, some thought it was a small price to pay. “We had to read 25 pages per book. It was very fun!” exclaimed McCabe.

Overall, the skating trip was a success. “It went very, very well. It was a lot of fun,” said a happy elementary principal and PAS superintendent, Mr. Shaw. This year the elementary students have many motives to do well in school and work hard to accomplish goals.

Boys baseball splits doubleheader with Broncos

2009-04-20T12:22:00.001-04:00

by Justin Fish

The boys baseball team went to their first away game of the season, and away it was--they traveled 2 hours to take on the Bellevue Broncos, and received a split of the double-header.

The Broncos would take the first game by a narrow score of 13-10. PHS junior Greg Hodos would help his team by going 2-4 while compiling 2 RBI. Junior Tyler Wilson would contribute by going 1-3, hitting a double and bringing in 2 RBI. Senior Zac Vanlerberg (0-1) would take the loss on the mound for the ‘Cats.

Pittsford would take the second game, 11-3. The Cats’ would score six runs in the 2nd inning to break the game wide open. Senior Clark Pelham (1-0) would take the win on the mound, with five strikeouts and two walks. Pelham would also excel at hitting, going 3-3 while driving in 4 RBI. Senior Chase Weber would also be perfect in the game by going 2-2, reaching home plate three times.

The Wildcats are taking the road again this Tuesday to take on Climax-Scotts, then play at home on Friday night against the Litchfield Terriers.

Michigan at the bottom of the barrel in jobs, economy

2009-04-17T12:19:00.000-04:00

by Justin Renigar

In the last few years, the entire country’s economy has been plummeting. People are losing their jobs all over, in all occupations. The stock market is down and people are losing a lot of their money. Good, honest, hard working people are falling into poverty and have done nothing wrong.

The national unemployment rate in the U.S. is 8.5%. That means that there are about 26,028,307 people in this country that don’t have a job. After years of the economy getting worse, we’re almost at the bottom. People argue whether or not our country will fall into another depression. According to The Economist, it will be about ten more years before the country’s economy turns itself around.

As of right now, Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 10.6%. That means that there are about 1,067,613 people just in the state of Michigan, that don’t have a job. With Michigan being the lowest employed state in the country and Hillsdale County the lowest employed county in Michigan; that means that Hillsdale has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at around 18%. That’s about, 5,310 people in Hillsdale that don’t have a job. So my advise to you people is to take any chance you can to get a job no matter what it is. If you can’t do that then I suggest you just get out of Hillsdale as soon as you can.

Keep waiting, Cubbies—Red Sox will win 2009 World Series

2009-04-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

With Opening Night just last Sunday, fans are still abuzz thinking that their team can win it all. I am not just talking about the Cubs, but every team. Of course, every one of the possible 30 picks have a chance, some more than others. Some would think that the high-spending New York Yankees would be an early favorite. But an unlikely ball club has managed to set the pace and the Florida Marlins are red-hot out of the gate. Most baseball Caesars predicted that Florida would be an average team. Nevertheless I do not see the Marlins marching into October with the best record in baseball. Of course we all know that even if a team had a magnificent regular season that doesn’t always translate to a great postseason performance; just ask the Chicago Cubs. Last year the Tampa Bay Rays were the winners of the AL East, beating out the Red Sox by two games and clinching a playoff berth before marching into the World Series, only to lose to the champion Phillies from Philadelphia. Now I am not putting out the chance of a team to turn around from a 66-96 record to a 97-65 record (31 game swing), but the chances are unlikely. But enough with all of the statistical talk and what has happened in the past because scores and records are irrelevant especially when teams change year to year with proven players requesting more money from their employers and not getting it and moving on to bigger and (in some cases) better things. Without any further delay, here are my predictions for which two blessed teams will win the American League and the National League pennants and eventually win the title of the best team in all of baseball!

National League:

With the overall favorite being the Chicago Cubs, and some of it is probably just sympathy for the team that is going for its first championship in 101 years, they again look like a favorite… on paper. I pick the Chicago Cubs to win the NL pennant over the New York Mets just because my gut tells me to do so, and of course you can’t help but feel sorry for them! I just hope they don’t choke like the Buffalo Bills did in four straight Super Bowls!

American League:

I have to admit one thing; I do like the Boston Red Sox. I have no problem with the Red Sox winning the AL pennant. But, of course, I have to throw in a wrench. It will be the classic match-up between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. If you haven’t already picked up the irony with all of the “choker teams” actually making it this deep into the playoff race, now you have. The Yankees, who have won a grand total of 26 World Series Championships and 39 NL pennants, are looking to add to their not-so-vacant trophy case. It is safe to say that the Curse of the Bambino has been lifted off the shoulders of the Red Sox nation as they will take this series, but it will be a close one.

World Series:

Alright, the World Series is set. It is the Red Sox of Boston taking on the “lucky” team from the Windy City, the Chicago Cubs. I see this series as an entertaining spectacle to say the least. With the Red Sox looking for their third crown in six years and the Cubbies looking for their first World Series championship in over an agonizing century, these two teams are on two separate extremes, making this affair that much more highly anticipated. Nevertheless the winner of the Fall Classic will be the Boston Red Sox. I pick the team from Boston because of one simple but yet very important key component… experience. Let’s face it, the Chicago Cubs just haven’t got the experience that is one major characteristic that they are lacking in their game. Otherwise they would be very close to being a juggernaut in baseball. The Red Sox win in seven games.
There you have it, the final prediction for the annual Fall Classic. There are many teams that could surprise and make minds spin in the world of baseball, proving once again why they play the games.

Late-season snow blast extends year for PAS students

2009-04-16T12:09:00.001-04:00

by Carley Bruner

The bad times of winter have delayed a lot of peoples’ summer vacations. If you take a look all around Hillsdale and Lenawee County you will notice that everyone is getting out at a different time this year.

We used to have to be in school according to days, but instead we now go by hours. It is a Michigan law that we are in school for 1,098 hours a year. Here at Pittsford we have a day and a half to make up, which is about 10-11 hours. “We will now be going until June 1,” commented Principal Mr. Cook. This is as of now, which means that could change We are in the spring season right now, which could bring fog delays. Just three delays would give us another whole day of school to add on at the end of the year. The exams have also been moved farther into the summer.

Even though all MI schools have to be in session for at least 1,098 hours, not all schools are getting out for the summer on the same day. This is because all of the schools are run differently and start and end at different times of the day. For example, Hillsdale starts at 7:30 and gets out at 2:30. So it’s not like they get a shorter day than us; besides they will be there until June 12.

One of the main things that lengthen out our school year is having days or hours off, such as the three days that we get out two hours early for professional development day. Or another example is we just had March 27-April 5 off for spring break, then we turned around and had Good Friday off. It would have shortened our school year if we would have just taken April 3-12 off because we would cover not having school for Good Friday.

Monstrous amounts of laughs in Monsters Vs. Aliens

2009-04-15T12:45:00.001-04:00

By Mike Fauls

The new comedy Monsters Vs. Aliens is pretty good with a well-cast crew; Reese Witherspoon is Susan (aka Ginormica), Seth Rogen is B.O.B., Hugh Laurie is Dr. Cockroach Ph.D., and Will Arnett is The Missing Link. It starts out with a meteor coming to hit Earth; the story then starts to focus on the main character, Susan (Witherspoon), who is about to get married. The meteor falls on her and transforms her into “Ginormica” and she is taken to a military base and kept there until an alien named Galaxar shoots out an alien robot and it starts wreaking havoc on the townsfolk. I don’t want to ruin the movie for you guys so I’ll stop talking. The movie is a little predictable but the 3-D function doesn’t ruin it for those who don’t go and see it in 3-D and Seth Rogen is definitely a comedic genius when it comes to playing his character B.O.B. I give this movie 4.5 stars out of 5.

What’s your favorite Easter candy?

2009-04-15T12:35:00.000-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

Easter Sunday was April 12 and many kids were very excited when they woke up on Easter morning because of the hope of receiving delicious sweets. Most of the high schoolers were pretty much bummed because we are too old for the Easter bunny. However, if you have a younger sibling, you always commit the crime of snatching a jellybean or two from their basket.

The most popular candy on Easter is in fact the jellybean. Anyone who went looking for them on Saturday would know that they were all sold out. Not that I did that or anything. Jellybeans are a classic part of Easter; everybody has them on Easter.

Another favorite on Easter is Chocolate Easter Bunnies. It seems no Easter basket is complete without them. “I love chocolate Easter bunnies because they are a family pastime of ours; Easter wouldn’t be complete without them,” exclaimed freshman Andrea Hill. Hence their sales skyrocket during the Easter season every year.

Along with jellybeans and chocolate bunnies, in our top candy rating would be Peeps. Many students here at Pittsford would agree. These cute marshmallow candies come as bunnies and chicks, and if you’re lucky, you can spot them on a different holiday such as Halloween or Christmas.

Fourth on our list are Cadbury eggs, which happen to be Mr. Hoover’s personal favorite. They only come out on Easter, so they are a rare treat. They are another great Easter tradition. “Cadbury eggs make me happy,” stated junior Jason Smith.

Robin eggs slide into the fifth place on our candy list. These large eggs simulate a malted milk ball. They come shaped as eggs and speckled as if they were real. They are a favorite on Easter.

Though it’s not a candy, Easter grass production is indeed sped up during the Easter season. Everyone knows that no Easter basket is complete without the messy grass that comes in any color you can think of.

Big number seven on our Easter list is a chocolate covered marshmallow bunny. They are not my personal favorite but the sale records show that they are a big favorite on Easter time and their sales skyrocket during the Easter holiday.

The eighth place contender is candy assortments. These are a top seller mostly because they can fit easily into the colorful plastic eggs that many kids hunt for on Easter morning. Let’s face it--what child doesn’t love to wake up to an Easter egg hunt?

Surprisingly, real eggs are a top seller during the Easter season also. Many people carry out the tradition of coloring boiled eggs with their children. It’s a great family activity and anyone can help, young or old. So it’s a popular activity on Easter.

This Easter the weather was absolutely perfect, making it a great Easter for anyone who celebrated it. Most people took part in all these family traditions. They will continue their traditions with their children. Hopefully they will carry out for years to come.

