Jessica McGilvery
Movie Review


“My name is Christine Collins. On March 10th, my son Walter Collins disappeared. A five month investigation led to a boy being brought to Los Angeles from De Count, Illinois. The LAPD told me and all of you that this boy was my son. He is not my son.” – Christine Collins

Changeling, based in 1928, is a true story about a woman named Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) who loses her son and runs into many problems with the police when trying to get her nine-year-old son back. She goes into work (at a telephone company) one day after she has already promised her son, Walter Collins, that they would go see a movie. When she leaves she promises that they will see the movie tomorrow, not knowing that she would never see her son again. When she returns home there are no signs of break-in, but Walter is not there. She becomes frantic and begins to search all over town for him. Then she calls the police and is informed that the police will not do anything until Walter has been missing for 24 hours, leaving her helpless.

The next day she tries to get help from the police but she would probably have been better off without them. Miss Collins lives in Los Angeles which, at that time, was run by a corrupt police force. In that time, the police would “get rid of” people who went against them. So they had all of the power, which they used for evil. A local Christian Minister, played by John Malkovich, knew just how corrupt the police were and would give speeches on how LA needed to change. He warned people of what the police were up to and told them that they needed to beware.

Since they have such a bad reputation, a few days later they try to improve their image by providing Miss Collins with a boy who claims his name is Walter Collins. However, when Miss Collins greets “Walter Collins” she realizes immediately that he is not her son. The main police officer, Capt. J.J. Jones, (Jeffrey Donovan) tells her that he is sure that she just needs some time with him, seeing as the boy has no place to go, and she will realize that it is her son. He even suggests that maybe he just seems different because he has been through a lot. Miss Collins takes the boy home because she feels bad for the boy, but she knows he is not her son. Hearing of her story, the Christian Minister believes Miss Collins and tries to help her find her real son.

Later, Miss Collins measures “Walter Collins” and finds proof he is not her son. He is three inches shorter than her son, before he disappeared and she took the boy to his teacher and dentist who both say that the boy is not Walter Collins. The dentist says he has different teeth and the teacher explains that he doesn’t know where his seat is in his classes. Miss Collins then goes back to the police station to talk to Capt. J.J. Jones about the differences she has found, but he will not hear any of it. When Miss Collins tries to fight for her son she is told that she is crazy and that they have already provided her with her son. Then Capt. J. J. Jones has her thrown into a mental institution. While she is enduring the mistreatment in the mental institution, the police then tell the press a twisted version of her words to make her sound like she is an irresponsible mother. Reading this, the Christian Minister starts to search for Miss Collins. While all of this is going on a police detective finds out horrific information about the real Walter Collins’ whereabouts. Where is the real Walter Collins? Will he ever be reunited with his mother? Where did the other Walter Collins come from?

This movie is full of twists and turns, and is overall an awesome movie. Through its plot, Changeling explores the corruption of a legal force, the mistreatment of the mentally ill, misuse of power, the evils of people’s actions, and all of the emotions of sadness, frustration and hope that go along with it. This movie will keep you rooting for Miss Collins and wondering what is going to happen to both boys. The fact that it is a true story makes it all that much more interesting. You have to watch it to find out how it ends! It’s now on DVD and on On Demand and I promise it is worth the rental!

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Miss Collins (Angelina Jolie) with “Walter” The Christian Minister (John Malkovich)

talking about corruption.

Mr. Barnas

The 8th Annual PAHS Computer Fair was held on Wednesday, March 18th. The computer fair featured twenty –eight student projects, all of which featured the use of digital technology. Five different categories, including digital movies, animation, graphic design, multimedia presentations, and programming made up the fair. The two projects that received the highest point totals from the judges moved on to the CCIU Regional Fair, held on April 3rd. At the Regional Fair, two students moved on to the State Computer Fair, which will be held on May 19th at Dickinson College, while five other students placed.

I was one of the judges for the PAHS computer fair, meaning that I looked at many of the projects and rated them on a rubric used in all similar computer fairs in Pennsylvania. I was asked to rate the projects based on their content, technical qualities, and audience appeal. After carefully viewing each project, I used the rubric to give the project a score. My score was then added to the scores of the other judges, which included several other teachers and administrators. These scores were used to determine which students and projects moved on to the Regional Fair.

I was able to view several excellent projects as a judge for this fair. It was clear that the students who created these projects put a great deal of time and effort into them. I was very impressed with the projects that I saw. They used a variety of techniques to convey their messages to the audience on many different topics, which included a report on the development of Phoenixville, a parody of an infomerical, and excerpts from the Phantom Morning News. Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated in the PAHS Computer Fair for putting together creative and thoughtful projects!

