The Student Newspaper of Mars High

PLANET PRESS TH

E

January 2014 Volume 86 Issue 5 Send us your suggestions

and questions to planet.press@yahoo.com

Keep Yinz Warm

Mars student helps the community, promotes positivity By Patience Yobp

Students start new club

Team Inspire looks to spread positivity By Erin Ford

Senior looks

to brighten

day, surprise

people By Erin Ford

Mars High students, Alyssa Mur-tagh and Maddi Brown, look to spread positivity through their new club Team Inspire. “We are really excited about the club, and hope eve-ryone else is too,” said Murtagh. Over 50 students from all four grades attended their first meeting. They gath-ered to see what the new club would be about. “The club is about spreading positivity without getting anything in return,” Murtagh explained. The group participates in challeng-

Senior, Alison Lanza, wants to help gain positivity within the people around her through random acts of kindness. It started around Christmas time, when Lanza decided to buy other people in Starbucks their coffee. “I like how it feels giving people compliments and well wishes,” Lanza said. “If I had a bad day, I would want to make someone else’s better.” Then, Lanza’s random acts of kind-ness spread to Mars High. She be-gan putting candy canes with inspir-ing quotes attached to it in random people’s lockers. “One girl came and told Mrs. Sloane about her candy cane in her locker, and she said it was so sweet made her day,” said Lanza. The feeling of making someone else feel good made Lanza only want to spread the positivity even more. She hopes that she is helping people, and that other people will also take part in the random acts of kindness.

ple over Facebook saying that they have blankets that they can donate.

The Jacksons will then go and pick up whatever people have and keep until they can take a full trunk load to Pittsburgh. The Jacksons also donate blankets to various shelters in the area.

Jon Jackson, a junior at Mars High, has been making a difference in our community by donating thou-sands of blan-kets to various people who need them. Jackson has been collecting and donating blankets to people since he was 12 years old. One night as he was driving home from Pittsburgh, he saw people who did not have the re-sources to keep warm and wanted to do something about it. Jackson started to put collection box-es in Mars School District, in the Jimmy Strip District restaurant in Mars, and in the munici-pal building. He also created a Face-book page called Keep Yinz Warm, the official name of his organization. Jackson and his mom receive vari-ous emails and messages from peo-

es within the organization each month. There are three challenges each month, one to help the com-munity, one to help the environ-ment, and one to help the individual.

Janu-ary’s challeng-es are to donate the front of Hall-marks cards from any holiday to St. Jude’s, to recy-cle any old cell phones, and to make

personal goals for the New Year. There

will also be a “takeover” each month, which will take place outside of school.

A takeover is when students go to some type of public place and pass out inspirational cards and other types of goodies in order to make someone’s day. The group plans on doing many different takeovers throughout the year, and are open to any suggestions. If you are interested in joining the club, contact Maddi or Alyssa. The club will meet again in the upcom-ing activity periods. “We are looking forward to seeing how the club will go, and are more than welcoming to new faces,” said Murtagh.

Inside this Issue

PAGE 2 Snow Days Celeb look-Alikes

PAGE 3 Wrestling Twins

Page 4 Diving Basketball Golden Globes

Page 5 Football

When the polar vortex storm pressed into our area, some tem-

peratures did not reach above the negatives, making it extremely hard for people who do not have a place to stay to keep themselves warm. The Jacksons took the blankets they had to Pittsburgh, and placed

them in their usual spot, which is in front of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

People then take what they need. “It’s a feeling that can`t be put into words. I am proud because I was able to help somehow,” said Jackson. Keep Yinz Warm will take donations of any

size, type, or color. When spring cleaning, remember Keep Yinz Warm and donate because every blanket you donate, you are helping to keep another person warm.

Jon Jackson collecting and sharing donated blankets. Photo courtesy of Facebook

President Maddi Brown (left) and Vice President Alyssa Murtagh (Right) look to spread positivity in their new club Team Inspire. Photo courtesy of Kendall Angeletti

Celebrity look-a-likes By Kendall Angeletti

Students share snow day activities By Kendall Angeletti

Entertainment Planet Press Volume 86 Issue 5 3

Have you ever seen an actor in a movie or TV show that resembled some-one that you know? Maybe you went to see Catching Fire and Jennifer Law-rence reminded you of your sister or possibly, you watched Modern Family and Ty Burrell reminded you of your dad. This can happen quite often in our daily lives because society is so ob-sessed with famous people that they are always on our minds. Who do you think you resemble? The Planet Press scoped out Mars High to see who could pass as a celebri-ty.