English students use posters to understand “Antigone”

2009-04-15T12:14:00.000-04:00

by Emily Hines

Mrs. Davenport’s 10th grade class took a different approach in studying and identifying the root of the play “Antigone,” by completing an assignment which helped the students dig a bit deeper in understanding.
The assignment was to design your own poster illustrating one of the 13 concepts given by the teacher. The concepts were major concepts in the story that had deep meaning. “The poster project was a way to identify a universal theme from ‘Antigone’,” shared Mrs. Davenport. Although, there were a few stipulations, such as the poster needing to include 1-2 sentences about how the concept was related to the character or events in the play, at least four direct quotes from the play that illustrated the concept, and a minimum of eight pictures were required.

The students were asked to include quotes from the play and pictures to back up their theme and to directly apply it to the story. “The students used both creativity and knowledge of the play when they selected pictures or drew images to symbolize this theme,” stated Mrs. Davenport.

The assignment was also popular among the students. “We got to be creative. We could do what we wanted. It wasn’t like a worksheet telling us what to do, but finding the quotes was challenging,” said sophomore Dustin Butler. Being able to use creativity and taking on the challenges along with benefits of “being on your own” in an assignment is something students enjoyed, even if it has a setback or two.

“The assignment gave us a better view of what the play was about,” stated sophomore Heather Mason. “The quotes were challenging, though,” agreed Heather.

Mrs. Davenport’s assignment had a positive effect in helping the students get to know the play better.

PHS students can do their part, not only on Earth Day, but every day

2009-04-14T12:09:00.001-04:00

by Brooke Maxson

As April 22 draws nearer, the students at PHS and all around the world should remember that this marks Earth Day, the day designed for honoring and celebrating many earth-related things including its natural beauty, global unity, and the wonder of the life on our planet. Although there are other days some call Earth Day, the technicalities shouldn’t matter all that much because to people who really care about our earth, every day is Earth Day. I say this because even though there is a specific day we celebrate Earth Day, common sense says it’s impossible to make the earth clean and preserve its beauty in one day. This is why you may see shirts, bags, stickers, etc. that say something along the lines of “Go Green!” There are several ways that even we can make a difference on our earth. A few changes in a billion peoples’ daily routines can make a world of difference. The following are things you, as people of the world, can do to help:

· Try buying less bottled water and convince your parents to use a water filter to purify tap water instead. Buying excessive amounts of bottled water generates large amounts of container waste. Also, the fewer bottles of water you buy, the less money you use, so why not?
· When you’re done with an electronic, don’t throw it in the trash. For example, if your cell phone gets old and it needs replaced, instead of pitching it, you can recycle it. Yes, cell phones are recyclable…and so are other electronics. Throwing these things in the trash builds up mercury and other toxins and can ultimately lead to a problem.
· You personally may not wash the clothes at home, but somebody has to. Whoever it is should try to wash the clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85% of the energy in washing clothes goes to just heating the water.
· Use natural light whenever possible. If you’re leaving a room for more than 15 minutes, it won’t kill you to flip the switch off and save electricity. I’m sure your parents will also appreciate the lower light bill each month.
· Sometimes borrowing is better than owning something. If you want to see a movie and you know you’ll only watch it once or twice, rent it. The same goes for borrowing books from local libraries. This saves money and a lot of resources used for printing excessive amounts of paper.
· Although I’m sure you have all heard this one, you really shouldn’t leave the water running while you brush your teeth. If you brush your teeth for roughly one minute twice a day and your water runs around six gallons a minute, you waste thousands of gallons of water a year. It may not seem like a big deal as part of your daily routine, but wasted water adds up.
· Last, but not least, we should all know by now that we shouldn’t throw paper in the trash that we have used only a portion of. Even if you have used the whole paper front and back, put it in the recycling bin at school. So much paper is wasted because of people who aren’t aware that throwing paper away everyday ultimately leads to the loss of trees to make new paper.

These are only a few of the ways you can do your part on this planet. As Earth Day swings around and Mr. Cushman’s ecology class shows their recycling video, you now know how to make a difference if you decide to.

"Earth Day is the first completely international and universal holiday that the world has ever known. Every other holiday was tied to one place, or some political or special event. This day is tied to Earth itself, and to the place of Earth in the whole solar system.” Margaret Mead -- Earth Day Peace Bell Ceremony United Nations, March 21, 1977

Lack of response to North Korea’s launch should embarrass U.N.

2009-04-13T12:29:00.000-04:00

by Mike Fauls

Oh, America; here we are again. Another threat of terrorism and war on our doorstep with the launch of a North Korean rocket/satellite. And what do the highly paid officials of the world do? Nothing…abso-freakin-lutely nothing.

And here’s the best secret of all--NORTH KOREA BROKE THE U.N.’S OWN LAW! But they still do nothing at all. Judging by the reaction from all of those countries, you could launch all of the missiles that you want from your back yard and murder all of the people that you want to, because rules apparently don’t work here in Crazyville.

All that aside, this really is ridiculous. It’s bad, though, because I could kind of see that they were going to launch it, but the part that just stung at the core was when the rulers of the world do absolutely nothing when someone violates one of their own laws. What kind of people are they?

Some people want to say that they just want to expand their technology to explore space and work on a proper defense. Holy Schnauzer Biscuits, Batman! The missile can reach Alaska; China is saying that we need to leave North Korea alone or else. And yet the U.N. just watches and waits. For what? I don’t know. What I do know, though, is when a kid gets into the cookie jar and just gets a slap on the wrist and a “stern talking” then he’s bound to get into the cookie jar again and again and again.

NHS members tour New York City

2009-03-27T11:59:00.001-04:00

by Brooke Maxson

Flashy lights, paparazzi, Central Park, and Times Square. What city do those images put in your mind? New York City, of course! On March 19-22, among the hundreds of thousands of people walking the streets of NYC was our very own National Honor Society members, along with chaperones. This trip was the perfect reward to the dedication showed by the NHS members throughout the year.

While in New York City, the NHS members and the parents had a great time visiting popular places, a lot of which have names that many of you will recognize. Some places that the members visited were Central Park, Times Square, Ellis Island, The Statue of Liberty, Chinatown, and mid-town Manhattan. I think it’s safe to say several of us would agree each of these places has its own magic. Even if you haven’t visited, the pictures show you a basic idea of what’s there.

Being high school students, a lot of us light up with the sound of the word “shopping.” Although we may have fun shopping in Adrian, Jackson, Toledo, and other relatively close places, many students that went on the trip agree that New York City beats all. “(My favorite was) shopping and Times Square because I like to shop,” commented junior Jocelyn Elarton. Many other students agreed that Times Square was their favorite place to visit and one reason for that is because of the countless shops everywhere you look. “I like Times Square because it’s the most popular place in the world and I got to eat at all sorts of cool restaurants and there’s ESPN and TVs in the bathrooms. I also liked the Toys R US store,” explained junior Tyler Wilson. “I liked Times Square because there’s a bunch of stores,” echoed junior Elainee Poling.

Another place a number of the NHS kids visited was the NBC store, which was full of items that reflected the shows on the NBC channel. “I like the Rockefeller Center because of the NBC store,” said junior Kayla Clark. One thing you will find if you ever decide to visit NYC is that several of the stores have more than one floor and therefore have escalators. In fact, the Toys R Us has three floors and in the middle stands a giant ferris wheel. “The ferris wheel at Toys R Us was surprising right there because it’s an amusement park ride in a store!” said an amazed Jocelyn.

Apart from the wonderful opportunity to shop til’ you dropped, an additional characteristic of NYC is that it’s full of beautiful scenery, all the way from Central Park to the heart of the city. “(What surprised me the most) was the sheer size of the buildings. When you get out, they’re just enormous,” said still-shocked junior Chloe Hepker. A very well-liked place for New Yorkers and tourists is the top of the rock observation deck, which gives its viewer a view of New York City in its entirety. “When we were on the top of the rock observation deck, I saw just how big the city was and how far it spread out,” said junior Caitlin Farley. “The top of the rock was my favorite. It was really cool; there was a great view,” explained senior Maggie Chisolm.

I can say with certainty that New York City has a lot to offer. People fall in love with different places in this city for different reasons. “My favorite was Broadway because I got to see a show. It was awesome; it was funny,” said Hepker. NYC is famous for its many Broadway shows, but it’s also famous for the huge art museum it holds, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (a.k.a. The Met). “I loved The Met. I enjoy looking at art,” said senior Jessica Beard.

NYC is also very interesting because of the people who have been there and the movies/TV shows that have been filmed there. “Thirty Rock was awesome because that’s where Saturday Night Live is filmed and all those big shows that I love. Those people have been there walking around, so that’s pretty cool,” said excited junior Derra Clark. A good share of the NHS members agreed that Chinatown was very interesting as well. We tend to find people interesting who are different from us and live differently than we do because we do live in this small town of Pittsford. Something else we aren’t very used to is bargaining with the people we buy from, which is exactly what happens very often in Chinatown. “I liked Chinatown because I got to barter,” explained junior Garet Lee. Many places in New York City are so popular because of their history and the learning you can gain from visiting those places. “Ellis Island has so much history there,” explained NHS advisor Trish Weaver.

Going into New York City for the first time calls for a little advice from people who have already been there. Things you may have heard about this place may or may not be true. No matter what, the things of NYC are bound to surprise first-time visitors, as they did for the students here on this trip. One of the first things several of the students who went into Toys R Us said was: “watch out for Geoffrey the Giraffe.” For those of you who don’t know, Geoffrey is the Toys R Us giraffe mascot. When the students said this, they were all referring to the time in which Clark Pelham picked on the guy dressed up as Geoffrey, so Geoffrey gave Clark the stare-down and followed him through the store. This is a funny story and all, but if you visit New York you’ll notice quickly that this city is a very interactive place. The NHS kids learned quickly that if they wanted to take a picture with someone dressed up as something on the street, they were expected to give a donation. “Don’t take pictures of Spiderman because he’ll want you to pay,” said Elainee.

As the stereotype goes, New York isn’t always the safest place. Because of this, security is high. “There was a SWAT team just standing on the corner,” said senior Clark Pelham. “What surprised me the most was the security for Geoffrey the Giraffe!” laughed Elainee. Crowds on the streets are also a major issue at times. “Walk fast and blend in,” advised Caitlin. Here in Pittsford we aren’t exposed to a lot of things that are out there in the world, including many homeless people all at once. “The hardest thing for me was to see the homeless people,” said Mrs. Weaver. “There were also no gas stations!” she added. A few people were surprised that all New Yorkers aren’t as rude as some people make them sound. “People are nicer than I thought they were going to be. I thought they were going to be really mean, but they were pretty kind,” said Beard.