PAHS Computer Fair Winners

Animation:

1st- Steve Ng and Jess Rapp

2nd-Katie Yoder

3rd-Evan Talbert

Digital Movie:

1st-Julie Weicheld

2nd-Charles Hanlon

3rd-Steve Sabia

Multimedia:

1st-Timothy Hackett

Programming:

1st-Thomas Nilson

Graphic Design:

1st-Timothy Hackett



CCIU Regional Fair Winners

The following two students advanced to the State Computer Fair:

Timothy Hackett-1st place

Katie Yoder-1st place

The following students had projects place at the Regional Fair:

Julie Weicheld- 2nd place

Timothy Hackett- 3rd place

Charles Hanlon-3rd place

Thomas Nilson-3rd place

Jess Rapp and Steve Ng-4th place

Marissa Rock

As many people know, the Phoenixville Area High School FBLA club has been very successful the past four years. The club is advised by Mrs. Jenkins who has always worked very hard bringing FBLA its success. The purpose of this club is to bring business and education together while building leadership skills, holding fundraisers, and helping out the community. FBLA also includes competitive events in which every member has the opportunity to participate.

This year, Phoenixville High School’s FBLA had seven members who qualified and participated in the state competitions from March 30-April 1 in Hershey. The competitions are based on business courses or skills needed in the business world. There are many different events and students have their choice of which one to compete in. Public Speaking, Accounting, and Desktop Publishing are a few examples. To qualify for states, the competitors had to place in the top three (or four, depending on the event) at the regional level. The majority of the events required the competitors to take a written test and/or be interviewed. The competitions are more difficult than one might imagine because when students take written tests or sit through a nerve-wracking interview, they are also going up against all the other FBLA competitors in the state.

The participants in this year’s competitors and events were Brynna Labik- Accounting I, Alex Kray- Business Calculations, Tyler Lutz- Sports Marketing, Matt Peeling- Accounting II, Nick Rabena- Computer Applications, John Bozzelli- Accounting II, Marissa Rock- Ms. Future Business Leader.

Out of the seven students who participated, three of our students placed in the state’s top ten! Alex Kray placed fifth for his event, Nick Rabena placed tenth and Marissa Rock placed eighth. Congratulations to all of the participants!

Another FBLA success from this year was the Poverty Project. Our high school collected many toiletries that benefitted the Phoenixville Area Community Services. They were very pleased with the outcome and thankful for everyone who donated.

Our high school’s P-Mart store is also an accomplishment of FBLA. FBLA members sell snacks, candy, drinks, and other items that the cafeteria does not. The store is open Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunches… so if you don’t want to stand in a line and enter a pin code every day, stop by P-Mart and buy something to benefit FBLA!

An exciting upcoming event is the FBLA has been the Dodgeball Tournament. This year’s tournament is on April 30th. Tickets are being sold at all lunches starting the week of April 20th, so bring in your money and get a Dodgeball team together to compete for the title of this year’s Dodgeball champions!

Overall, the Future Business Leaders of America is a very prestigious and well-known club. Therefore, being involved in FBLA looks excellent on college transcripts. Even if you’re not interested in going into business, you will learn important skills and find being a member very beneficial. So if you’re thinking about joining, see Mrs. Jenkins. You’ll have a great time and learn a lot in the process.

By: Britney Styers

On Monday, April 13th 2009 the Philadelphia Phillies lost their beloved announcer who had been with them longer than any player or coach. Harry Kalas died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C. He collapsed in the press box at approximately 12:30 PM, several hours before the Washington Nationals' home opener against the Phillies. Kalas was rushed to George Washington University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:20 PM.

Harry Kalas began his career in 1962 calling minor league games for the Hawaii Islanders while he was in the United States Army stationed in Hawaii. Harry made his major league debut in 1963 with the Houston Astros (then known as the Colt .45s). Harry was hired by the Phillies in 1971 to succeed Bill Campbell, and was the master of ceremonies at the 1971 opening of Veterans Stadium. After the retirement of By Saam, Harry was paired with Andy Musser and Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn. Harry joined NFL Films in 1975, and remained there until his death.

With his favorite phrase “Outta here!” and his unique voice in NFL films, Harry Kalas will live on forever in the hearts of Phillies fans all over the world. Harry’s death on April 13th 2009 impacted millions of Phillies fans. “We lost our voice today,” Phillies president David Montgomery said. “He has loved our game and made just a tremendous contribution to our sport and certainly to our organization.”