Most high school students enjoy hearing that school has been cancelled. It gives the students a day to relax, hang out with friends, or finish homework they put off the night before. The Planet Press asked Mars High students what they like to do with their snow days.

“I shovel my driveway and lay around the house all day when there is a cancellation,” said sophomore, John Conley.

“I like to go skiing when there is a cancellation,” said fresh-man, Jake Miller.

“I like to go to the Saxonburg Kennel to play with my favorite hounds,” said junior, Sarah Henderson.

Junior, Ty Reginelli, looks Amanda Bynes in the movie “She’s the Man.”

Junior, John Kaplan, looks like the llama from the movie “Emperor's New Groove.”

Junior, Katelyn Birch, looks like actress Amy Adams.

Junior, Katherine Butler, looks like actress Linda Cardellini.

Junior, Maddi Brown (above), looks like actress/singer Victoria Justice.

Photos courtesy of Google Imag-es, Kendall Angeletti, Patience Yobp, and Twitter.

Follow the yellow brick globe By Callie Carlson

“Who are you wear-ing?” This question was asked over and over on the night of Jan. 12, the 71st Golden Globe Awards. From baby bumps to bold reds, from quirky to classy, the award show had it all. The pregnant Olivia Wilde walked onto the red carpet in an abso-lutely stunning, emerald green Gucci gown. How-ever, she was not the only woman with a plus one. Drew Barrymore also showed off her ba-by bump that night. Bar-rymore donned a floral Monique Lhuillier high-low dress. Zooey Deschanel stuck to her quirky roots while wearing Oscar de la Renta. There was no end to the embroidery on her cream dress, as even her shoes were embellished. On anyone else it may have been a tad too much, but Des-chanel’s unique person-ality helped her to pull of her unique ensemble. Also showing off her own individualistic style was Caitlin Fitzgerald, taking us back in time with her retro Emilia Wickstead dress. With a high-low silhouette, a

soft blue hue, and pointed, color-blocked heels, Fitz-gerald definitely brought a new twist to the red carpet. While some looked to the past for dress inspiration, Lupita Nyong’o kept it ex-tremely modern. The Gold-en Globe winner for “12 Years A Slave” wore a dar-ing red, Ralph Lauren cape dress. Despite the common worry of blending into the red carpet, Nyong’o proved that you can outshine the floor you walk on. Named “Best Dressed” by tabloids everywhere, Nyong’o defi-nitely stole the show. However, it doesn’t stop there. No article would be complete without the ever-popular Jennifer Lawrence. Her dress didn’t exactly make the cut for “best-dressed”; however, Law-rence didn’t leave the show a loser. She took home her own award for “Greatest Photo Bomb”. Overall, I’d have to say that the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards not only brought great film and tele-vision, but also great fash-ion.

Pictures courtesy of E online, Celeb mafia, and On the red carpet

Reporters– Kendall Angeletti, Erin Ford, Patience Yobp, Callie Carlson, John Conley

The Planet Press is a student-to-student

newspaper published on a monthly

basis.

All editorials are strictly the opinions of their authors and in no way reflect the position of

this newspaper.

Adviser: Mrs. Hock

THE PLANET PRESS

Playoff Madness –The Road to the Superbowl By: John Conley

This year’s 2014 NFL playoff series has already been what most people expected. It all started with the wild card games which featured for the AFC, San Diego vs Cincinnati and Kansas City vs Indianapolis. The NFC matchup included San Francisco vs Green Bay and Philadelphia vs New Orleans.

AFC NFC

27 - 10 45 - 44 23 - 20 26 - 24 The wild card games had a lot of excitement to bring to the fans. Every game came right down to the wire and kept people on the edge of their seats for the majority of the game. With San Diego’s victory over Cincinnati they advanced to play Denver, and with the Colts victory they moved on to play New England in the Divisional round. With the NFC, San Francisco barely edged out a victory and advanced to play Carolina and New Orleans had an even closer game and

beat Philadelphia to play Seattle. AFC NFC

This year’s Divisional playoff series yet again had games that shocked many folks and raised a few eyebrows. The AFC’s matchups included a closer than expected win for Denver over San Diego, Denver advanced to the AFC title game. New England pulled away from Indianapolis in the 2nd half to defeat the colts and move on to face Denver in the AFC title game. The NFC’s matchups involved New Orleans going against a very tough team of Seattle and the Sea-

hawks prevailed to the NFC title game. With yet another close call for San Francisco they found some way to pull it out against Carolina and advance to play Se-attle in a very tough, hard NFC championship game.

