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the 50¢ viklet volum e 68 issue 2 f riday decem ber 23 2011 we speak nicholas blessel co-editor on wednesday december 7th the forensics team traveled to forest hills high school to compete in the first invitational meet of the season the shanksville team consisting of seven members walked out of the competition with six ribbons alexis mosier took fifth place in the prose category melissa ringler took third place in poetry jonathan reese received third in declamation rebecca sheriff took second place in declamation nicholas blessel took first place in humorous and cody brant achieved first place in prose mrs kasey connor the coach of shanksville s forensics team said she was very pleased with the results of the meet the day before the meet she had told the speakers the first meet is always a little shaky i just want you to know that i don t expect any of you to take first place just so long as you do your best this year s team is entirely made up of students returning from previous years jonathan reese the forensic team members who went to the forest hills meet from left to right nicholas blessel melissa ringler bernie fochtman lexi flick rebecca sheriff cody brant and jonathan reese continued on page 19 a dance of snowflakes emily st clair co-editor shanksville-stonycreek school district s annual snowball or winter formal dance was held on december 3 2011 the dance took place in the school cafetorium for grades 9-12 snowball is dance organized by the student council members who do all of the planning and decorating for the dance the night began with pictures taken by sandav studios from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m each snowball attendee had the choice of getting pictures with their date by today in history in 1823 a visit from st nicholas more commonly known today as the night before christmas was published anonymously themselves or with their close friends while pictures were being taken dj labarko began by playing an assortment of holiday themed songs starting at 6:00 p.m while waiting for the dj to begin playing the dancing music which was to begin at 7:00 food such as cheese small sandwiches cookies and candy were available to the attendees after pictures were completed it was time to dance attendees could be found on the dance floor with their dates and friends having fun and enjoying themselves there were also chaperones who volunteered to supervise the crowd of students on this night those volunteers included john patton therese triol terry wilson and nicole pelesky continued on page 19 but i heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight happy christmas to all and to all a good night -clement clark moore trivia there is debate over who wrote the night before christmas it is often credited to clement clark moore but there are those that believe it was written by major henry livingston jr.

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2 staff section hello shanksville my name is nicholas blessel and i am a co-editor of the viklet our last issue was a big success and we received great feedback for it as always we intend to improve upon the previous issue and i m sure we managed to do that this time it s time for our annual holiday edition of the viklet and trust me this issue is jam packed with lots of great new material the holidays are supposed to be a calm peaceful time of love and goodwill supposed to be the truth is the holiday season is one of the most stressful times of the year people rush to get their shopping done teachers rush to get tests in before break and the viklet staff is rushing to get the viklet out on time with all this stress it s nice to get a break once in a while and to catch up on events in the community in this issue you ll find a survey about political correctness a bit of the history of christmas two new segments and of course all of our regular staples thanks for supporting the viklet and if you have any feedback please let us know letetter from the editor from the staff with the holiday season bearing down on us the viklet staff decided to let you know some of our favorite holiday movies that we feel everyone should take the time to watch nicholas blessel if i could only watch one christmas movie i d have to go with disney s more recent 3d christmas carol movie starring jim carrey i would choose this movie because i feel that jim carrey did an excellent job with playing multiple roles and disney did a great job with the animation not to mention that the story is a time honored classic emily st clair if i had to choose one movie to watch this holiday season i wouldn t even have to think twice about which to choose a charlie brown christmas would be my choice each year my dad and i sit down and watch this movie and it never gets old charlie s pathetic looking tree cracks me up every time although the movie was created for elementary students people of any age can appreciate the message this movie tries to get across the most important aspect of the holiday season is being surrounded by the ones you care about a charlie brown christmas never fails to get a smile out of me.

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jordan palumbo if i could only choose one christmas movie to watch this holiday season i would pick the polar express it s about a boy who rides a train that is headed for the north pole on the night of christmas eve as he travels to see santa claus he makes new friends and learns that all he has to do is believe every year i make myself some chocolate milk sit by the fire and relax to enjoy this adventurous film with my family it never gets old and i always delight in having family time while watching an amazing movie for all ages that anyone would fall in love with just like i have 3 ethan triol out of all the christmas movies screened every year if i were to have to choose only one to watch i would have to pick a christmas story this movie may not be as timeless as some others but it always has a way of making me laugh and is much more believable than other christmas specials being able to relate to the characters adds a layer of depth which many other christmas movies seem to lack plus i can relate to ralphie as my dad is just as crazy as his todd boyer if i were to only watch one christmas special the whole year my choice would have to be the santa clause the story is about a single father turning into santa claus to bring himself closer to his son and ex-wife the reason i choose the santa clause is that the story deals with real life issues such as divorce and being a single parent and this movie shows how the holiday season can bring happiness to those situations hannah frazier if i had to choose one holiday movie to watch i would pick the movie how the grinch stole christmas this movie brings out the real meaning of christmas because it shows that even if someone is a mean person they can change themselves by caring less about themselves and more for others christmas is a time for giving and the movie shows that when the grinch stops thinking about himself so much and gives back to others he turns out to be a better person kayla stockenus even though during the christmas time of year the same movies are being shown on tv over and over again there are certain ones that i d prefer to watch my all-time favorite christmas movie however is the christmas story this particular movie stands out to me because of its humor since it is filled with events that lead to what would be an awful christmas this movie is considered a classic due to the fact that it plays all day long on christmas day watching this movie is the perfect way for me to top off my christmas.

