The Freedom Forum

Freedom to Fly fundraiser 
Freedom High School students, staff, faculty, and the community raise money for cancer fund. 5/10/13

Prom Court 2103 Announced

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Nominees for Queen: Sarah Callahan, Morgan Lukievics, Eileen Seitz, Bridget Silk, and Emilee Strange.
Nominees for King: Evan Kauffman, Thomas Loerch, Nicholas Maurer, Michael Salzarulo, and Joshua Young.

Voting for seniors will take place on Thursday, May 2 during block 2.

Hitting their marks in the "Parks"

Freedom’s Band and Orchestra recently competed in the Music in the Parks music festival in Williamsburg, Va. With a 1st place in marching band, wind ensemble, orchestra, and jazz band as well as taking home best overall jazz band and marching band, the band and orchestra failed to disappoint. All around the word seems to be that the trip went swimmingly, and we can rest assured that Freedom High School was excellently represented. Congratulations to all band and orchestra members.

BASD students marketing Musikifest

Two classes of Liberty and Freedom High Schools business students have been working to book 4 bands for Plaza Tropical each Saturday of Musikfest; then, they attempt to aggressively market and promote the artists they selected. The students visited the Musikfest Cafe for a real behind the scenes lesson on entertainment marketing. A Channel 69 News segment appeared recently, regarding a partnership between the Bethlehem Area School District and ArtsQuest called Marketing Musikfest’s 30. For more information, visit the link.

FHS Art Show draws near

On behalf of the FHS Fine and Practical Arts Department, the Freedom Forum would like to invite the entire BASD community to our annual Art Show.  The show will take place Thurs. May 2, and will feature student work from the 2012-2013 school year. Arts is all encompassing, and visitors will see work from fine arts (art, ceramics, and photography), family and consumer science (foods), and industrial arts (woodshop).  The show will be accompanied by music from the FHS Jazz band. Once again the show is on May 2nd from 6:30-8 p.m. at Freedom.  Come out to show your support for the arts and those involved in them at Freedom High School.

April 2013 Web Articles
To view an article, click on the headline.

Welcome to attendance

An interview with the new attendance secretary.

Listen up- Turn it down

Even teens can suffer from hearing loss.

How to maintain friendships

Keeping in touch with friends these days is both easy and difficult.

Age does not equal maturity

Why teenagers feel like adults.

Between the backyard and the diamond

Preview of the junior varsity baseball team.

What students want through sports

The positive impact sports has on the lives of students.

What students want from teachers

Students do want more than just no homework from teachers.

The ups and downs of Snapchat

Snapchat, the new social network, can be fun or dangerous.

Having a blast over the weekend

Fun things to do during the weekend.

Moving forward after high school

Graduating can be stressful. However, there are some ways you can plan your future.

Everyone is listening

The ups and down of the use of headphones in the classroom.


Stressing the teenage years

5 reasons why teenagers are so stressed.



High School; The struggle is real

Students try to find ways to relieve the stresses of school



Obesity level driving thru the charts

Who is to blame for the rising level of obesity in our society?

What do teens want from parents?

Maintaining a good relationship with parents as a teen is not always easy.


What kids want from school

Students want less work and less stress in order to further their education.



Fun in the Sun?

What the sun’s rays are really doing to your body.



Teens worry today, about what?

Teenagers today worry about many different things


This Month In History - March
3/15/13 - Article by Damian Roszkowski

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Photo courtesy of ushistory.org
March 5, 1770 - The Boston Massacre
 
    The Boston Massacre occurred when a group of American patriots harassed British soldiers by throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks. The group began to grow and soon turned into a rioting mob. Amongst the confusion, British soldiers opened fired on the mob, killing five people and injuring six. British Captain Thomas Preston, who was in charge of that unit, and eight of his men were arrested and charged with manslaughter. Their trial took place in October with lawyer John Adams, future American president, and Josiah Quincy defending them. Preston and six of his men were not charged with manslaughter and released. Two of the soldiers, Matthew Kilroy and Hugh Montgomery, were found guilty of manslaughter. Their only punishment was to be branded with the letter “M”, for “murder” on the thumb and then were released. This sparked much outrage throughout America.
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Courtesy of sonofthesouth.net
March 6, 1836 - Fort Alamo