The annual NHS trip this year was successful, a lot of fun, and a big learning experience at the same time. “The trip went very, very well overall. Everyone behaved and it was just a lot of fun,” explained Mrs. Weaver. Whether you plan on visiting NYC in the future or not, the NHS members will assure you that it’s worth your time. There are, of course, other things that the NHS members forgot to mention, including the fact that they all made it on national television on the CBS early show. If you want to see them having a great time with your own eyes, just ask to borrow the tape and watch it for yourself. All of their hard work and dedication to the National Honor Society was paid off in the end and as far as we know, everyone on the trip had a splendid time.

We’re all in control of our actions

2009-03-25T12:36:00.001-04:00

by Mike Fauls

Upon watching a movie in my English 11 class, I’ve had a sudden infatuation with the brain and how it works. Like if you see the word “blue” typed in a red color, your mind says “red” even if the word is blue.

The movie was about criminal minds and why people do certain things at certain times. Whether it’s stress related, or certain instincts just drive our inner being to go nuts, it happens and we really don’t know why. The question is, do we really have control over this?

Some people would say no, it’s just human instinct. I don’t agree with this theory, though. Like Hitler, for example. Was he fully in control, or was he just victim of his human instincts? And, if so, then would a small apology to the Jews in the Holocaust suffice? I could see the conversation now:
Hitler: “Oh, hey, sorry about you guys and the whole genocide thing. I just couldn’t stop my instincts from taking over.”
Jewish people: “Oh, it’s okay. C’mon were having a Batmitzfa for my niece.”
Hitler: “Oh, hey, thanks. Let’s go, new best friend!”
…and they’d skip off into the horizon like in Wizard of Oz.

The example wasn’t to make light of the atrocity the Holocaust was in any way, shape or form, it was simply to illustrate what I think the folly of calling those things “human instincts” is.

The fact is that you don’t have control over everything, it just doesn’t work that way, but you do have control of what your actions are and when you control yourself. If someone were to murder your best friend, he’d still be a murderer. Despite what human instincts took the murderer over, he’s still a murderer, no questions asked. Right?

Month of fun and games for the elementary

2009-03-25T12:16:00.001-04:00

by William Belson

The elementary this month is having a sort of spirit month, except for reading, involving prizes and lots of fun. The month is full of dressing up, competitions between classes, and book fairs, making this arguably the most fun month of the year in the elementary.

One of the competitions that the elementary classes are competing in is the “dog sled race,” which is a race between the rooms to bring in money for the library. The class that wins the competition will receive a reward for their winning effort.

March 11-13, the elementary held a book fair, but that’s not all. “We had a Family Night, which was a huge success, and I made $1,897 and had a profit of over $900 worth of books. It was awesome, and we had a really huge turn out. I am up $200 from last year from just having it three days,” explained Mrs. Schutte, the elementary librarian.

The elementary will be having a dress up week this month--March 23-27 the kids will be taking part in Tacky Day, Hat and Pin Day, Read My Shirt Day, Pittsford Spirit Wear Day, and P.J. Day.

Another part of the March reading month was a question asked to every student based on a story that was read to them during the week. The first question on the first week was; What is the color of a polar bears skin? The question on the second week was; what did the adeli penguins steal from it’s neighbors nest? The question for the third week was, what does the arctic fox live in? The final week the question was, why is an elephant seal call an elephant sea?

PHS students ready to travel for spring break

2009-03-25T12:15:00.001-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow & Dillon Cooper

Everybody here at Pittsford is anticipating spring break. Now that the weather is getting warmer, students are getting anxious. With nine days off, God only knows what kids are going to come up with to pass the time. Some students are staying here in boring Pittsford; some are going somewhere special to pass the time. Nevertheless, most students are leaving for somewhere warm because they are sick of the blistering cold weather that Michigan possesses.

Sophomore Abbie Brackman is going to down to old-timers country but in a hip place in the peninsula, Panama City. “I’m going to Panama City with my sister’s boyfriend’s family (the Scheadler’s), and my mom and my sisters,” said Abbie. Her plans include tanning, shopping, and doing nothing because that is what everyone else does on spring break! This will be Abbie’s first trip to Panama City, and I’m sure lots of fun things will be going on there.

Junior Sam Nichols is going to Myrtle Beach with her best friend, Allyssa LoPresto. They will be spending their time basking in the sun and having fun. “I plan on laying on the beach the whole time,” admitted Sam. This will be Sam’s first time vacationing at Myrtle Beach and she is definitely looking forward to it.

Another junior, Lauren Stanley, is planning on vacationing down in the Deep South to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. She doesn’t know where else she is going but she knows who is going with her. “Zach (Vanlerberg) and my parents are going with me,” explained Lauren. She plans on swimming a lot and just having good ‘ole fashion fun.

Sophomore Braily Lee is also going down south but she will be more eco-friendly, only traveling to Kentucky instead of Florida. “I am going with Katie Fether and her family,” said Braily. “We are either going up north or we are going down south, Kentucky probably,” she continued to say.

Through all of these “thrill seekers,” there are always the people who express themselves in the peaceful setting of their home. These people are, of course, not going anywhere but are still finding a way to show their outgoing side. Junior Shana June is staying home for spring break but for a good reason. She will be working at the local McDonald’s, earning money while having “fun,” as she would put it. “A lot of my friends are going somewhere, but I am staying home,” said Shana in a very disappointed tone.

Whether you are staying home or going some place far, far away, there is still one thing that is clear…you can have fun almost anywhere, but how much fun is the question.

Tech Talk w/ Andrew Schultz

2009-03-25T12:07:00.005-04:00

Item: Have you ever wanted to take your laptop with you somewhere, but you’re not good with the touch-pad mouse? Instead you buy a USB mouse to use, but it’s always such a bulky mouse that you feel embarrassed just to put it into your laptop bag--but wait, it won’t fit. With the new Microsoft arc portable laser mouse, it will be easy because it folds up when not in use and it will easily fit into your laptop bag. This miniature mouse has a small wireless USB plug-in and hides in the bottom of the mouse when not in use. The Arc is compatible with PC or Mac but obviously requires at least one USB port. The Arc has a 30-foot distance to use, scrolling wheel, and battery indicator. The Microsoft Arc will sell for about $30-$40 for the mouse, carrying case, and the manuals.
Andrew’s Take: This mouse will be an excellent addition to your laptop, or even for your desktop; the only problem with this mouse is that there is a side button that is kinda hard to use with the open bottom, but other than that, this mouse is good. If we want to nit-pick, maybe the price could be a little bit lower, like $20-$30 dollars in cost.

Item: This new item is a household product for all of those gamers out there. Some people have their favorite game controllers, whether it’s the Playstation, Xbox, or the original Nintendo controller. While you’re playing your favorite game, your hands start to become sweaty from all of the adrenaline pumping through your veins, and when you’re done, you’re left with sweaty, smelly, and gross hands. Now your can wash your hands without putting down your favorite controller. With new soaps from Etsy and Digitalsoaps, you can wash your hands with your favorite controller and in different soap styles like Olive oil, Coconut oil, Glycerin, and Soy Bean oils. All of these different contents will do different things for your hands while you are still having fun and holding your favorite controller.
Andrew’s Take: These awesomely shaped soaps will keep you busy while your are cleaning your hands and allowing you to keep that great shape in your hands, but with all of the ingredients in this soap it will also keep your hands silky and smooth. But it’s not only the Xbox controllers, it’s also a Playstation controller, Wii, and the Nintendo controllers as well.

Item: Some people are die-hard Apple fans and some are Microsoft, but if you are the Apple fan and you love your Microsoft Xbox 360, there’s a problem—you’re going to need to run wireless or a cable (and we all know how much trouble a cable can be). But wireless isn’t a bad option if that’s all you have. With Apple’s new Time Capsule you have a Wi-Fi router you can enjoy gaming with a faster connection and you can run your computer’s Internet faster, too. This router has four Ethernet ports in the back panel, one USB, and it’s as thin as Xbox. With this dual-band router you will never experience lag unless your connection is horrible. With a built-in HDD this will also work great for backing up your computer files with the option of a 500GB or 1TB HDD. But the price will break your bank--the 500Gb is $300 and the 1TB is around $500, so it will be expensive.

Andrew’s Take: This is the new generation in Internet connection and gaming connection, and with the dual-band, this will be the best router you can buy unless you are going into commercial grade routers and servers. But overall this is one of the coolest looking routers too; it’s smooth, sleek, and small, so you will never run into trouble with space. The only downside to this router is that it’s $300 to $500; that’s just a little pricey for anyone, in my opinion, but it would be totally worth it if you would use it a lot.

Boys track is on the run for a sixth straight league title

2009-03-23T12:37:00.001-04:00

by William Belson

With spring being on the rise it also brings along with it the five-years-in-a-row league champion boy track squad, our Pittsford track stars. The team started its preparations for their season the second week of March.

The boys track squad only lost a total of three seniors from last year, leaving the team still well intact. The track squad though there is a good number of people on the team it is quite young with about eight returning as sophomores and a lot of freshman, and only two seniors. “My expectations are the same as any year; you want to get better every day at practice, work exceptionally hard, represent our school and our community with class, excellence, and tradition, and win the league championship,” said Coach Burger.

This year the track team, though young, is looking forward to having a good season with some of the young but experienced runners. “I think our strengths will be our field events, middle distance, and distance, but our weaknesses will be our sprinters,” said senior Ben Wines. Wines was not alone in his though with them being echoed by junior Steven Rose. “Our distance, middle distance, and field events are always extreme and phenomenal, our distance crew is going to be set with Brent (Smith) and Luke (Irwin), but the league this year has sprinters from all the schools and Pittsford is always lacking in that one great sprinter we never really have,” explained Steven. Down the line, the expectations for this season begin and end with one thing: a league championship.

Though the squad this year is looking for another league title they will keep on working. “We are pretty young; we have mostly freshmen and sophomores, but I think we will be tough in the field events and maybe in the distance,” said Coach Burger.