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4 life in the `ville shanksville goes green emily st clair co-editor a new greenhouse will be constructed at the shanksvillestonycreek school district the initial concept of the greenhouse came from mr mark wassilchalk a fifth grade teacher at shanksville thanks to a grant given to the school the greenhouse project is currently underway and is set to be finished by the fall of 2012 in 2007 wassilchalk created a proposal to construct a greenhouse on the shanksville campus two years later he obtained a $20,000 grant from the snee-reinhardt foundation which helped to fund the construction of the greenhouse also pbs coals donated and hauled 141 tons of stone that will be used for the base of the greenhouse the school district and wassilchalk looked into receiving other grants from different sources but were unsuccessful which set back the final product of this greenhouse eventually the school district decided to continue on with the greenhouse without any more grant money and began the planning process once the structure of the greenhouse is built the teachers of the science department including me will come together and plan the activities we want our students to perform said wassilchalk mr jeff marteeny also a shanksville staff member was responsible for calculating the dimensions of the greenhouse he determined the dimensions should be 35 x 48 feet and would be made of aluminum and double-wall plastic sheeting after the calculations were complete the greenhouse was purchased from griffin greenhouse and nursery the district is estimating that the greenhouse will be delivered sometime this spring marteeny stated i think the greenhouse will teach the students how to grow plants and perennials this will in turn be information they can use in the future the greenhouse will have a minimum amount of heat enough to keep the plants healthy at first the plants will be watered with a hose but eventually the school hopes that by conducting an experiment by catching rain off of the school roof and other buildings with rain barrels the students will be able to water the plants with the rain water which will in turn save money the greenhouse will serve many educational purposes for the elementary and high school classes of shanksville the sciences and horticulture classes will utilize the greenhouse by conducting experiments with the plants that they will grow also the entrepreneurship classes will take inventory of the plants grown sell the plants and track the revenues the money made from the sale of the plants will go directly towards greenhouse projects for the students to purchase necessary materials to conduct bigger and better experiments the greenhouse will be a place for the students to take the lessons they have learned from their math science entrepreneurship and horticulture classes and apply them to real life situations this will hopefully result in the students becoming more interested in what they are learning also students will be able to work in a real business environment with their fellow classmates it is my hope that the greenhouse will serve as a place for students to take the lessons they have learned in their classes one step further said shanksville superintendent m r thomas mcinroy when asked about his hopes for the greenhouse shanksville hopes that the greenhouse will serve as a place for its students to enhance their social marketing and teamwork skills the greenhouse will also be a place for students to take what they ve learned from their classes and use that knowledge for authentic situations and experiments.

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christmas store kayla stockenus staff writer a night of lights emily st.clair co-editor 5 when the month of november nears everyone starts to get focused on the holidays the shanksville-stonycreek school district is also focused and they hold the annual christmas store this year the christmas store was held in the gym on november 16th and 17th all students were welcome to go to the store and find what they think will hopefully would be the perfect present the store is open to all students and they can go with permission from their teachers the only problem the christmas store presents is that the students have to find time to go in their busy schedules most students will take time out of a study hall that they have and go look at all the items this year the 2011 christmas store contained many popular items such as scented roses tree ornaments hand knitted scarfs and hats and various hand painted gifts that are sure to be mommy pleasers many people in the community are involved in the christmas store they either have booths or they help wrap presents mr romesberg stated as a former art teacher i always appreciate viewing arts and crafts created by local community members any person in the community or around the shanksville area that makes or sells decorations or any other gift that they think students would be interested in are permitted with approval from the school to come to the christmas store and sell their items after students pick out their presents they have the option to get them wrapped by student volunteers or other committee members who volunteer once the perfect item is wrapped they are ready to be taken home and placed under the christmas tree at 6 o clock p.m on december 3 the shanksville-stonycreek community held its annual light-up night on the streets of the shanksville community the community members of shanksville were invited to see all of the christmas lights illuminate at once and were also invited to participate in numerous activities that took place after the lighting of the town each year the shanksville fire department hangs up christmas lights around the entire town the master switch to light up the town is located in the borough building when it came time to turn the christmas lights on the switch was turned on and the town shined bright to applause after the town was lit up the community members headed to the fire hall to see a special visitor santa clause the children were able to get pictures with santa and he even presented each of them a small toy as an early christmas present while the children were visiting with santa the parents were able to enjoy a number of holiday themed songs sung by shanksville school s junior high chorus also while the children waited to visit with santa they participated in holiday crafts and activities after visiting with santa community members and the chorus went caroling around the town to share the holiday spirit to end the night the light-up night participants traveled to the united methodist church for hot chocolate and cookies for a time to socialize with fellow community members festival for performers hannah frazier staff writer on november 30 and december 1 members of shanksville s high school and middle school bands traveled to rockwood high school to attend the 2011 somerset county band festival,culminating with a concert at 7:00 p.m on december 1 students who attended the festival got the chance to prepare and rehearse their performance with a guest conductor the guest conductor that was scheduled to attend the festival could not attend due to a scheduling conflict with his work with upj and the pasquerilla performing arts center sowindber s band director mr larry mcgiboney and shade s band director mr robert lane filled the position shanksville students that attended the high school concert include maria mcclatchey courtney pryal and kori smith maria mcclatchey stated i ve attended county band festivals every year since seventh grade it s a great way for students to spend time with friends from other schools as well as a chance for kids to enjoy making music with talented peers and experienced conductors several members of the middle school band members were also given the chance to attend the festival students that attended the middle school concert were gabriel perl tyler wagler lydia gibson nicholas jozefczek chris wagler and maddie walker.

