Windsock

Vandals Disrupt EMHS Community

We've all heard the story by now.

Late Sunday night, four vandals defaced dozens of windows at EMHS, covering them with obscenities and hate speech. Police took the vandals into custody after being notified by a neighbor, and soon Dean of Students Sherman Eberly and Principal Paul Leaman arrived to assess the damage. Fortunately, the paint used was water soluble, and all of the graffiti was cleaned up before students arrived. The school administration, seeking to avoid what Principal Leaman termed "undue disruption" and "undue alarm," considered keeping the incident secret from the student body and general public.

Any such efforts floundered, however, when local media began reporting on the event and the administration was forced to openly address the incident. Principal Leaman informed the student body of the crime during Monday's chapel. Even after the story became public knowledge, officials attempted to lessen the crime's perceived importance, again hoping to avoid "undue disruption" and "undue alarm." Principal Leaman said he believes that acting any other way might have made the situation worse.

Meanwhile, the incident was especially painful for EMHS teachers John and Glenda Leonard, as the graffiti contained vicious insults targeted against their family. Mrs. Leonard said she was "deeply hurt" by the slurs. "Even if you just walk down the street and see something like that," she said, "it's hurtful, but when it becomes personal, it hurts even more. Then, when our children were brought into it, it made it even worse." She said she was "disappointed" by efforts to downplay the severity of the crime, saying it initially made her feel that the community thought no one was harmed by the vandalism. She added, however, that she came to appreciate the community's concern for both the victims and the vandals, and that, as a recipient of that concern, it was "wonderful to know" that people cared about the Leonard family.

For his part, Principal Leaman concedes that mistakes were made and that the administration might have given the impression that the crime was not being taken seriously. He admits that he "could have used better words" when he told the Daily News Record the vandals were "not acting maliciously," explaining that he did not know precisely what malicious meant. In addition, he says that while trying to keep students and their parents calm, more should have been done to emphasize that the vandals were "spitting in the face" of the EMHS community. All the same, he stands by the situation's handling as a whole.

Where do we go from here?

Principal Leaman says that the vandals are welcome to establish a relationship with the EMHS community if they wish and that he is willing to speak with the families of the perpetrators. He also hopes that the community will move forward rather than being dominated by the incident.

Mrs. Leonard, meanwhile, says she hopes that the vandalism will provide "an opportunity for change" in the school and the community, believing that if the incident provokes positive action, then the pain it caused will not have been in vain. "We're beginning to heal," she added.

-Dustin Crummett

Flames Consume Covenant

The Flames dominated the varsity soccer game against Covenant yesterday afternoon, jump starting the season with a 6-0 victory.

"We dominated the whole time," said forward Mitchell Leap. "We're solid in all the positions." As a sign of the depth of the team, two of the six goals were scored by Sophomore Daude Teel, one of which was a beautiful diving header. The other goals were scored by Senior Mitchell Leap (2), Sophomore Matt Blauch (1), and Senior Kevin Chico (1).

Last season, EMHS played against Covenant three times, beating them each time. One of the three games had the same score as yesterday's match, while the other two were more narrow wins, 1-0 and 3-0.

Among other essential players, the team graduated defender Julian Sider. They seem to have done a good job replacing him though for the defense is solid in their 3-5-2 formation made up of Sophomore Matt Blauch, Junior Ryan Eshleman and Senior Brad Gunden. When asked how the defense performed, Mitchell Leap responded, "They played very well together. Covenant really didn't have any chances because our defense was solid."

Starting in the middle was Sophomore Diogo Durante, Senior Kevin Chico and Senior Bryce Shank. On the left wing was Senior Zach Stolzfus and the right was occupied by Senior Matt Zook. In the top two positions were Seniors Mitchell Leap and Lucas Shrock-Hurst.

A surprising number of fans turned out for the Flames' opening match. Soccer always has a slightly better turnout than the other sports because there is no football team at this small school, so going to the soccer games is the "thing to do."

The next home game for the EMHS Flames is on Tuesday, September 4th, at 4:30pm against Grace Christian school.

- Kara Lofton

Uberfan Steven                                   The Team at halftime

(Photos by Ashton Pease)

To see the Daily News Record story on the game, click here.

