The Trojan Voice Mcdowell High School’S Student Magazine
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The Trojan Voice McDowell High School’s Student Magazine Backpacks Next Year What We Know & How We Feel Going to School with Mom The Reality of Parent-Student Pairs Volume 2 Issue 8 May/June 2018 Letter from the Editors... Congratulations McDowell we made it to the end of timely manner. She has been such an asset to our the school year and the last issue of The Trojan Voice team and we wish her the best in retired life. for 2017-2018. Have a great summer break, McDowell! We'll We, as editors-in-chief, created a list of goals at the be back in August producing new content! beginning of this school year for The Trojan Voice. We Samantha Mannion are very pleased to say that we accomplished our big- Kensley Semple gest goal — not bundling issues. The Trojan Voice is Co-Editors-in-Chief supposed to be a monthly publication and last year due to busy schedules we did not adhere to that, but this year we did. We published each month because of our staff who worked very hard to produce this publication month in and month out. We are so proud of them for their dedication. We would also like to thank Kim Marzka in the Mill- creek print shop, who is retiring this year, for getting our magazine back to us from the print shop in such a (Rory DeFazio/The Trojan Voice) Trojan (Rory DeFazio/The Full Time Millcreek PoliceContents Officer Co-Editors-in-Chief Staff Samantha Mannion Hired to Protect McDowell 3 Kensley Semple McDowell Bans Backpack Use During School Hours 4 Grace DeVies Copy Editors Should They Stay or Should They Go: Courtney Balcombe Backpacks 5 Rory DeFazio McDowell Girls Lacrosse Reaches New Heights 6 Staff Writers Courtney Balcombe Heroes of the Pool: Lifeguards Protects Patron 7 Grace DeVies Alex Hopkins Trojan Tributes: Kaylin Lupole Trending Kindness in Trojan Territory 8 Samantha Mannion Caps are Going to Fly, but no Decor Allowed 9 Greg Rounds Voter Turnout Highest Ever in Natalie Sebunia Student Council Election 10 Atalie Soule McDowell Launches AP-Focused Lexi Turnquist Distinctive Scholar Program 11 Gregg Vincent Your Mother All the Time 12 Layout Design Jaidin Barnes Summer Box Office Blockbusters 14 Brie Mooney Who's Who Guide to Trump's Staff 16 Greg Rounds Kensley Semple Entertainment News 18 Sizzling Steps to Simplify your Courtney Balcombe Sunny Season Photography 19 Rory DeFazio Jams for your June 20 Dominic Ferraro Post Malone Unleashes Unique Style on Natalie Sebunia New Album 21 Kensley Semple Beat Summer Boredom With Atalie Soule These Engaging Camps 22 Brianna VanGiesen Things to Make Summer in Erie Exciting 23 Photo Courtesy Jennifer Holmberg Adviser Stephanie Weiss 2 News Full Time Millcreek Police Officer Hired to Protect McDowell by Courtney Balcombe T.R.O.J.A.N. Response Threat ) assessment Run if you can The Trojan Voice Trojan The Obstruct/Barricade (lock down) (Courtney Balcombe/ Join forces with each other Even before school shootings occurred in Florida and Texas, Millcreek Township School District wanted to prevent school shootings from happening in its schools. At the beginning of the Attack as a last resort 2017-2018 school year Millcreek Township police officers rotated a daily presence in the senior high building until funding was ap- proved to hire a full-time officer. N Millcreek police officer Nathan Spiker permanently took on the ever give up responsibilities of watching over the students at MHS shortly after the school year started in Oct. senior high building as the district see how that went before they He began working with the district administration by chang- explored investing into more police officers he said. ing lock down procedures to the idea of the T.R.O.J.A.N. response The SRO at McDowell Intermediate High School, Jim Rich, standing for: Threat assessment, Run if you can, Obstruct/Barri- served as a police officer in Columbus, Ohio, for five years and cade (lock down), Join forces with each other, Attack as a last re- has worked for McDowell since 2009. For the 2018-2019 school sort, and to Never give up. Officer Spiker saw need for this change year, he will be given specialized training as a civilian, and also be in procedure. armed to respond in a time of crisis. “Currently students just hide under tables or desks and are sit- “I believe you have to have lots of training that needs to be spe- ting ducks, so when looking back at tragedies like the Parkland, cialized, but for me it’s very important that it’s repetitive and spe- Fla. shooting, I saw a need to learn from them,” Spiker said. cific to the