Will the guys make it six in a row, or will they come out of this season disappointed that for the first time in five years they don’t have a trophy to hoist. The guys are working hard to make sure the latter doesn’t happen.

PHS juniors spend hours taking ACT and MME tests

2009-03-23T12:35:00.000-04:00

by Derra Clark

The ACT is one of the most important tests a student will ever take, and from March 10-12 the juniors took this test, along with the MME. The ACT is a standardized test that colleges look at when selecting students to admit. The MME is a test done by the state of Michigan; by taking the test, students earn scholarships for college and it’s involved in the “grade” schools get from the state. “The ACT itself is important for students to see their achievements, it’s important for the school to see how it’s doing,” said Mrs. Sanderson.

Some students felt they could have organized themselves better. “I really didn’t feel prepared, but the help that the teachers gave really helped a lot,” said Chloe Hepker. Other students found the testing experience to be less than entertaining, “I’ve never had less fun taking a test in a dark room with 60 people,” said Caitlin Farley. Mrs. Sanderson felt the students did very well during the tree-day testing, “The students took it very seriously and took their time,” said Mrs. Sanderson.

All of the teachers did what they could to prepare the juniors for what might be on the test. “Listen to your teachers!” stressed Caitlin. Every year the juniors have to take these tests and, of course, they always feel the pressure. “Get lots of sleep and don’t stress out,” said Chloe to the students who will enjoy the testing next year.

Here are the answers to all of your NCAA tourney questions

2009-03-19T11:54:00.001-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

It is that time again, where friend, family and co-workers all compete against each other; where Americans use more paper at work than at any other time, just to print off 20 copies of their "possible picks" to win it all. There is no telling who will be dancing high and mighty and who will be stunned by a sleeping Cinderella. There is one thing that I can predict, though--there will be only one team that ends their season on the highest note that you can possibly reach and finish 6-0 in NCAA tournament play, and my job is to show you the most logical picks and the most surprising picks of this 2009 addition of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament!

At the beginning of the season you could ask any stat junkie if he could foresee any three teams from the same conference all receiving three of the top four seeds in the tournament and he would tell you it would be very unlikely, and even if he did pick the possible teams, he probably wouldn't have hypothesized the right conclusion. The fact is that these three teams--Louisville, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh--are not just good, they are great. Not great like Larry Bird's Indiana State team, or the Fab Five from the team the hailed from Ann Arbor, but they have proven themselves to be superior to their opponents. North Carolina deserves as much credit as these three goliaths from the Big East, with the Tar Heels looking to win their second national title in the past half decade. But let’s not forget the other 61 teams inside this tournament and I have selected all of the upsets and the winner of each region from the Midwest to the West to the East and back down to the South.

MIDWEST:
There are only two upsets that I predict in this region. There could be three but I didn't feel comfortable with having the Great Danes of Siena beating that team that's name should not be mentioned (if you were a Michigan fan you would understand it is the team that spells out their state using their arms and hands, acting like total nimrods). Nevertheless, I predict two upsets in this region. The 5th-seeded Utah Utes will fall to 12-seed Arizona, a team that surprised many entering as one of the very last at-large bid honors. Utah will fall under the fatal curse of the 12th-seeded team beating the 5th-seeded team and never has this been avoided; it has always happened at least once a year since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, and this is probably the most predictable "upset." The other is the 10th-seeded USC/7th-seeded Boston College match up. USC, who won the Pac-10 regular season championship, has had some impressive wins. They beat UCLA the first round and just barely lost in the second affair (UCLA is seeded 6 in their region) and they swept the season series against California, including an impressive win against Cal on the road when Cal seemed unstoppable. BC has stacked up an impressive resume also, winning at Chapel Hill and winning against the Dukies, too, but they will not have an answer for their West Coast foe. The winner of this region will be the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals.

WEST:
This region, to me, was the easiest part of my bracket to fill out, with only one upset that is realistic, unless you want to revert back to the 1985 National Championship game when 'Nova beat Georgetown in a huge shocker (probably the biggest upset in the tournament sense the 1966 University of Texas-El Paso Miners beat the heavily favored team coached by Adolph Rupp, the Kentucky Wildcats). But we are not talking about the past or similes here, we are talking bracketology and reality and the reality is going to hit the Cougars of Brigham Young University (BYU). Texas A&M is going to show what the Big 12 is made of, after the Big 12 has been known as one of the many "Sleeping Giant" conferences. The Aggies will win in this lightweight showdown of an eight seed losing to a nine seed, which isn't all that unusual. The winner of this bracket will be the Connecticut Huskies coached by the veteran, highest paid employee in the state of Connecticut, Jim Calhoun.

EAST:
The East bracket is by far the weakest. I have four upsets on my bracket. The biggest one is the Virginia Commonwealth game. I have them beating the high and mighty team from Los Angles, the Bruins of UCLA. It is a six/ eleven match up and the VCU Rams look to advance out of the first round like a previous year when they upset the heavily favored Duke Blue Devils. Another upset is the Minnesota Golden Gophers over the Texas Longhorns. I know it is a long shot by a lot of czars in this sport but Tubby Smith has transformed this team and I expect them to win in a heated battle. The third upset I have marked down is the Tennessee Volunteers over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Vols will win because they have been here before and have excellent players leading the way. The last upset I have pondered on and have had the most difficulty with, and it is the showdown between the ACC and the Big Ten--the Florida State Seminoles and the Wisconsin Badgers. Originally I had FSU down but then I thought if the Badgers stop Seminole junior guard Toney Douglas then they will win for sure, with the next player on the Seminoles’ roster averaging a mere eight points a game. The winner of this region will be another Big East team, and without a question that team will be the Pittsburgh Panthers.

SOUTH:
This division is a very top-heavy region. The lower seeds definitely have a superior advantage against the less fortunate higher seeds. Nevertheless I have the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the final and winning this region, making it the fourth number one seeded team to make it to the final stage in Detroit.

FINAL FOUR:
The victor of the game against the physical Louisville Cardinals and the blessed-with-height Connecticut Huskies will be Louisville. The Cardinals won their earlier tiff and I expect them to make it two in a row against the Huskies. The other Final Four match-up is the fundamentally sound Pittsburgh Panthers and the bandaged-up North Carolina Tar Heels. Even though Pitt hasn't made the Sweet 16 in a few years, I plan for them to make it to their final destination and play on April 6 against their rivals, Louisville.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
All right, the National Championship is set. An epic showdown against conference rivals that know each other maybe a little too much, but that should lead to a great showdown for the viewers, right? However that game might go, blowout or end in a hail mary buzzer beater, I predict my Louisville Cardinals from the Midwest region and the number one overall seed leading into the tourney to win it all and I look forward at looking at the joy on head coach Rick Pitino's players’ faces when the confetti is flying and they bring out that big wooden trophy and present the Louisville Cardinals as the 2009 NCAA Basketball Champions!

Weber, Wines place in top four at state wrestling meet

2009-03-19T11:52:00.001-04:00

by Chelsie Darrow

The wrestlers were pretty pumped at the going-away assembly we held for them, as they went to the Palace of Auburn Hills for the state wrestling meet. Seniors Ben Wines and Chase Weber, along with juniors Kurtis Brackman and Taylor Hatfield, set out on a tough course early Thursday morning. It was a tough meet for the wrestlers; but it was worth the hard work they put in to get there. Wines and Weber both earned fourth place in state honors for the Pittsford wrestlers.

For the three days at state finals Wines earned a record of 3-2. He worked hard and made it to semi-finals. His hard work paid off in the end when he ranked fourth in the state. “I think what helped me get fourth in the state was working out in the off-season and every Sunday at Hudson,” said Ben. He defeated Josh Rose from Leroy Pine River, Ozzie Ruiz of Kent City, and Josh Boulis of Fulton. Wines decided to go out with a bang since this was his last year to wrestle. He had an amazing season and all the wrestlers will surly miss him. Ben’s record for the entire season was 57-9; he had the most wins out of the whole team.

Chase did his part for PHS, also placing 4th in the state. Weber’s record for the state meet was 4-2. The wrestling team will also miss this great wrestler when the season starts up again next year. “I set some goals in the beginning of the year and I wanted to accomplish those goals. I wanted to have 50-plus wins and earn a top 4 in state. It was my senior year and I wanted to go out on high note,” explained Weber. Weber ended the season by defeating Lanz Miller of Dansville, Michael Wetcher of Saginaw Nouvel, Trevor Atwell of Montrose and Stephan Kemp of Lutheran Westland. Weber had a great season for his last year of wrestling. He earned a 52-7 season record.

Kurtis went 1-2 at The Palace. Brackman defeated Kevvin Dorland of Cass City at state finals. Unfortunately, Brackman lost in the Consolation 2nd round. “I feel like I could have done better, but wrestled my hardest,” said Kurtis. Brackman had a wonderful season, finishing it off with a record of 47-14.

Taylor had a record of 1-2 at The Palace, defeating Shaydon Weaver of Bronson. Hatfield finished a satisfying season with a record of 44-8.

The Wildcat wrestlers had a great season. They were all very happy with their results and worked hard to get them. Any time you make it to the state finals, it’s a wonderful season.

Resident Evil…FIVE!

2009-03-18T12:33:00.000-04:00

by Mike Fauls

To those of you who’ve ever played a Resident Evil game you’ll know why the number FIVE is in all caps in this article and all of my other articles have an appropriate title for the celebration of, you guessed it, Resident Evil FIVE. For those of you who haven’t enjoyed the zombie-goodness of this series of games yet I’m sorry for you. Resident Evil FIVE came out on Thursday, March 12 and I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty awesome. The graphics are spectacular, and co-op is amazing. This game is definitely worth your money even if you’re not familiar to the series. One of the best things about Resident Evil FIVE though is that you can finally strafe. It doesn’t sound like much to you guys out there who’ve never played a Resident Evil game, but honestly this is one of the factors that sold the game to me. It also keeps in touch with a little bit of the whole “survival-horror” factor of the old school games. But just like usual the inventory is a pain and lining up to do a combo move with your buddy is sometimes challenging. But overall this game is awesome and these problems can be easily overlooked. Resident Evil FIVE is definitely worthy of it’s rating: FIVE juicy brains out of FIVE. Good luck and good headshot-hunting to you all.