Storm Rocks Park View

The forecast managed to successfully prepare residents and business owners for a thunderstorm throughout several regions of the valley on Saturday afternoon. However, people weren’t expecting to see chunks of hail the size of golf balls descend from the sky or hear the roar of numerous lightning bolts strike the earth in rapid harmony. After the calamity had ended and the rattled people had emerged from their shelters, many noticed how erratic the storm seemed to have moved. The tempest that cruised through the northwestern part of the city left a trail of destruction in its wake that had many land owners grumbling over fallen trees, scattered furniture, or broken possessions. Apparently, the storm penetrated the valley in a narrow pattern and remained in a similar shape, only passing over a small portion of land compared to a normal thunderstorm the valley sees. One individual in Park View at the time of the storm noted how the winds and precipitation only struck one half of the EMU campus and left the rest virtually untouched. According to a valley wide comparison, the regions the storm passed through received anywhere from an inch to four inches of rain. For a summer that has failed to offer many memorable thunderstorms, this windy entity will reside in the minds of those who recall its ferocity for quite some time. 

Kyle Smith, Co-Editor

School Day Out

School Day Out means....hugs?  (Easy there, Mark)

Another year, another School Day Out. As far back as I can remember (or at least since I’ve entered high school), I’ve had fond memories of that day, late each summer, when we load the buses for Highland Retreat. This year, as I enjoyed my last School Day Out as a senior, I wasn’t disappointed. The day was hot and very humid, but most of us managed to forget our discomfort under the big awning as we sang hymns with Mr. Hartzler and listened to Mrs. Bixler speak. She stressed the importance of a good attitude in her chapel talk, using 1^st Corinthians 13 as a reference. The rest of the day was spent taking pleasure in different one and two hour activities (such as soccer, drawing, crayfishing, and what I hear was a very violent game of capture the flag).  In the afternoon each class spent time playing different “get-to-know-you games.” This was excluding the seniors, of course, who presumably knew each other well enough to cool off during the Senior Swim time (which was reputedly almost as violent as capture the flag, thanks to some swim noodles).

The younger generation enjoyed the day as well. Though some of the Middle Schoolers said that they would have preferred being at Highland, the day of Outdoor Ed. spent at Natural Bridge did not go unappreciated. The 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders spent some time at the nearby Wax Museum, where they had fun pretending to be wax figures and scaring their classmates. The day also featured a hike to a waterfall. At least a few students went swimming despite the cold water, not unlike their senior brethren back at the Retreat.

Mrs. Johnson and friend

Interesting lunchtime games (photo by Helen Furry)

Whitney Showalter

The Revolutionized Windsock

Ever made an attempt to conserve paper by eliminating the amount you print? Do you try your hardest to remain tech savvy in an age where the developers strive to produce new items and services that revolutionize the world around you? Wouldn’t you enjoy having a news source that receives updates and replenishes its articles frequently? The Eastern Mennonite High School Windsock team hopes to provide a satisfactory answer to those questions, while still maintaining the passion and fervent appreciation for reporting on the news.

In past years, the Windsock found its way into the hands of its readers through the traditional paper and ink medium. While this seemingly antiquated method remains tangible and ‘more permanent,’ the Windsock team has decided to provide subscribers with a newly constructed website instead of the paper-and-ink format. Besides saving time on the labors of publishing and editing the periodical, the Windsock writers of EMHS will not have such a ‘permanent’ impact on the environment or the literary department’s minute budget.

Another catalyst that prompted the Windsock management to convert to an internet service was simply the growing influences of the digital age. Fewer and fewer people were pausing at the box outside Eastern Mennonite’s office to pick up a copy of the paper-and-ink predecessor of the Windsock. With an efficient and easily accessible website, the majority of people already online can read the latest articles without visiting the school to grab one. The Windsock team believes that this online service will nourish the school’s newspaper back to a healthy amount of readers. One must adapt if one is to survive, that even includes newspapers.

Many people will recall that the former Windsock issues always seemed a bit...outdated or irrelevant. By the time an issue had gone through the processes of editing and publishing, most people knew what had happened from alternative sources. The periodical website and its vast arsenal of writers promises to change that fault of the past by releasing articles separated by only a day or two, not a month or more. The news will be relevant, fresh, and most importantly, accurate.

At the cusp of a new year, the Windsock team will need a couple of weeks before operating at full capacity, but the newspaper looks promising and the changes, even more so.

Kyle Smith, Co-Editor