   During the Mexican-American war, a group of 140 texans, under the command of William Barret Travis, fortified fort Alamo. An army of four-thousand Mexican soldiers, led by General Santa Anna, surrounded the fort and began bombarding it for more than twenty-four hours, in which no Texan was injured. The Mexican army tried twice, charging into the fort, each time they were repulsed by only 140 Texans. The Texans continued to hold the fort for almost two weeks until they ran scarce on food. Broken down by days of defending, the Texans were overrun by the full force of the four-thousand man Mexican army and all were killed except for six who surrendered. Supposedly, among those six was Davy Crockett, who was promised to be protected and freed, was brutally murdered by the Mexican army. This sparked the phrase, "Remember the Alamo,” a rallying cry for Texans who went on to defeat Santa Anna in April.

Ten-minute plays take center stage

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Photo by Ellyce Nieves
3/15/13
Article by Ellyce Nieves

   Short. Sweet. Simple. That is how a ten-minute play can be described. Many people have never even heard of one, but that may change at Freedom High School.
    According to theatredatabase.com, a ten-minute play is exactly as it sounds; an original play lasting up to ten minutes. After these plays became popular in the seventies, they became a legitimate form of theatre. Despite the length of it, a ten-minute play can be very powerful.
    Several years ago, Ms. Jennifer Wescoe had the idea of bringing this form of theatre to Freedom. According to Ms. Wescoe, the idea came to her when students wanted to direct their own plays.
   “The huge amount of talent from the students at Freedom and several with an interest in directing gave me the idea,” said Wescoe.
    Although the event will not take place in the near future, there are ideas of how it may be organized. The program would last about a month, and it would be a one night performance in the Freedom auditorium. The plays could possibly be written by the students. However, the whole event will not be possible without students interested in directing.
    There is a possibility that the plays could be all put into a competition where the audience votes for their favorite play.
   “I like the idea,” said Wescoe, “depending on the turnout of the students, it could eventually lead to that.”

Heading for home with the Blue Jays
How to get accepted into Johns Hopkins University

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3/15/13
Article by Miriam Siddiqui

   You have to work hard to be at the top of your class, but to get accepted into Johns Hopkins University, you’re going to have to work even harder.
   Johns Hopkins, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is known for its amazing public medicine achievements and its outstanding ranking as the thirteenth best university in the United States.
   Getting accepted into Johns Hopkins takes a lot of hard work and ambition, as the admissions’ officers look for well roundedness in an applicant.
   “Challenge yourself and take as many classes as you can. Also, get involved,” said Dylan Frankenfield, a senior who was accepted into the college this past winter. Frankenfield will be attending this fall on a baseball scholarship.
   Frankenfield advises students who want to attend a competitive university to find what they are interested in and get involved in different clubs and extracurricular activities that interest them.
   “Conduct better study habits during high school, so it is easier to do in college,” said Laila Siddiqui, a third year student at Johns Hopkins.
   For future Johns Hopkins’ applicants, Frankenfield recommends to be honest and do not embellish or downgrade yourself in the application. Being yourself and showing your personality is the best way to show colleges your passion.
   For students who are undecided about what colleges in which to apply, Frankenfield recommends to visit schools and to be as active as you can be in different schools. Whatever happens, students should remember that the quality of their college education is not determined by what institution that they attend but rather the effort they put forth in their classes.

Future outcome in mental health optimistic

3/13/13
Article By Daryl Tweed, The Freedom Forum
Edited by Bill Leeson, News Editor

   Medical professionals believe that by 2021 mental health social issues will lower, or though they may take longer to conquer.
   The prediction carries important weight for much of America because the Center for Disease Control says, “1 in 150 people in the U.S. are autistic.” Public physicians and psychologists at the Emory Autism Centers have been concerned about the potential social inconsistencies that are based on this.
   It is surprising how mere mental stress cannot really make people crazy, though it is often inadvertently confused with actual disorders. How ironic is it that psychotic disorders could make people “crazy” enough to kill? Further diminishing the public’s attention to this topic is the fact that mental imbalance is not considered to lead to consumption of tobacco products at all.
   Over 25% of U.S. citizens have a mental illness, while 50% of U.S, adults could develop mental disorders over a lifetime, though statistics vary widely by location. For example, nearly 14% of residents of Mississippi are estimated to suffer from depression, which contrasts heavily against the 4.3% of West Virginia.
   Very soon, specialized care could become a heavily demanded commodity if healthy societies want to bring success to their plans on mental health. States taking a hard look at mental health evaluation include Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, New Jersey, North and South Carolina and Utah.
   Of that list, South Carolina particularly has an abundance of residents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with a 2008 estimate by the CDC approaching 54% in young children, far more than the six other nominal states of autism.
   Beginning Sept. 2, 2011, the CDC has been using surveillance to track progress of ASD. With that, the CDC has tracked average educational funds increasing to $10,709 per child, which indicates a real positive change in recent years in how autism is approached by professionals. 