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6 donating life kayla stockenus staff writer the masked musketeer nicholas blessel co-editor on november the national honor society held a blood drive from 1:00-7:00p.m in the shanksville gym each nhs member took time to set up work and clean-up for their first blood drive of the year the blood drive had a goal which required them to collect 65 pints of blood during the event by the end of the drive they managed to receive 64 pints of blood which made them only one pint short of their goal mr wilfong was pleased with the outcome despite the obstacles that had to be overcome he stated that due to only having one double red machine and limited staff to help everything went well the nhs receives food donations from local restaurants 15th for everyone who participates in the drive blood donors are advised to eat after they have finished so they can restore all nutrients in their body not only did the nhs provide food they also provided a child care service for the night for any parent donors that had kids and need a babysitter this blood drive is a great way for students parents and people in the community to do a good deed and give back to the people who truly will need it the nhs would also like to see more faculty and staff donate considering only seven staff donated blood on november 15th the blood that is collected at the blood drive can be used for patients who are in need of blood transfusions on friday november 18 th and saturday november 19th the shanksvillestonycreek senior class presented the annual senior class play with their rendition the masked musketeer the cost to attend was $3.00 per adult and $1.00 per child and refreshments provided by the ptsa went on sale during the intermission according to reverend jay shaffer director of the play over nine-hundred dollars was raised for the senior class the play was about a small hispanic village whose men had all gone to madrid to aid in a war when bandits come to raid the town the only men left to defend the town are the cowardly lorenzo nicholas blessel the wanna-be-soldier mateo michael borosky and the very sarcastic felipe ethan triol the three decide to become musketeers but suffer a quick defeat only to be saved by a masked musketeer jordan palumbo when the bandits cody brant ryan ginter zach norris and ed goodwin directly threaten the women of the town lauren brewer hannah frazier kayla maust maria mcclatchey jordan palumbo reba sines lauren wilson karianne sulkowski courtney pryal and kate duppstadt the four musketeers must band together to save everyone commemorating our soldiers nicholas blessel co-editor on friday november 11 shanksville-stonycreek students attended the annual veteran s day assembly mr mcinroy began the assembly with the pledge of allegiance and the chorus followed shortly after with the national anthem kelsey foor student council president was the first person to speak she gave a few introductory remarks about the assembly our veterans and veteran s day and was followed by amanda struky the student council vice-president who read the poem heroes by jared jenkins kelsey foor took the podium again to introduce this year s guest speaker ­ retired colonel bill thompson colonel thompson spoke mainly of the origins and the importance of veteran s day but he also spoke a little bit about his grandfather who was a world war i veteran and his own service in the military during the vietnam the stage hands included amber war he urged everyone to thank snyder who was also the stage director josh a veteran for their service before jones ashton danton and sam decker stepping down from the podium ticket sellers included cody fleegle todd boyer and ashton danton the play was kelsey returned to the podium and named all of the local directed by reverend jay shaffer and mrs veterans who were killed in action terese triol mrs bonnie shaffer was in this was followed by a moment of charge of costuming and mr adam shaffer silence during which maria ran the sound and lights part of the set was mcclatchey played taps on the donated by shaffer block and concrete and trumpet food and water were provided for the cast by parents veteran s day is celebrated to commemorate the despite a few problems and technical soldiers that have fought in the difficulties the play was generally well united states armed forces the day was chosen because of the received by the attendees pre-existing armistice day which the next play will be held in the spring celebrated the end of world war i and the whole drama club will be participating.