situation,” Rich said. “However, you have to be prepared According to Spiker, there’s never been an incident of a school to handle those situations because it’s not something you should shooting with mass casualties where a School Resource Officer take lightly.” (SRO) is in the building. Spiker stated that McDowell tries to keep Officer Spiker will be working closely with Rich on any po- him in the building as much as possible. lice-related matters that happen at MIHS. Spiker comes to McD with ten years experience. He attended McDowell sophomore Anthony Baez, expects Spiker and Rich Slippery Rock University and earned a degree in special education, to keep them safe and risk their lives in a time of crisis. “If it’s but later added police officer to his list of specialties. Mr. Rich at the Intermediate, then I’m okay with it because he’s an “One day I went to the police academy with a friend of mine, ex-police officer and should be okay in a crisis.” but didn’t really desire to be a police officer at the time,” Spiker Officer Spiker hopes to bring ease to the school, but he’s also said. “While in the academy I saw where I could use my degree in trying to implement a unique and custom fit for McDowell. He education and apply it to my job as a police officer.” wants to limit the potential threats by making one entrance into McDowell’s head principal, Brian Fuller, said he feels confident the building, putting in some new equipment, and conduct back- and comfortable with him here. “If (a threat) were to come into the ground checks or Megan's Law checks before people are allowed building, we have someone here who can neutralize the situation into the building. He’s trying his best not to require a lot of money quicker. He’s here to be support staff.” to make these changes and do his best to keep the students as safe As of right now Officer Spiker is the only armed officer in the as possible. 3 McDowell News McDowell Bans Backpack Use During School Hours by Natalie Sebunia Next year’s incoming freshmen Jake Vommaro, a 10th grader at won’t notice any difference, but ad- MIHS, doesn’t use his locker, either. vancing sophomores, juniors, and Despite being “used to having [his] seniors will be met with a new chal- backpack right on [his] back,” he lenge when they walk through the thinks he’ll get used to carrying his doors in August. Starting in the books pretty quickly because that’s 2018-19 school year, the Millcreek what he had to do in middle school. Township School District (MTSD) Some students do use their lock- will no longer allow high school stu- ers to hold larger textbooks, binders dents to carry their backpacks with they don’t need, or sports equipment, them throughout the school day. but most use their backpack to carry William Hall, Superintendent of what they have with them. the Millcreek Township School Dis- Taylor does say that one of the trict, says this new policy aims to benefits of using a locker is not hav- “discourage concealment of alcohol, ing to carry so many books at once, tobacco, and drug paraphernalia.” although she believes students are This change was also implemented in more likely to forget materials. an attempt to increase school safety. Timmy Simon, a current fresh- Some students, however, are un- man, worries about having enough sure how the lack of backpacks will time to get to his locker between increase their security. While some classes at MIHS due to all of the hall- think that removing backpacks re- ways and size of the building. He also duces the number of potentially dan- has concerns about traveling while gerous items students can carry with carrying binders, especially in the them, others think it won’t make a winter. difference. “There is some concern that we “I don’t think that removing back- may need to add travel time through- packs will increase school safety out the school day to accommodate because students could still bring a long walking distances,” Hall said. weapon or something to school ei- Some students think there are ther way,” said Ashley Taylor, a junior more effective ways to protect stu- at McDowell High School (MHS). dents, as well. Taylor believes that Together, both buildings contain investing in metal detectors would roughly 2,814 non-athletic lock- be a better precaution in terms of vi- ers, and with a total of about 2,097 olence prevention. students making up both MHS and “That way even something on the MIHS, there are definitely enough body could be seen, since people lockers for every student. This year, don’t just bring weapons or other only 203 of 1,044 upperclassmen things in bags,” she says.