Elementary filled with activities for Reading Month

2009-03-18T12:32:00.001-04:00

by Emily Hines

The month of March in the elementary school at Pittsford means Reading Month. There are various activities happening in this month to celebrate reading. Reading is very important, which is why elementary teachers are supporting this month and all of the activities planned.

Something that is going on all month is the participation of every classroom decorating their classroom doors with the theme of the month. “They are decorating their doors because of reading month based on either a book title or something that goes along with the theme. The theme is ‘chill out and read’,” stated Mrs. Cunningham.

The activity of decorating classroom doors is also a favorite of the students. “My classroom door is three polar bears jumping up and down. I liked helping. I liked drawing,” shared 5th grader Jacob Phorps. Reading month is filled with activities that everyone can participate in and enjoy!

Another activity taking place to celebrate reading month was Family Night. Family Night was held in the elementary part of the school and consisted of many activities for even the parents to do. “We had centers located around the building, from the Book Fair to the ‘Make-It/Take-It’ center, to smart board presentations. It went really well; we had about 75-80 people,” shared elementary principal and superintendent Mr. Shaw. Family night was a great idea to bring parents and children closer when it comes to reading. “We were just trying to encourage the parents to read with the kids,” stated Mr. Shaw.

Another important event happening in the elementary this month is the visiting of Mr. Caswell, the local ex-state representative. Many teachers of the elementary classes thought this demonstrated to children how important reading actually is. “It re-enforced to children how important reading is and that somebody important, or even a grown up, would take the time to come and tell a story and talk to them,” shared Mrs. Saunders.

All these events are helping elementary students get excited to read, but it’s not only younger ages that need to do this. It’s important for people of all ages to read and be excited about it.

Science Olympiad teams show strongly at competitions

2009-03-18T12:31:00.000-04:00

by Carley Bruner

New to the competitive arena this year at PHS is our Science Olympiad team. Mr. Cushman and Mrs. Clement have done a wonderful job with the group of young kids interested in science-related things and competing in them amongst other schools. The kids have put many hours of hard work into this. The Science Olympiad teams have only competed 3 times; the first being at Hillsdale College, the second being at Adrian College, and the third being at Western Michigan University.

Both the high school and junior high teams have done really well. The high school placed 3rd at Hillsdale College, 5th at Adrian College, and 8th in regionals held at Western Michigan and the junior high placed last at Hillsdale College, 4th at Adrian College, and 9th at regionals

Students were very glad that they did well in the competition on the 14th. “I think I did pretty well”, proudly stated senior Franny Marino. “I did well; I thought I did horrible, but I got 1st place”, stated 8th grader Beth Kuenzer. On the other hand some of them thought that they did not do so hot. “Not great, but I tried my hardest”, said 8th grader Darrien Bump.

There was a variety of favorites at the competition on February 14th. Everyone enjoyed a little bit of everything but there were definitely some things that topped it off for many participants. “The egg-o-naut launch”, said sophomore Jackie Page. “Competing and the food”, said junior Desirae Swope. “Hanging out with my friends”, said 8th grader Jacob Page. “The award ceremony, I liked to see how the other schools did” stated Kuenzer.

There were a few first places. At the Hillsdale Invitational Katie Saunders and Bethany Kuenzer took the only first place for the middle school in Science Crime Busters, and in the high school, first place’s were taken by Chloe Hepker and Derra Clark in Astronomy, Chase Stratton and Katie Fether in Environmental Chemistry and Desirae Swope and Autumn Buckner in Disease Detectives. At the Tri-County Invitational the only first place taken by the middle school was Saunders and Kuenzer in Anatomy and the high school’s first place’s were taken by Marino and Jessica Beard in Health Science and Derra, Chloe, and Jackie in Picture This. There were no first places taken by the middle school at regionals, but the high school had Stratton and Fether take first in Environmental Chemistry.

There are a lot of different things that the students need to work on if they expect to do well at regionals. Many of them have weak areas that they want to work on so they hope to do better. “Probably knowing diseases for Disease Detectives”, stated Autumn. “Remote Sensing definitely, we could have had five pages front and back of notes, and I was not aware of that,” stated senior Casie Bail.

Mr. Cushman knows that the middle school team can get better for next time, but thinks it was a positive experience for the kids. “I think the middle school did well for their first time but they need to be better prepared. I liked getting the chance to see everyone have a good time. The middle school did place last, but we had eight events that no one participated in, so we automatically got last in all them,” said Mr. Cushman.

The Science Olympiad teams finished out great this year for being a rookie team. The high school finished with an 8th place and the middle school finished with a 9th place at regionals. The high school gladly placed over Litchfield, which was a thing that they wanted to do the most. The middle school placed over Athens, Thornapple Kellogg, and Moline Christian.

Softball team begins season with renewed hope

2009-03-18T12:25:00.001-04:00

by Tommy Verdon

Softball season here at Pittsford High School is something that many of the girls look forward to, and the season is here! The first game is April 8.
Softball coach Mr. Irelan is excited for the upcoming season. “Our pitchers will be pitching their third year. Hopefully our pitchers will be strong,” shared Mr. Irelan. But every upside has its downsides as this softball team is not yet perfect. “I think that our weaknesses will be we can’t get out on the field, and we have some positions that are open. We don’t know who will fit into those positions,” expressed Mr. Irelan. Improvements are in need. But Mr. Irelan will keep his hopes high throughout the season. “Improve in every area and win our division title,” are the goals of Mr. Irelan.

Sophomore Jade Smith, is in her second year of softball under coach, Mr. Irelan. The offensive side of the ball is what will be the strong point in her eyes. “So far I think our batting, and probably our throwing. But it’s kinda hard to tell right now,” explained Jade. Every new season means that there will be new and younger players, and that always leads to less experience. “There’s a whole bunch of freshman on the team, so we just got to get better,” shared Jade. This season is going to be long and will require a lot of hard work and determination. “We have 31 games so I hope that we do well and win a lot more games then we did last year,” said Jade.
Junior Nicole Culbert will be in her third year of pitching as a Wildcat. Like Jade, she believes that the offensive side of the ball will be the strongest. “I think that our batting has improved over last year,” claimed Nicole. Having a young team will be the hardest part about this upcoming season. “We have a really young team with all of the freshman that have to come up,” stated Nicole. Last year wasn’t a good season at all, and with all of the improvements that will be made Nicole thinks that winning is most important. “I hope that we can win some more games than we did last year,” explained Nicole.

Junior Amber Stump is very excited to see the softball field again as she and the Wildcats are in need of some more wins and the only way to do that is to show some life on defense. “I think that our throwing has improved, along with our batting,” explained Amber. The worst part is the younger players as they will need some more attention. “We have a very young team,” said Amber. As the new season starts off every team has a new record. “I think that we need to win some more games,” explained Amber.

Speech and drama students begin drama with a variety of activities

2009-03-18T12:17:00.001-04:00

By Brooke Maxson

The 5th hour speech and drama class has proven to be fun-filled for the first six months. First, were the speeches; Even though they were a little nerve-wracking at times, they went well. Next came the debate portion, in which the class got some excellent points across while expressing their opinions on popular issues, some crucial and some not so important. Recently, the class has started drama, which we all know could get to be very funny at times.

Speaking of funny, the first drama-related activity the students participated in was the reading of the play “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde The title may not sound extremely appealing when it comes to humor, but being a speech and drama student, I can assure you it is. The play is about two friends who lead double lives. One of the friends, Algernon, gets tired of the endless city events, so he tells people he’s going to visit his ill friend Bunbury in the country, even though Bunbury doesn’t really exist. The same goes for the other friend, Jack when he gets bored with his country life and goes to the city to have fun, claiming he’s going to visit his lonely cousin Earnest. Bunbury and Earnest only exist when the two friends pretend to be them in the city and the country. Complications are inevitable in that case, especially when two young ladies fall for these men and their fake identities. The laugh-out-loud drama continues as Algernon and Jack each try to maintain a relationship with two girls who aren’t aware they’re leading double lives.

According to speech and drama teacher Mr. Bulgrien, he has plans for the rest of the drama portion of this class. Future plans include reading several plays, acting out parts of them, and watching some movies about those plays. The students will also be writing their own plays and performing them. Mr. Bulgrien says he may have the kids write plays and have other students perform them. Another thing the drama students have participated in in the past is a series of games including party quirks, freeze and justify, and Bibbity Bibbity Bop. Some of these games were learned on the speech and drama field trip earlier in the year at Hillsdale College. They’re a super fun way to practice acting and thinking on your feet. Mr. Bulgrien believes the best part about drama is the opportunity to venture into a world other than his own. “(The best part is) just reading the stories and getting to live the stories. It’s kind of cool,” explained Mr. Bulgrien. Although drama is a load of fun most of the time, one of the most important things is participation. Without it, drama can’t exist. “Sometimes if the students don’t want to act or get into it, it really makes it slow. It gets to be a drag,” said Mr. Bulgrien.

The students in this class are saying “so far, so good.” According to several students, the plays are fun to read. “The plays are good so far,” said junior Erica Church. The plays have proven to create many laughs also. “The plays are just hilarious,” said junior Megan Kemmer with a laugh. The decision to take drama class isn’t just based on the desire to have a lot of fun; it may also be beneficial towards one’s plans for the future. “I’ve always liked acting and that’s what my minor is for college,” explained senior Danielle Seabolt. In this class, silliness is expected and usually appreciated by most people of the class. “You can act silly without being made fun of,” said Seabolt.

Taking speech and drama class also requires an ounce of courage and sometimes a little memorization. Of course, where everything good comes along, also comes the bad. “I don’t like being a character in the play,” admitted Church. Memorizing lines and such is also sometimes a drag, but proves to be worth it in the end. “What I don’t like is having to memorize lines and speeches,” said Seabolt.

If you aren’t in drama class this year and you’re also not a senior, maybe you should look into it next year because it could be beneficial towards your future and a lot of fun at the same time. Maybe it’s just what you need to lure you out of your shell and replace your shyness with a courageous and daring attitude.

Vo-tech allied health program helps PHS students

2009-03-18T11:59:00.001-04:00

by Justin Renigar & Jake Richards

If you are looking to go into a medical field of work after high school, then allied health would be a great program for you to get into. The people who run the program are Val Turpin and Jay Radaeough. It is a program that teaches kids the basics of nursing, and there’s no free ride in it. “There is a lot of homework,” said nursing student Meranda Shillingsford.