The 2014 AFC and NFC conference Championships included 2 games that millions of viewers drawled their attention to and experienced really good games. The AFC title game had a very intense matchup between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots. This game got off to a great start for Denver and kept on racking up the points as the Patriots had trouble getting the ball in the end zone and the Broncos were victorious. The NFC’s title game had an awesome ending and the Seahawks had to keep fighting and with an interception in the end zone, the Seahawks advanced to play against the Denver Broncos in the 2014 Super

Bowl in New York.

Planet Press Volume 86 Issue 5 Sports 3

Lady Planets shoot for the stars By Patience Yobp

Mars Girls Bas-ketball has domi-nated their season so far with a sec-tion record of 6-0. “Our team goal is to win the Sec-tion title and to make it farther in the playoffs this year,” said junior, Sara Getsy who thinks that the girls can achieve this goal as long as they stay motivat-ed. The majority of their team re-turned from last year since only two of the girls graduated. The team of 17 girls has been working hard since the middle of No-vember when their season started. At every practice they run, do basic

drills, shoot baskets, and scrimmage each other to improve the offense and defense. “We have been practicing really hard, and really intense. We try to make them [practices] serious so that we can stay fo-cused,” said Getsy The Lady Planets’ season will run until sometime in March depending on how far they make it into the playoffs. “I`ve always loved basketball and I just really enjoy the girls.

Our team is like a family so I just love being part of our team,” said Getsy.

Swimming, diving coach helps students reach potential By Patience Yobp

are so many divers and only two boards. “I do feel challenged, because there is a lot more freshman and they are really good so you have to step up,” said diver and sophomore, Sara Weiss. Misenhelter decides who dives based on the different categories of diving, such as inwards, backs, or fronts. Also, the diver must have at least six different dives. “The first thing I do is two of each dive, and the ones I am not comfort-

Lorch looks to come out on top By Patience Yobp

Chris Lorch, a junior at Mars, has been wrestling for nine years, over-coming all of the challenges of it. “I think it was my cousin who real-ly inspired me to start wres-tling. I had always looked up to him as a kid, be-cause he seemed so tough and cool,” Lorch said, “I sort of grew out of my ad-oration for him, but I stuck to wrestling any-ways because I enjoyed it.” Lorch talks about wrestling and says that it is a tough sport mentally and that no matter what, one just has to keep going.

“One can`t think about winning or losing, just the moment presented to them,” he said. Although Lorch has never consid-

ered quitting, he must go through the physical and mental strains of being a wrestler. Accord-ing to Lorch. Physical strains of

wrestling include pushing the body`s limit so that “as long as you aren`t in a cast” you will have to wrestle and fight through the pain “You have to be on weight all of the time,” Lorch said, “After a tough practice, you can’t just go home and eat a nice big meal with a bottle of water. You don’t eat when you go home, but you drink half a glass of water. Then you wake up the next day and eat a granola bar for lunch. You do what you have to, to be on weight,” he added. Lorch said that he would prefer to focus on his studies when he goes to college, but “letting wrestling go will be tough.”

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WINTER SPORTS SPOTLIGHT

Junior and point guard, Sara Getsy, dribbles past the defense. Photo from Josh Schwoebel

Junior, Chris Lorch, struggles against opponent.

The diving coach, Maria Misenhel-ter, has been coaching for 13 years, the last five at Mars. Misenhelter coaches the team of 23 divers from both Mars and Pine Richland. “I enjoy coaching because I like to help students realize their potential. I like to see them acquire new dives and improve upon the ones they al-ready have. Coaching teenagers helps me keep my sense of humor,” said Misenhelter. Misenhelter said that she is being challenged this year because there

able with, I go back and work on them,” said Weiss. The team`s goal this year is to make it to WIPIALS. “I am looking forward to my fifth year at Mars because we have so many new divers, I have never had such a large team with such large personalities,” said Misenhelter. The season will last until March 15, ending with the PIAA State Championships.

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