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shanksville singers medley jordan palumbo staff writer 7 on monday november 21 and tuesday november 22 several students of the shanksvillestonycreek chorus attended the 2011 somerset county chorus festival in windber eleven members were present for the high school chorus and four students attended for the junior high chorus members of the high school chorus were seniors reba sines jordan palumbo maria mcclatchey hannah frazier cody brant and mike borosky juniors karianne sulkowski and courtney pryal sophomore ryan zearfoss and freshmen tyler wagler and gabe perl also representing shanksville in the junior high chorus were freshman erin sutton 8th graders nick jozefczek and lydia gibson and 7th grader chris wagler as the junior high chorus was directed by teachers of the different schools the high school chorus had the opportunity of being directed by guest conductor erich lascek 19year choir director at gateway high school in monroeville pa the rehearsals for both the junior high chorus and senior high chorus happened at windber high school with the senior high practicing both monday and tuesday while junior high practicing o n tu esday the actual performance however took place at the arcadia theatre in windber tuesday evening as the concert proceeded both the junior and senior high choruses began the performance with the national anthem the star spangled banner then the junior high followed the national anthem with four songs one of which that was directed by shanksville s own mrs cheryl bush after the junior high finished the senior high advanced to the stage performing seven songs to finish off the performance varying in different moods for each song going from a creepy sinister mood such as in the ballad of sweeney todd which was one of the most powerful pieces to a soft romantic mood like in the song a red red rose which brought the concert to a more passionate atmosphere county chorus was a fun experience said senior cody brant the song selection was pretty awesome compared to other years in my tenor section there weren t many guys so we actually had to try to sing well and pay attention and it s always fun meeting new people especially the directors it s interesting to see how they react to us and our director this year was very fun and was definitely able to get our attention with his awesome soprano notes from attending county chorus students can better understand what music is about and learn how to perfect their skills in singing although six shanksville seniors have experienced their final county chorus festival there are younger talented performers that will be able to attend future festivals for years to come holidays around the world hannah frazier staff writer it s the holiday season and everybody is celebrating some type of holiday most people are familiar with common holidays like thanksgiving christmas and american new year but there are many holidays that are celebrated around the world that aren t known so well locally rosh hashanah meaning head of the year or first of the year is a jewish holiday also known as the jewish new year it occurs on the first and second days of tishri which is the seventh month of the jewish year rosh hashanah is similar to the american new year because it is a time for people to plan a better life or make resolutions on these days the blowing of the shofar takes place the shofar is a ram s horn and is blown somewhat like a trumpet no work is permitted on rosh hashanah and there is even a special prayer book for the holiday known as the machzor a common practice that is practiced during these days is eating apples or bread that has been dipped in honey this is practiced as a wish for a sweet new year they also practice tashlikh which is when people empty their pockets into a river in order to cast off their sins another holiday that isn t well known locally is the africanamerican holiday of kwanzaa it is celebrated from december 26 until january 1 it was created in 1996 by dr maulana karenga during this time of social change for african-americans karenga wanted to design a holiday for africanamericans to celebrate their heritage it is based on the year end harvest festivals that take place in africa and the name comes from the swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza meaning first fruits of the harvest each day has a different principle and symbol the principles for each day are umoja unity kujichagulia selfdetermination ujima collective work and responsibility ujamaa cooperative economics nia a sense of purpose kuumba creativity and imani faith the symbols are kikombe cha umoja the unity cup kinara the candleholder mazao fruits nuts and vegetables mishumaa saba the seven candles mkeka mat continued on page 12

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8 it s elementary my dear shanksville annual gingerbread antics emily st clair co-editor on december 9 2011 the first grade classes of shanksvillestonycreek school district took to making their annual gingerbread houses the entire first grade class along with the students parents were invited to take part in this event that takes place in the cafeteria as they share the holiday spirit the gingerbread houses were created by covering an ice tea carton with icing and sticking graham crackers to each side of the carton making a house-like figure then the students were able to place a variety of toppings such as licorice candy canes gummy bears m&m s etc on their houses being that the students could decorate their gingerbread house however they pleased no two houses looked the same the parents who volunteered to help with the event were in charge of the preparation of the gingerbread houses the preparation consisted of putting the toppings for the houses in bowls and setting them out on the tables and placing a can of icing a plate an ice tea carton and graham crackers on each spot parents help first grade students work on their gingerbread houses where the students would work on their houses after the volunteers were finished preparing the tables the first grade students were called to the cafeteria the students then filled up the three large tables set up in the cafeteria for this event and began working the kids started by using the icing as a glue to make the graham crackers stick to the sides of their ice tea carton and then proceeded to coat the whole entire house with icing so that the toppings would stick in their place after the students finished their houses each was covered with plastic wrap and given back to the students at the end of the day to take home to display as a piece of art and maybe nibble on the toppings this was a day for parents to spend some quality time with their children during the school day while doing something fun and entertaining at the same time said first grade teacher mrs donna hatison the annual gingerbread houses made by the first grade students at shanksville school is a time for the students to talk and have fun with their parents and friends by participating in a holiday activity that is fun and delicious santa comes to town on december 20 santa claus made a visit to the elementary to ask all of the students what they what they were hoping to get for christmas this year he stopped by all of the rooms in the elementary along with his elves kara moon amber snyder josh jones and zach norris after all of the students talked with santa they received an early gift of two books an apple and graham crackers second grade student alexis hagans stated i was happy that i got to see santa and tell him what i want for christmas santa claus said all of the kids at shanksville have been very good this year and i ll be sure to give them great gifts on christmas hannah frazier staff writer santa s workshop nicholas blessel co-editor the little elves in shanksville-stonycreek school district s pre-k and kindergarten programs were busy at work on friday december 9 creating holiday crafts and decorations in the school sponsored santa s workshop event during the morning the students had the opportunity to travel to several different work areas where they could construct or design holiday themed projects the afternoon pre-k class also had an opportunity to complete the projects as well many of the students parents assisted mrs sube mrs mapes and miss lichty in helping the little vikings get into the holiday spirit by helping the kids with the activities a cheery snack was also provided for the students santa s workshop is a fun event every shanksville student enjoys according to afternoon pre-k student franklin barkman i really liked being able to make christmas stuff my teacher is really nice jack keiser kindergarten student proclaims yeah for santa s workshop the santa s workshop is an annual event held to enhance the holiday spirit of the younger students.