You learn medical math, you dissect pig hearts, lungs, sheep brains, and you learn to be certified in CPR and Fist Aid. Second year students get to go to the hospital two or three days out of the week and watch a surgery. They also help assist the nurses in the ER. That is called a certified nurses assistant.

The benefits of this program is that after high school, it is easier to get a job as a certified nurse’s assistant because you have experience. “I’ve learned a lot of useful things like CPR and first aid,” said nursing student Caroline Combs. If you want to go to college to become something higher than a certified nurse’s assistant, this program eliminates some college courses you would have to take. If you want to become an EMT, all you have to do is take a test right out of high school, and your chances of getting that job are higher. So a lot of opportunities can come your way out of this program.

Band performs at festival in Litchfield

2009-03-13T12:28:00.001-04:00

by William Belson

The high school concert band attended a festival on March 10, which makes it the first festival that the band has attended in over a year. At a festival, the band will do two things: they will play their prepared music pieces, in front of an audience, then they will go to a sight-reading session where a judge will critique them on the songs that they sight-read and played.

The selected songs the high school band performed were Alamo March, Joyant Winds, and Highland Legend. A band professor from Adrian College judged and critiqued the band on the selected songs that were performed earlier. The advice was quite helpful to the band and very much needed to help the band play the pieces better for the festival concert they’ll host at PHS on Mach 17.

The band played fairly well, but they have room for some improvement. “They performed the march (Alamo March) the best. They did a really good job on contrast and style of march. We had a couple of mistakes in the other two songs and things we just need to clean up on for the next concert,” said Mr. Spitler.

Even though it reads that the band did well, they were pretty equal on their strengths and their weaknesses in the performance. “We stayed together well, we could hear each other well. We also stayed in tune mostly together and people were trying very hard, but we have to have individuals take care of their parts,” said Mr. Spitler.

The students of the band were not short on praise of their festival performance songs. “(Our best piece was) Highland Legend because all the clarinet parts came out well,” said senior drum major Jessica Ruder. Freshman Elliott Krasny thought their strength lied in a different piece. “I think the song we did the best was the Alamo March because it is the easiest song we have, so every one can hit the notes and phrase it correctly,” said Elliot. The band’s performers were not all in agreement on the songs that they personally thought that the band did well on. “I think we performed Joyant Winds the best. I like the way that song sounds and the contrast of that song. It is the easiest song for me to play,” explained freshman Michael Hanning.

Though there were no trophies awarded at this festival, our high school band sure learned quite a bit and got a little more practice in before their festival concert in the big gym. This band festival that the band attended is a big help to every one in it.

Time flies for seniors

2009-03-11T12:29:00.000-04:00

by Justin Renigar

When you’re young, early in your high school career, you never listen to what older people have to say. I mean come on, you’re a freshman, and you know everything. Yeah, right. People were always telling us that before we knew it, we would be seniors, getting ready to graduate and leave this place. Back then, four years seemed like it was so far away. “I never thought it would happen as fast as it did,” said senior Jake Gier. Now here we are, with only two months of high school left to go.

Your freshman and sophomore years are your biggest years of denial. You don’t even think about graduating, you just think that you’re cool because you’re in high school. I remember being at varsity football and basketball games watching the seniors play and thinking, “I can’t wait till we’re seniors and can play like that.” Well, here we are now, with our varsity basketball team breaking school records. I remember watching the senior cookout every year and thinking that I would never be out there. Then when it happened, I couldn’t believe it came and went so fast.

Your junior year isn’t as bad, but you’re still in some serious denial. You’re now an upperclassman. You get to play on varsity teams and are recognized a little more as a class. You take the ACT and start thinking about colleges. Thinking about your future can play on our minds. “I was nervous,” said senior Ben Wines. Everyone is telling you that next year your going to be a senior and you’ll be gone before you know it. Listen to them! It really is true. I can’t believe how fast it all went by.

Now that we’re seniors the denial is over. We know that we’re going to graduate soon, but at the beginning of the year, one more year still seemed kind of far away. However, that one year has flown. “Yeah, it went by really fast,” said senior Jake Johns. Then senior cookout came around and that’s when I really started to feel like a senior. I think that it hit everyone else when the football season ended. The football players realized that they would probably never play football ever again. Football homecoming was memorable as well. At the homecoming assembly we were the big dogs. We had control of everything.

Now we’re almost at the end of our last basketball season. I think that’s when it’s really going to start hitting people that we don’t have much time left at all. Every event this year has made me realize that we get that much closer every day to saying goodbye to close friends and our old ways. That much closer to becoming our own person and setting our life course out in front of us. So take advantage of your time here. It doesn’t last forever.

Teachers looking for ways to utilize technology for student achievement

2009-03-11T12:22:00.000-04:00

by Derra Clark

The iPod is one of the most popular products of our nation’s youths and it can be useful for teachers’ class lectures. Social studies teacher Mr. Irelan is trying to set up a way to podcast (an audio file that students can download to their MP3 devices) his lectures. “If (kids) miss a lecture, they have a way of making it up,” said Mr. Irelan. Mr. Irelan wants to record one of his economics classes and a government class.

The podcast will be very important if you are absent for a day of school and you miss a lecture or need to make up board work. “I think it’s a really neat idea for students who aren’t here at school; they can listen to the lecture,” said junior Kayla Clark.
It will also be very helpful to Pittsford’s future teachers, “If he does retire, we have the material for a new teacher,” said Mr. Cook.

The downside is that some students won’t make use of the podcast. “I can’t make them listen, it will be to their benefit,” said Mr. Irelan. The idea is nothing but beneficial to the students, as long as they utilize the opportunity.

Currently the plan has hit a snag. Mr. Cook and Mr. Irelan are not exactly sure if and when any podcasting will even happen. “Right now we’re working out the quirks of the iTunes store,” said Mr. Cook. When it comes to the future Mr. Cook has a lot of ideas. “I’d like to get a smart board in every classroom. I’d like to have projectors in every classroom hooked up to the computers so that teachers can interact with the kids online. Also, I’d like to have wireless classrooms,” said Mr. Cook.

No one is exactly sure when podcasting will be put in motion, but everyone at Pittsford is looking to the future and finding new ways to better the education of the students.

Wildcat varsity boys basketball squad caps off a perfect 20-0 season with rout of Hudson

2009-03-10T12:42:00.000-04:00

by Justin Fish

Never in Pittsford school history has a basketball team gone 20-0. The Wildcats would make history by beating the Hudson Tigers, 63-42.

There were many things that pushed the Wildcats over the top to win at home but there were some major reasons. “I thought that the really big difference between us and Hudson was the fact that we were in our building. Our crowd was amazing, the students turned out in a big way. I can’t think of many times where there were so many people in this building; it was an electric atmosphere,” commented Coach Burger. “I also think that Hudson is very athletic. They have good shooters, they are big, and I think that is what caused us the problems, but we just fed off the energy, and our intensity level just pushed us over the top,” remarked Coach Burger.

Juniors Seth Weber and Garet Lee combined for a total of 40 points Friday night. Weber led the team with a season high 21 points, and Lee followed closely with 19.

The Cats’ will begin district play tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 11) at 7:30 p.m. in Hudson, against the Tigers again. The winner will play for the district title at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 13.

JV basketball Wildcats win final contest of season in closing seconds

2009-03-10T12:35:00.000-04:00

by Dillon Cooper

The Pittsford Wildcats, who were coming off of a disappointing free-for-all conference game against the very talented North Adams-Jerome Rams, were focused in on their next opponent less than twenty-four hours from their awkward finish in conference play. Nevertheless the Wildcats would prove to be too much for the visiting Hudson Tigers as they won in overtime, 42-37.

The match would start off on a low key and would only pick up a degree of intensity in the following possessions, with the Wildcats scoring and picking up a good margin (but not a comfortable margin) on the Tigers. Hudson would burn a time-out and come out of the break on a little run of their own to close out the first of five quarters. “The game was a little closer than I expected but we had to play harder,” said freshman Elliot Krasney.

This contest would fall under the old idea of if you let a less talented team keep up with you then they will gain confidence and quickly think that they are in this game and could possibly win the whole ordeal! After the Wildcats steadily built up a valuable lead, it slowly began to dissipate to nothing but a distant memory as the Tigers started to chip away. For Hudson, this game would be very important to them because if they won, and pulled off the upset, they would avoid a very uncomfortable goose-egg in the win column. This game was just as equal in importance for the ‘Cats as they wanted to end their season on a high note and not a three-game skid.

For much of the second half there was a battle of ball control and it was no secret that the Achilles heel was the turnovers! With the Tigers still hanging on for dear life they had a final act of desperation, and with a couple of deuces scored by the opponents in black and orange, Hudson found themselves ahead late. Pittsford would fight off the charging Tigers and battle back to a lead but would fail to hit crucial free throws to put the game out of reach. This disappointment would come back to haunt the ‘Cats like a Friday the 13th phantom. Hudson would make a clutch deep J to put this game into overtime. Pittsford would have to fight off their M-34 rival for one more quarter!

P-ford had four minutes left in their season and they could either spend it as winners or as losers. The athletes in their pure white armor would stiffen on D and become sharp shooting players on the other end, scoring back-to-back triples and building up a insurmountable possibility of a come-back by the Tigers, whose momentum was now favoring the home team. Pittsford would end the game hitting though oh-so-important free shots from the stripe.

There is no doubt the Wildcats had a great season, finishing at 13-7 and 12-2 in their conference. With this win the Wildcats sent the sophomores off on a great note in front of the hometown fans on parents night. From the moment that they took the floor in mid November to the time they walked off the hardwood in early March, one thing is clear: the Wildcats improved through the course of those cold winter months and molded together to form a winning basketball team.

Baseball team starts practice, gears up for season

2009-03-10T12:28:00.001-04:00

by Jake Richards

With the weather warming up more and more every day its only a matter of time before the dust on the baseball diamond gets kicked up with the start of baseball season. Even though the boys basketball team is gunning for 20-0 and a long tournament run, it’s not too early to focus on baseball.

Losing four senior players from last year’s team, the team and new head coach, Coach Hodos have high hopes for this season. This year they have a more experienced team coming back with some new players added on. The senior players coming back from last year are Clark Pelham, Chase Weber, Zach Vanlerberg, and Adam Anspaugh, with some new talent coming from senior Justin Fish being added.