Shaking out the stage fright
Dance helps students overcome nervousness.

By Autumn Washington
3/4/13

    Trend or stupidity? The Harlem Shake is the latest dance trend. The Harlem Shake is a video that begins with one person dancing and then a bunch of people join in when the beat starts.
Mr. Michael Dunstan is a public speaking and english teacher who did a Harlem Shake video with his block three class.  The subject was brought up when some students were talking about a Harlem Shake video and asked if they could do one in the class.
    “I was intrigued by the idea,” said Mr. Dunstan.
    As a way to overcome stage fright they began preparing for the video. After watching a few appropriate videos Mr. Dunstan and the students brought in their favorite crazy prop. Very cleverly, Mr. Dunstan had a plan in disguise.
    “The reason we did it, part of overcoming stage fright is being willing to put yourself out there and allow yourself to be vulnerable. You have to understand that when talking to a large group of people you are always taking a chance of making a fool out of yourself,” said Dunstan.
    It was a lot of help that Mr. Dunstan brought in his kids’ toys and masks to help make the video crazy.
    “It was really chaotic, it took three takes to keep a straight face when Mr. Dunstan started dancing,” said sophomore Cayley Urenko.
    Click here to watch the video on Youtube.

Change in drop-off procedures at FHS

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As per an email from the FHS PTO email received 2/16/13:

Parents -- beginning Monday, February 18 all student drop offs are to occur in the front athletics/gymnasium bus channel.

Parents are not to drop off students in the main bus channel, the administrative parking lot or the main parking lot.

This change is in order to improve safety for our students who are walking across the main parking lot and in the main bus channel.

Learn about AP possibilities

Liberty High School's auditorium will be the home of a meeting regarding AP classes, at both Freedom and Liberty, in the upcoming days. Make sure to free your schedules February 6th at 7:00 PM so that you can attend the pertinent informational session. Teachers, students, administrators, and college representatives will be present to give you a better idea of the AP rigor, benefits, as well as providing general information. If you have any further questions on the session's contents, feel free to contact Mrs. Harper at 610-867-5843.

Hurricane causes students to postpone spirit activities 

2/1/13
Amanda Molinaro
Managing Editor of Print

   Every year before the highly anticipated Freedom High School (FHS) vs. Liberty High School (LHS) football game, the entire student body is encouraged to participate in "Spirit Week."  Due to unexpected inclement weather (a.k.a. the infamous Hurricane Sandy) during the week of Oct. 29 through Nov. 2, Spirit Week was postponed to the week of Feb. 4 through Feb. 8.  
   The annual hallway decorating competition will take place on Friday, Feb. 8 as well as a school-wide Pep Rally during Block 4.  After all the festivities during the day, the FHS vs. LHS boy's varsity basketball game will occur Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in the FHS Main Gym.  

The Spirit Week days are as follows:       
Monday, Feb. 4 - Pajama Day 
Wednesday, Feb. 6 - Western Day  
Tuesday, Feb. 5 - Formal Day 
Thursday, Feb. 6 - Beach Day 
Friday, Feb. 8 - Freedom Friday 
Photos courtesy of Clipart

Guidance office goes viral

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1/11/13
Karla Erdman
Forum adviser

The Freedom High School guidance office has joined the 21st century as it is now has a Twitter handle.

“We are @FHS_Guidance, and we will be tweeting about scholarships, program opportunities, deadline reminders, and other information important to students and parents,” said Dr. William Feigley, guidance counselor.

Thus, the guidance counselors are asking students to start following @FHS_Guidance in order to receive important information which is not always heard on the morning and afternoon announcements.

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