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sports dinner for champions on november 20 the somerset county volleyball allcounty all-stars banquet was held at the boswell legion five shanksville-stonycreek school district volleyball players were voted by the coaches association to be a part of the allcounty team kayla maust a senior was voted first team kayla stockenus a junior was voted second team and seniors lauren wilson jordan palumbo and emily st.clair were voted honorable mention the night began with julie stahl meyersdale volleyball coach welcoming the players and the parents of the event she congratulated the players on being invited by the coaches association to be a part of the allcounty team julie then dismissed the tables for dinner which consisted of ham chicken potatoes corn salad and desert after everyone had finished their dinner julie introduced the guest speaker of the night joanna nist haupt joanna was a rockwood high school and university of california graduate who was an esteemed athlete in both schools she spoke to the players directly about how hard work and dedication was the key to her success senior at shanksville lauren wilson said joanna really gave us insight on how to balance sports and academics in college after joanna completed her speech the presentation of awards began julie stahl announced the names of the emily st clair co-editor 9 players starting with honorable mention then second team and finally first team each player made their way to the front of the building when their name was called where they received a patch along with a letter presented to them by berlin volleyball coach corey will who received the coach of the year award will then presented the county mvp award to shelby cougenhour a sophomore middle hitter from berlin school district shelby received a patch a letter and a plaque to honor her for her achievements after all awards were presented the night ended with a group picture of all of the 2011 allcounty volleyball members nba on lockdown kayla stockenus staff writer for the past 13 years life for nba players has been nothing but a paradise except for an occasional injury money was never an issue however while getting ready to head into the 2011-2012 season there were multiple controversies over money between the players and owners the question kept being brought up if this could be the first nba lockout in 13 years that question soon became reality and this reality lasted 161 days beginning on july 1st 2011 on average a nba player makes around $5-10 million per year but was that enough the players insisted on more this caused problems between the players and owners and eventually after not making a settlement it led to the lockout after five crucial months of negotiation they finally reached an agreement the players will a regular season for the nba normally contains 82 games however this year the regular season will only be filled with 66 due to approximately five months of bargaining and deal making the nba lost 16 games for the season this puts the first tip-off on christmas day they will still be receiving a large amount of money per year and they definitely won t be hurting for money in the end the players decided that one million dollars wasn t going to stand in the way of losing a whole year s worth of pay and also a whole year s worth of basketball on christmas day they decided that there will be anywhere between three to five games played the end of the lockout is a christmas gift for the fans receive around 50 of all basketball related income in previous years the players received around 57 since they reduced their percentage they will end up giving around 300 million dollars a year back to their owners.

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10 toddcast todd boyer staff writer winter sports schedule ethan triol staff writer on november 9 th joe paterno the winningest coach in division 1 football history was fired after forty-six years of being the head coach for the penn state nittany lions paterno joined the nittany lions in 1950 as an assistant coach and took over as head coach fifteen years later in 1965 throughout the length of his career coach paterno had broken multiple division 1 football records the most recent record on october 29 th with a victory over illinois breaking the record for most wins for division 1 coach with win 409 under coach paterno the nittany lions reached a record setting thirty-seven bowl game appearances winning twentyfour of them during the 37 bowl game span penn state also won two national title games in 1982 and 1986 and accomplished five undefeated seasons in 1968 1969 1973 1986 and 1994 joe paterno was fired in early november one week after reaching the historic 409 th win earlier in the week that paterno was fired news broke that penn state university was involved in a scandal involving a former paterno assistant in coach paterno s absence defensive coordinator tom bradley took over as interim head coach as the nittany lions faced the nebraska cornhuskers in beaver stadium the game would have been paterno s last home game as the nittany lions head coach and was the last home game for the graduating seniors coach paterno was fired on november 9 t h 2 0 11 twodaysafter announcing that after the season he was retiring from the head coaching position for the penn state nittany lions paterno was fired from the head coaching job due to his failure to report his knowledge in the penn state scandal joe paterno throughout his career had helped out not just with the football team but with the university but the firing is not based on what he did it is based on what he did not do in failing to address the scandal dec 17 th girls basketball vs southern fulton a wrestling sheetz holiday tournament dec 18 th wrestling sheetz holiday tournament dec 20 th boys bball vs windber a rifle vs turkeyfoot h dec 21 st girls basketball vs windber a wrestling vs north star a dec 22 nd boys bball vs turkeyfoot a rifle vs north star h dec 27 28 boys bball windber tournament dec 30 th wrestling vs somerset jan 3 rd girls bball vs turkeyfoot a rifle vs rockwood a jan 4 th boys bball vs meyersdale h jan 5 th girls bball vs meyersdale h wrestling vs chestnut ridge h j a n 6 th boysbballvs blacklick h riflevs salisbury a jan 8 th wrestling kittanning wildcat duals j a n 9 th girlsbballvs blacklick h riflevs somerset h jan 10 th boys bball vs berlin h jan 11 th girls bball vs berlin h rifle vs con twp a jan 12 th boys bball vs rockwood a jan 13 th girls bball vs rockwood a jan 14 15 wrestling richland duals jan 16 th boys bball vs con twp a jan 17 th rifle vs berlin h jan 18 th boys girls bball vs salisbury a jan 20 th boys bball vs shade h wrestling vs shade a jan 23 rd girls bball vs shade h jan 24 th rifle vs forest hills a jan 25 th boys girls bball vs con valley h wrestling vs portage h jan 28 29 wrestling thomas automotive tournament jan 30 th boys bball vs turkeyfoot h jan 31 st girls bball vs turkeyfoot h rifle vs everett h feb 1 st boys bball vs ferndale a feb 2 nd girls bball vs ferndal a feb 3 rd boys bball vs meyersdale a feb 4 th rifle vs meyersdale du bois feb 6 th girls bball vs meyersdale a feb 7 th boys bball vs berlin a rifle vs chestnut ridge h feb 8 th girls bball vs berlin a feb 9 th boys bball vs north star h rifle vs portage a feb 10 th girls bball vs north star h wrestling vs richland h feb 13 th boys bball vs rockwood h feb 14 th girls bball vs rockwood h feb 16 th boys girls bball vs salisbury h wrestling vs everett h