The guys are ecstatic about the season and can’t wait to get on the diamond and play ball. “I’m pretty excited about playing this year, it’s my senior year so I figured I should play every sport I can,” said Fish. “We are going to have a sweet team this year” said junior Wesley Smith. “I think one of our biggest strengths is our infield; we are all experienced,” said junior Seth Weber. “We have a lot of solid hitters,” said Pelham. All of them seemed very eager to play and had a positive thought of how their season would turn out.

The team also has a lot of important strengths. “We have a lot of returnees from last year, so the team isn’t lacking any experience. We also have a solid line of good pitchers to choose from too, so that’s a big strength we have, but we are going to have to work on some things. I see us having a really promising season ahead of us,” said Coach Hodos.

JV boys basketball lose second (and final) conference game to Rams

2009-03-06T12:41:00.001-05:00

By: Dillon Cooper

The Pittsford Wildcats, who were coming off of the wrong side of a blow-out in their previous game, were now at home looking to redeem themselves from their poor performance on Tuesday night and were looking forward to a piece of the conference title! The antagonist in this affair was the North Adams-Jerome Rams. Despite playing hard, the Wildcats would increase their losing skid to two games and pick up loss number seven, dropping the ball in this game by the final score of 54-35.

From the start, the Rams would come out on a rampage, eager to run up an early tally and blow the ‘Cats right out of their own gymnasium. P-ford would find themselves down 6-0, and head coach Mr. Hodos quickly recognized that his team had to get their head on straight and burned an early time-out in this heated battle. Pittsford would come out of the time out and break the full-court press set by the skilled Rams. A fast break had provided a 2-on-1 advantage that lead to the first deuce of the game for the Wildcats. “Their pressure was pretty tight and that made us turn the ball over too many times,” recalled freshman Blake Toner. Pittsford would score some more, but never really catching up to their superior foe.

At halftime you could see the long faces on the disappointed players that wore the bright white uniforms. The ‘Cats would come out of the locker room and step up their game with a physical performance, scoring two quick baskets and stiffening their play on the defensive end. You could tell that the momentum was shifting, until turnovers became the theme of this team. Pittsford would make too many costly turnovers that resulted in points off the fast break, or possessions that ate valuable time off that precious, glowing clock. At the end the Wildcats were disappointed with their efforts knowing that they could have made this game a little bit closer and gave the fans a little more for their money.

Even though the Wildcats lost to the Rams for the second time this season, there are still some things not to frown about. The Wildcats finished second in their conference with only two losses (both to NA-J) and finished with a record of 12-2 in the conference and an overall record of 12-7. P-ford will play their last game tonight against the Hudson Tigers and hopefully they’ll walk off the hardwood and into the locker room as the victors and get that magical, lucky win number 13!

You don’t need to travel to have a spectacular spring break

2009-03-06T11:58:00.000-05:00

by Emily Hines and Tom Verdon

After weeks and weeks of working hard in school, spring break is just around the corner. Spring break is a time to relax and rejuvenate yourself. If you don’t already have plans to relocate to some exotic locale for spring break, you might just be thinking it’s a whole week to stay up 18 hours a day playing video games and “saving the world,” when in all reality at the end of the game, all you have really done is lost numerous hours of sleep and gained a big cheesy, “I did it!”

Instead of being your “video game hero,” try doing something constructive like taking apart your parents’ car and trying to put it back together again. Your parents have always told you to do something constructive, and this helps you develop your mechanical skills.

If you’re not much of a mechanic, try learning to crochet. When you learn to make more than just a straight line you can join your grandmother in the Red Hat Society and help make blankets for everybody in the community.

A way to earn some extra cash is to help push your neighbor toward that next car purchase by hanging a “For Sale” sign in their car’s window. Everyone always talks about updating his or her vehicle; you never know, your neighbor might have just been talking about updating theirs a few days ago.

Your teachers always tell you to stop being lazy, but if they want you to stop being lazy, why do they use 3.14 when dealing with pi when everyone knows it’s longer than three digits? For the students at Pittsford who like to be a little bit more rounded with their math classes, and/or if you want to impress your teacher, try using your spring break to freshen up on your knowledge of pi by memorizing the first 50 digits of pi, rather than the first 3.

For those of you who are a little more brave, try convincing someone to donate to your “charity;” it may not be legal, but you may get some extra cash. Just remember, you didn’t get it from us.

In Michigan, we get plenty of snow. We get so much snow that some of us may be a little fed up with the winter weather. Instead of using your time on spring break for doing “worthless” activities, work your muscles by shoveling and exercise your sharing techniques by giving your snow to your neighbors’ sidewalks and driveways. They will thank you.

If you can’t get someone to donate to your “charity” or you have no luck selling your neighbor’s car, take your sibling’s favorite stuffed animal to the store and create an entertaining show for yourself as you walk around with the animal wrapped in your arms, loudly saying, “You can’t buy that, put it down!” to your animal. Don’t mind the weird stares from strangers; I’m sure they’ll just be impressed at your ability to discipline your stuffed animal.

For some of us during spring break, we have no transportation to get to grandma’s or the store, and living in the Hillsdale County area, probably most of us live on a back road. For this activity all you need is your hands. Go to an intersection near your house and direct traffic. Everywhere at school and local areas you see signs telling people to serve their community better; here’s a way to do just that.

There are many ways to use your spring break, and these are just a few. We must warn you first, though. Some of these activities may result in little or severe trouble, or getting you yelled at by your neighbors, community, or parents. Take part in these events at your own risk, and have a great spring break!

Addison ends varsity Ladycat hoops team’s season

2009-03-05T12:11:00.001-05:00

by Eva Gucker

The Lady Wildcat’s basketball team ended their season Wednesday night in the semi-finals of districts against the Addison Panthers, losing 70-40.

Although the first quarter showed some promise for the Wildcats, Addison’s skill and athleticism was superior and led to the defeat of Pittsford. Stopping Addison from making three-pointers was the major downfall for Pittsford, as the Panthers knocked down 10 from long-range. If the Ladycats gave Addison a chance for a shot, there was a very high chance of scoring. Pittsford’s lack of rebounding also hurt them. “We gave up so much dribble penetration that the Addison guards were able to kick it to open shooters spotted along the perimeter,” said Coach Hoover.

In the second half the Panther’s press caused trouble for Pittsford and led to many turnovers that quickly became Addison points. “We lost a little composure and rushed our decision-making, and that played right into their hands; they really want to force tempo,” explained Hoover. By this point, Addison had increased their lead to 25 and Pittsford was unable to catch up.

Senior Marisa Hamilton led with 15 points, seven rebounds, and five steals in her final high school game. Junior Katelyn Kipfmiller had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Pittsford ended their playoff season against a great team and should be proud to have made it to that point after a great win Monday night over Manchester. “Nothing that happened against Addison can take away from how hard the girls worked all year, the weekly improvement the girls made, or from the huge win against Manchester on Monday,” said Hoover.

The Ladycats finished 9-13 overall, and 8-6 in the league.

JV Wildcats blown out by BCSP

2009-03-04T12:52:00.000-05:00

by Dillon Cooper

It was game number 18 for the Wildcats, who were looking to improve their overall record to 13-5, and their opponent was one they’d never played before. The foe was the Battle Creek St. Philip Fighting Tigers, a parochial school. Nevertheless, the Wildcats would lose this game, which seemed to be a battle of who was more physical, and P-ford was on the losing end of this battle by the finally tally of 74-44.

The Wildcats would come out nonchalantly and carelessly maneuvering the rock around and eventually the pressure would be too over whelming for the ‘Cats, as they turned the ball over again and again, until St. Phil found themselves up by a significant margin. A couple of jumpers on the other end by P-ford made the game a little closer and with a desperation three made in the final tenths of a second in the first quarter the Wildcats would find themselves down by seven going into the second quarter. The main point of emphasis was to find a man box out and to bump cutters who were invading the paint. “Most of their points came from second-chance points or just lay-ups,” explained freshman Drew McOscar.

The second quarter was where the Fighting Tigers started to increase their lead and keep their clutch on the strangled Wildcats. At half time it was clear that Pittsford didn’t have an opportunity to win this game but they did have an opportunity to lower the deficit and work for the game that was following this one. By the time the fourth quarter came around head coach Mr. Hodos expressed his feelings by setting the starters out the whole last quarter, except for a couple who were called back into the game for a few, short seconds.
Even though the Wildcats were blown-out on the road last night, they will still have an opportunity to win the conference championship, because they won all of the games that they needed to win in order to get where they are, and get some revenge on the team that is probably the biggest rival the Wildcats have and arguably the greatest rivalry in all of the conference—versus the North Adams-Jerome Rams. If the men in blue win tomorrow night, they will share a piece of the crown and be the only team to defeat the mighty Rams!

Varsity boys hoops teqm moves to 18-0 after thrilling OT win

2009-03-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

by Justin Fish

With the final week of the regular season here, the Wildcats have three games, but the first one was a huge one: the once-ranked Battle Creek St. Philip Fighting Tigers. The ‘Cats would come out victorious with another road win by beating them 50-47 in OT.

During the third and second quarter the Wildcats were down at times 3 or maybe 4 points at a time but they would come back in the final 3 minutes of regulation to tie it up at 44-44 off a Garet Lee lay-up to send it into overtime. “I was thinking that we wanted to get the ball in the right peoples’ hands, and execute the play that was drawn on the board. The kids did what we asked them to, they made the plays, and we got it to Garet (Lee) and we tied the game,” commented Coach Burger. Senior Clark Pelham hit a long three-pointer to begin the overtime, and P-ford never looked back.

Pittsford had three players scoring in double figures. Junior Garet Lee had 12 points while pulling down 17 rebounds. Junior Wes Smith continued his hot streak by going 4-7 from the 3-point line, adding 12 points himself. Senior Corey Gamble added 11 and junior Seth Weber had five assists. “I thought we were patient; I thought that we grinded it out; I thought that our focus and tenacity mentally really kind of worked to take St. Phil down,” said Coach Burger.

The Wildcats are two wins from history—versus NA-J on Thursday and Hudson on Friday, both at home. Fill the stands to watch the possibility of a 20-0 regular season unfold.