Harry Kalas’ passing affected both teachers and students alike here at PAHS. “He can never be replaced,” commented Mr. Burns. Mrs. Hudgins stated, “I enjoyed listening to his voice during baseball games.” As for the students, Robby Werner said to Harry Kalas, “You’ve touched the heart of every Philadelphia Phillies fan. We’ll never forget you.” Harry Kalas will be missed by people all over the world and will live on forever in their hearts.

Brandon Hershey said it best: “Although you’re gone, you’ll never be outta here!”

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Harry Kalas Memorial

Kathryn Sutton

Results are in from the 70th Annual Latin Week competitions sponsored by the Philadelphia Classical Society. The classical society was founded in 1924 to promote the teaching of Latin and Greek in the Philadelphia area. Latin students from schools in the area can submit works of art from several categories including drawings, painting, sculptures, posters, models, or literary works like poems or stories. They can also take an academic test, and they qualify for an award if they place in the top five highest scores, for their level of Latin, in their district. Latin III and IV students were given an exceptionally hard test, similar to some tests from an intermediate Latin university level course. Congratulations to the following winners from PAHS:
Project Winners

Latin I: Rebekah Cox, an original centaur story

Kathryn Sutton, drawing of Furies

Latin II: Kayla Allen, hippocampus diorama

Alexander Clark, Nemean lion drawing

Felicia Dellaquila, Empusa goddess drawing

Catherine Hamilton, Pegasus drawing and Medusa model

Latin III: Evan Panepinto and Jeremy Witcher, Polyphemus diorama

Michele Wisely, phoenix model

Academic Winners

Latin I- Emily Boring

Rich Brenner

Vincent Ciaverelli

Kathryn Sutton

Latin II- Kayla Allen

Catherine Hamilton

Alyssa Lipcsey

Joseph Mc Erlean

Ryan Vogan

Latin III – Michele Wisely

PAHS students did very well at this year’s Latin Week competition and should do even better next year!

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Michele Wisely and Evan Panepinto holding their projects Michele Wisely with her phoenix model

Your browser may not support display of this image.Evan Panepinto with his Polyphemus diorama

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Michele Wisely’s phoenix model Evan Panepinto and Jeremy Witcher’s Polyphemus diorama

By: Sam McMaster

TV is a big part of modern society, and let’s be honest, a lot of us enjoy it in excess. Regardless of your age, you probably have at least a couple shows that you cannot miss, and probably other shows that you like to watch too. Quite a lot of us suffer from television addiction, and there is nobody out there trying to stop it. Or is there? One teacher at this school decided that it was time to try and unglue the eyes of his class from the TV screen. That teacher is Mr. McColl; an English teacher here at PAHS. He created the “NO TV” competition as a challenge to his students. He said he wanted to “make students see how much time they were budgeting for other things for the sake of TV” He wanted to make his students realize how much of an influence television has on their lives.

The rules of the competition were simple: no television usage of any kind. The TV could not be used for shows, the news, movies or video games. If a student used the TV for anything at all, they were automatically out of the competition. And for students who are fans of Hulu.com, sorry but if it’s a television show, it makes no difference what they view it on. Since Mr. McColl could not monitor the students, he left it up to their sense of honor to tell him if they had broken down and turned the TV on. The game would end when only one student remained.

How did the students of Mr. McColl’s class react to the idea of no TV? In a word: negatively; most of the students were so hardwired to watch TV that by the end of the first weekend half the class was already out of the competition. After that massive drop, the remaining students slowly dropped off until only two remained. One, Jasmine Nicholson, finally broke down while out sick. The winner was Mike Robey, who successfully made it three weeks without television. How did he accomplish this? He said, “Whenever I found myself tempted to turn on the TV I just went outside. When I ran out of books to read, I went to the public library to read.”

The prize for the winner is a very appropriate twenty five dollar gift certificate to Barnes & Noble, so Mike can buy new books (since he read all the ones they had during the competition!) Now that Mike is able to watch TV again, you would think he would be glued to the TV box, but the opposite is actually true. Mike claimed, “Now that I can watch TV, I still don’t find myself watching that often because I’m used to not watching now.”

Perhaps we should take note from Mike and the other students of Mr. McColl’s class and turn off the TV a little more often. Try reading instead; it’s something that can be really entertaining and stimulates your brain. People have become so addicted to the TV and the computer that they forget sometimes that they can hang out and have fun with others. Never forget that there is a world outside that talking box, and it’s waiting for you to come out and enjoy it.