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looking ahead todd boyer staff writer 11 winners are senior jake duppstadt juniors evan custer jordan wilt and nathan gardner and freshmen gabriel perl and jacob wilt the shade panthers football team is coached by mike pribish and ended the 2011 season with a 1 win and 9 loss season the shanksville lettermen are seniors cody brant cody fleegle and todd boyer and juniors ben duppstadt connor fleegle dylan glessner and lucas evans a short presentation was provided by maria mcclatchey on the strength of the band program maria discussed the importance of band and appealed to students to join the band ondecember 5th shanksville-stonycreek school district hosted an assembly to congratulate the fall sports teams and players for their hard work and dedication after the fall sports were recognized the winter sports were previewed for what should be a great sports season the fall sports that were recognized were the shanksville vikings volleyball golf and tennis teams and the shade panthers football team both shanksville and shade co-op with each-other in both football and golf the shanksville vikings volleyball team is coached by kelly miller and posted a record of 12 wins and 6 losses the letter winners for the 2011 team are seniors kayla maust kara moon jordan palumbo emily st clair and lauren wilson and juniors marissa denner kayla stockenus amanda struky and lydia swank the shanksville vikings tennis team is coached by dave mapes and posted a record of 2 wins and 6 losses the letter winners for the team are seniors hannah frazier and reba sines juniors kelsey foor and kennedy hanes and freshmen tara duppstadt zoe phillips and janna shober the shanksville vikings golf team is coached by bill gavel and finished the season with a record of 6 wins and 2 losses and was westpac champions golf letter from the view of a wrestler jordan palumbo staff writer the viklet took time to interview austin thompson about the berlin mountaineers wrestling team that includes shanksville athletes austin shared his views about his love of the sport and interesting facts about wrestling viklet tell us about your at well you can get two points for wrestling career a takedown you can get back austin thompson i don t know points and you can get out from the it s been pretty long i ve been bottom wrestling for 12 years and it s been v so how long does an average good individual match usually last v since there s no wrestling at they each individually usually program in shanksville itself last six minutes if you go the whole what inspired you to become time interested in the sport v how is a typical wrestling at i always liked george childers match organized who wrestled he used to go to at well it s usually against just shanksville and graduated a long one other team and like it s time ago individual but it s a team sport too v what is your favorite aspect of v why do the weight classes wrestling seem to be arranged randomly at although it gets you physically at i don t really know for sure they tough it gets you mentally tough as just are well v what weight class are you v how is a wrestling match classified in scored at 132 v is it difficult for you to maintain that weight to stay in the same class throughout the season at yes it is very difficult v what all do you do to maintain that same weight at i have a diet and i work out a lot v do you know what your career record is at actually no i do not v do you think you will always be interested in wrestling even when your career is over at i probably will be i didn t really want to join this year but i did so yeah check out rifle on page 20!