PHS sending four wrestlers to state meet

2009-03-04T12:21:00.001-05:00

by Chelsie Darrow

Individual Regionals were at Manchester this past Saturday. Senior Chase Weber did very well at regionals; he finished in first place against Calvin Sullins in the finals with a score for the whole day of 3-0! “I feel like I wrestled to my full potential on Saturday,” said Weber. Senior Ben Wines and juniors Kurtis Brackman and Taylor Hatfield also qualified for the state meet. Brackman and Wines both finished 3rd, while Hatfield finished 4th. “I feel I placed where I should have; determination to get to state helped too,” said Taylor.

The MHSAA wresting state finals will be on March 12,13, and 14 and will be at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Hatfield credits “hard work, strength and determination” to the success of these four wrestlers. At the state finals there will be 16 wrestlers in each weight class, which means four from each region. “Your goal is to place, and to win two matches before you lose two,” said Chase.

The wrestlers have high hopes for state finals and Wildcat fans support them all the way!

Varsity Ladycat hoopsters upset Manchester to advance in districts

2009-03-03T12:53:00.002-05:00

by Eva Gucker

Playing an exceptional game against an unfamiliar team from a bigger, more powerful conference, Pittsford will move on after beating Cascades Conference member Manchester 62-47 in the first round of districts.

Against Manchester’s size advantage, Pittsford had to be disciplined defensively by always having proper positioning and again utilize positioning and work to get rebounds. "The girls did a great job finding bodies and limiting Manchester's possessions and shots," said Coach Hoover. Most of the game, Pittsford was able to do this, which left Manchester with few scoring opportunities and they grew increasingly frustrated as the game wore on. Pittsford pressed full-court, which forced Manchester out of an organized offense for much of the game. The success that Manchester had was mostly with ball movement to the inside, but because Pittsford let Manchester have very few offensive rebounds, if the shots didn’t fall for the Flying Dutch they didn’t have a second chance.

Offensively, Pittsford had great ball movement against Manchester’s zone early, but really shined when Manchester went to man-to-man in the second half. “We did really well and we were sharing the ball a lot,” said junior Brittney Houser. The ball moved inside and around the perimeter. Senior Marisa Hamilton had an exceptional game and went on the tie the school record for scoring with 34 points, also pulling down 12 boards against players far bigger than most of Pittsford’s.

Houser played the best game of her career, taking it right at Manchester’s large, physical posts, and scored 12 points. Junior Katelyn Kipfmiller was held under double-digits in points, scoring seven, but more than made up for that by dishing out a team season-high in assists with nine. "We got important contributions from every girl that stepped on the floor, whether it was a timely 4th quarter basket from Alexis Cramer, to Eva Gucker's three assists and four steals, to a clutch 4th quarter assist from Katie Stiver, to Ashley Buckner forcing two loose balls late in the game, to Elainee Poling giving us momentum with a quick bucket to start the game," said Coach Hoover.

Pittsford will go back to Hanover-Horton and play a high-pressure, run-and-gun team in the Addison Panthers. Game time is 6:00 p.m.

Varsity boys hoops team reaches 17-0 after dismantling Tekonsha

2009-03-02T12:21:00.000-05:00

by Justin Fish

The Wildcats went on their second-to-last road game of the regular season to take on the Tekonsha Indians. The game didn’t go as planned for the Wildcats as they were behind for portions of the game, but they were able to come out victorious at the end. In a game of controversial calls and inappropriate behavior by one Tekonsha player, Wildcats came out victorious, 59-49.

There were three players scoring in double digits for the ‘Cats. Juniors Seth Weber and Garet Lee each had 18 points, while Lee pulled down 20 rebounds and Weber dished out five assists. Junior Wes Smith also reached double-figures, scoring 14 points while going 4-8 from the 3-point line.

“They (Tekonsha) played really tough zone defense and we didn’t shoot well,” commented Coach Burger. Being this late in the season and still being undefeated is an accomplishment. “I don’t feel any pressure doing that. We never thought about that [earlier in the season]…We have accomplished a lot and our major goal was to win the league championship and we’ve done that. Everything else after we do is just extra…just gravy,” added Coach Burger.

The Wildcats play Tuesday on the road again, taking on Battle Creek St. Philip for their last road game of the regular season.

Varsity Ladycat hoops team sends seniors out in style, crushes NA-J

2009-02-27T12:12:00.001-05:00

by Eva Gucker

For the Wildcats’ last home game of the season, the girls played exceptional basketball against the North Adams-Jerome Rams, winning 57-25. Offensively the Wildcats had few flaws with only 11 turnovers and had excellent ball movement with 15 assists. Unselfishness was the key to many of the Ladycats’ points. “The ladies did a great job of sharing the ball and making the NA-J zone move,” said Coach Hoover. Well-executed fast breaks and having the ball change sides of the floor was a team effort that led to many baskets for them also. One offensive highlight was a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that found nothing but nylon as time expired in the the third quarter by senior Eva Gucker.

Not only did Pittsford do well offensively, other parts of the game brought them success as well. Great rebounding stopped the Rams from keeping possession of the ball for long. Although during some parts of the game help-defense lacked, denial from the ball and strong close-outs made it hard for NA-J to score much. This was a great finish for the Wildcat’s regular season games on their home court, especially for the seniors. “I’m very proud of Eva’s and Marisa’s contributions to our program for four years. They are good students and hard workers, and we’ll miss what they bring,” said Coach Hoover.

Junior Katelyn Kipfmiller led with 19 points and seven rebounds. On the defensive end, senior Marisa Hamilton led with five steals, to go along with 15 points. The Pittsford girls will move on to the state tournament next, playing Manchester at Hanover-Horton at 6:00 p.m. on March 2.

Tech Talk w/ Andrew Schultz

2009-02-27T12:07:00.005-05:00

Today I have a few items that are of amazing detail and with great uses. Some of these products you could use to help your every-day life but one of them is for the extraordinary people in our military that may save lives and stop enemy factions and countries from using military force or weapons. Some of these products may help save lives, or they just may help stop from getting your ankle sprained, twisted, or broken.

Item: What if you need to hold that one thing in place just long enough so you could put a screw in it to hold it for good? Well, you would also be left over with the glue on the item. With this new product you can actually use this glue and it will just dissolve in hot water and allow a clean surface when you’re done. It will still allow you to hold that item in place.

Andrew’s Take: This glue is a very neat product that my come in handy if you need that third hand. When you go to use it, the adhesive actually will not come loose until you dump the hot water on it, which is what I think is the neatest part.

Item: When you run out of batteries for you favorite mp3 player or electronic you are always scrounging for more or you go out and buy brand new ones. Well, batteries are not cheap any more, running like $5-$6 at local stores. With this new product you may never run out of batteries again and you don’t even have to worry about the bulky rechargeable battery packs. These new batteries actually plug into your nearest electronic with a USB port to charge them, not taking up much space; they can just sit and recharge while you watch your favorite movie or play your game. The USBcell batteries last ten times longer than normal alkaline batteries, even though they are not very good for low-drain products like remotes.

Andrew’s Take: I think that this battery will bring new life to high-drain products like cameras and mp3 players just for the fact that it only takes 5 hours for a complete charge, which really isn’t that long of a time. Though not everything takes a AA battery, they are working on AAA and cell phone batteries that run on the same style of the AA batteries.

Item: Let’s say you’re taking a hike in the woods and you manage to fall off a rock, yet you land on your feet and you ankle starts to hurt. There’s now a new material produced to be used in football pads, boots, and bulletproof vests that will, when you just lightly touch it and put some pressure on it, will deform and be flexible, but when you put force into it like a bullet or a hammer, it will be as hard as a concrete wall. Theoretically, if you would have had this material in your boots, you would have never hurt your ankle. The material is made up of a polymer that will not dry, freeze, or melt.

Andrew’s Take: This product would be great for the people in the military overseas for their boots and their vest, but the only thing I wondered about the material is, will it get hot or will it get cold? Not like burning hot or freezing cold, but will it retain the temperature. Other than that one point, I don’t see one thing that I don’t like about this awesome material.

Don’t wait to plan for future

2009-02-27T11:54:00.001-05:00

by Jacob Richards

There are a lot of people in this world that wake up and know they have to go to their job that they hate, and wish they had a different job but can’t because of positions they put themselves in. People end up either having kids too soon or not going to college after high school and following their dream. Studies have shown that people with jobs they don’t want are stressed from either not making enough money to provide for them or their family, or from working in a stressful environment. That’s why you have to start making decisions in high school. Take time and evaluate what all is out there.

Find something that you like to do on your own time, whether it is be being outside or in front of a computer screen, or dealing with animals, etc. Whatever you like doing and makes you happy, go for it. A smart choice is to not wait after high school to do something. Studies have shown that people that take time and wait usually don’t go and do the things they wanted to, or when they go to college they can’t remember all the things they learned in high school. So that’s why it is so dumb to be lazy and take time off because the real world never takes time off.

JV boys hoops team sweeps another series, captures 11th conference victory

2009-02-25T12:25:00.000-05:00

by Dillon Cooper

The Pittsford Wildcats, who were coming off of a huge victory against Litchfield, were focused on their next opponent: the Hillsdale Academy Colts. The first meeting ended with a very high scoring affair but very poor ball control, which led to quick points for the Colts, who kept the game within twenty points in the second half. Nevertheless this match up would be a redemption act for the Wildcats as they set out to prove that they could do much better than what they showed on that hardwood. The ‘Cats would prove that they were still, obviously, the superior team, winning this match 51-26.

The game would start off really slowly and with the Academy scoring very few times as the Wildcats looked to run early and often. Changing defenses from full court, to half court, to half court traps among other concepts that confused the star-stricken Colts. “We really hustled all over the place,” recalled sophomore leader Kyle Wyatt. The Wildcats would only lead by a few points at the half, giving up seventeen points, but in the last 68 ticks P-ford went on a run to be up twenty-seven to seventeen. “We gave up seventeen points in the first half and that wasn’t like us,” continued Wyatt.

The men in blue would come out of the locker room with confidence and would build up a lead that submerged the Academy and sealed a Wildcat victory.

Even though the Wildcats came up on top in this affair they are going to have to go back to that very familiar friend, the road, and travel to Tekonsha to take on the Indians. This will be a test for the Wildcats but a test that should result in a great outcome for Pittsford and extend their conference record to 12-1!