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p. 12

12 speaking with a lady viking todd boyer staff writer the viklet took a moment out of kayla maust s day to ask her about her thoughts on basketball and the upcoming season viklet tell about yourself and your basketball career kayla maust energetic outgoing bigmouthed talkative and swagger of a cripple v what is your role on the basketball team km to be a leader and play like a champ v what is the hardest aspect of playing basketball km the hardest aspect would be since i m the center and play in the paint i have more running than anyone because i m farther away to each hoop than others v would you consider yourself a physical basketball player km i am a very physical player i put my mind and heart into the game v whatisyourbiggest accomplishment in your basketball career km i was out for a year so just coming back to play even though it s not a basketball accomplishment but i think that s a big enough accomplishment right there v do you have any pre-game rituals km this year we do we do our own little thing in the locker room to get us pumped before the game it helps a lot actually a season of hope jordan palumbo staff writer holiday cont from page 7 vibunzi ear of corn and zawadi gifts in china they celebrate chinese new year this is celebrated from the first new moon of the new year to the first full moon 15 days later the celebration is a time of reunion and thanksgiving it was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of heaven and earth one ritual that takes place during the chinese new year is the sacrifice of the ancestors and it unites living family members with those who have passed away ancestors are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for the current status of the family the ancestors presence is acknowledged with a dinner arranged for them at the family table this communal feast is known as weilu or surrounding the stove it symbolizes family unity and honors past and present generations it s great to celebrate the holiday that we recognize here but it s also nice to understand a few other holidays from different places around the world since october the shanksville-stonycreek girls basketball team has been conditioning and practicing hard every day to prepare themselves for a difficult but hopefully successful season for the 2011-2012 school year the members of the 2 0 11 2 0 1 2 ladyvikingsare seniors lauren brewer hannah frazier kaylamaust jordan palumbo and reba sines junior kayla stockenus sophomores kate duppstadt abby fochtman and gretchen shultz and freshman mackenzie coughenour the girls are coached by amy kimmel and tom keller on friday december 9 th and saturday december 10 th the lady vikings participated in the 2011 bill lamp basketball tournament at rockwood high school also competing with shanksville were rockwood chestnut ridge and somerset on friday night the girls contended against the rockwood lady rockets and luckily had a successful victory with a score of 46 to 38 to move on to the championship game on saturday then the lady vikings triumphed over chestnut ridge in the finals having a winning score of 48 to 34 to take the name of the billlamp to urnament 2 0 1 1 champions we worked really hard and luckily came together well to be on top in the tournament said senior reba sines it s only the beginning of the season and we are working really well together and bonding greatly we re definitely a very close team and as the season goes on our closeness and our abilities will really show as we perform i can already tell by how things are going that we have the potential to make it all the way and succeed in our goal of having a great year so far in the regular season the lady vikings have a record of three wins and two losses the wins being from the rockwood tournament and their 56 47 victory against shade and their two losses having a score of 38 63 against portage and a score of 38 55 against southern fulton the season has just begun and hopefully the lady vikings will work hard together make it all the way to district champions.

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p. 13

vikings start with a slam dunk the shanksville-stonycreek school district boy s basketball team coached by mr robert snyder is working hard to have what they hope will be a very successful 2011-2012 basketball season since the vikings have only lost four seniors from the previous basketball season this year s team members are comfortable with working together as a team and will use this as an advantage over other young teams in the district the team finished with a winning record of 13 wins and 11 losses last season and is looking to improve on that the vikings also advanced to the first round of the playoffs where they lost to rival shade with three returning starters the team should be capable to making a larger playoff run this year our goal is to be in the finals where we will play at upj if we keep working hard and stay dedicated the wins will come easy says senior guard jake duppstadt seniors on the team include jake duppstadt and nick bittner who are both returning starters from last season juniors are carter slade a returning starter ben duppstadt nathan gardner jordan wilt dylan glessner connor emily st.clair co-editor 13 fleegle and lucas evans lone sophomore ryan platt and freshmen ben bittner levi brant tanner ferko gabriel perl ryan king jake wilt logan glessner and kenton wilt round out the team also seventh grade students will brant jessie bittner ryan caton eighth grade student adam struky and fifth grade student dawson snyder have volunteered as managers of the basketball team along with statisticians katie king and amanda struky both who are junior students the vikings currently hold a record of 2-1 and are continuing to improve game by game inside the mind of jake duppstadt kayla stockenus staff writer the viklet took time to interview senior jake duppstadt for the 2011 basketball season jake shared his thoughts on the pressure and the fun times that comes throughout the season the viklet are you happy you are a j.d no it wouldn t happen senior v will you be able to dunk a jake duppstadt yes i want to get basketball this year or even touch out of shanksville school however i net will miss my teammates j.d i can dunk a volleyball easy i v do you have a special nickname just can t palm a basketball i might v what is the funniest memory of that everyone on the team calls break something out in a game your entire varsity basketball you v would you be embarrassed if career j.d yes hero and they also call me you missed a dunk during a game j.d rube and brandon playing onegadget j.d yeah and i would also be on the on-one v how does it feel to have the bench v would you want to play one-onnickname hero v what is your specific position one with coach snyder j.d it makes me feel like people and role on the team j.d no he scares me depend on me and i like that feeling j.d my role is to do what a good v how far do you think the team v does that nickname put any captain does which means i have to will go this season what will it pressure on you be a leader and my position is the 3 take to get there j.d yes sometimes in a close game man so i am basically a wing j.d we will win a district 5 v tell us about your basketball v how much do you do at championship just as long as we keep career practice do you enjoy it up the good defense and run the floor j.d i first started playing in first grade j.d every drill is a full court thing and v if the team was losing by one and fell in love with the game and i our game plan is to out run every other point and there was no time on the have played ever since team yeah it keeps me in shape clock and you had two free throws v have you ever lost to a girl in a v what will you miss most when to shoot who would you have shoot game of one-on-one basketball the season is over them why j.d no i d never lose to a girl j.d playing with my friends and j.d nick bittner because he is v what if you did do you think watching kenton around a 85 foul shooter and the you would lose your nickname pressure doesn t get to him.

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p. 14

14 entertainment return of the elder scrolls amazing attention to detail put in to every town cave tree and stream show how much work the developers put into this game skyrim is also different from oblivion in terms of content while oblivion s big gimmick was the appearance of forty or so gates into the underworld that the player must nicholas blessel co-editor friday november 11 t h marked the release of bethesda softworks highly anticipated sequel to the elder scrolls series the elder scrolls v skyrim skyrim is set in the mythical world established by the previous elder scrolls games a land still in a time that we could describe as similar to our medieval times the player assumes the role of a prisoner on their way to be executed because they happened to be crossing the country s border just as aprisoner transport was passing by however in a stroke of luck just before the execution a dragon flies overhead and attacks the city the player escapes with the aid of the other prisoners and continues to flee to the nearest city after some information gathering the player learns that dragons are awakening all over the world of skyrim and the player must stop them thus begins the journey to save the world much like its predecessor oblivion skyrim is a large roleplaying game that encourages the player to explore the massive world that it s set in but there is a large gap in quality between the two games oblivion was very primitive in comparison to skyrim instead of animals that randomly appear in the wild as with oblivion skyrim features animals that have nests and caves instead of the oddly identical caves that were all over the world of oblivion skyrim has hundreds of completely unique dungeons the melee weapon fire volleys of arrows and hope the enemy doesn t see them or use magic and hope their magicka gas tank for magic techniques doesn t run out the addition of shouts breaks the pace a bit and allows for more tactical or more brutal fights as of writing this i have more than seventy hours into the game at this point i usually start to lose interest and get bored but i m still finding new things to do i still haven t completed the main quest line and haven t visited all the major cities yet ­ but that s because i haven t felt the need to yet there s still enough content to keep me occupied in the few towns that i ve discovered i still get the feeling that there s an overwhelming amount of content in this game that i haven t even touched yet the game is absolutely massive and immersive and despite a few glitches and small issues that i have with the game i think it s one of the best games i ve played falling second only to portal 2 upon its first two days of release skyrim was purchased by over 3.4 million people and is expected to pull in $450 million in sales the game was named game of the year at the spike video game awards the game is available for 360 ps3 and pc it is worth noting that the first two expansion packs for the game will be available on 360 before other platforms skyrim is rated m for mature close skyrim s dragons player dragon able to that gimmick is when the kills a they are absorb dragon s soul and use it to unlock words of power which are words from a mysterious long forgotten language that carries great power using these words the player can perform amazing feats such as breathing fire slowing time and summoning thunderstorms the addition of these shouts as they re called ingame creates a more dynamic combat system without them combat in skyrim is nearly identical to combat in oblivion ­ repetitive and bland that is one of the main problems involved with games like this ­ there s only so much you can do in a sword fight the player must choose to hack and slash with a

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p. 15

movie review emily st.clair co-editor the big 5 kayla stockenus staff writer 15 listening to music watching movies and reading books are three extremely popular activities that many people all over the world participate in the top five of all three categories for this year are as follows movies title 1 twilight saga breaking dawn part 1 2 3 4 5 the muppets 2011 happy feet two new year s eve the sitter producer stephanie myers james bobin george miller toby emmerich lisa muskat gross to date $220,832,009 $41,516,691 $43,755,357 $13,019,180 $9,851,435 british studio aardman creators of flushed away is back again only this time they have partnered with sony pictures to create the computer-animated christmas film called arthur christmas starring the voices of james mcavoy arthur hugh laurie steve bill nighy grandsanta jim broadbent santa and imelda staunton mrs santa this is most certainly a family-oriented movie worth watching arthur christmas answers the timeless question that every child wonders so how does santa deliver all of those presents in one night the answer is santa s high-tech almost military based operation hidden beneath the north pole that is run by santa s elves along with santa s own family members it s steve s santa s smart and detail-oriented son who is the favorite to take over the family business job to see that all presents are delivered on christmas eve while arthur santa s clumsy but nice son is stuck with the task of answering the letters to santa so on christmas eve steve sets out to deliver presents to all of the boys and girls across the world but when returning to music title 1 we found love 2 3 4 5 it will rain good feeling set fire to the rain the one that got away artist rihanna featuring calvin harris bruno mars flo rida adele katy perry books title 1 the tigers wife 2 townie a memoir 3 house of prayer no 2 a writers journey home 4 you know when the men are gone 5 blood bones and butter the inadvertent author tea obreht andres dubus 3 mark richard siobhan fallon anthony bourdain according to http www.top10songs.com/archive2011.htm http www.themovie-times.com/thrsdir/topten.mv and http arts.nationalpost.com 2011/03/04/book-review-the-tigers-wife-by-tea-obreht the north pole after a long night he finds that he has forgotten to deliver one present steve convinces santa that one child doesn t matter when you look at all of the children who did receive presents but arthur s love of christmas and dedication to making sure all children believe in it sends him on a mission with grand santa to make sure the child gets her toy before sunrise arthur christmas doesn t have a christmas message but instead delivers a classic movie about a clumsy boy who surprises his family with his love and dedication to the holiday of christmas arthur s enthusiasm in this movie is enough to make everyone of all ages smile!

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