Delonews

By Caroline Dudenhoeffer   On a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon, students trudged through the mud and the rain to participate in Delone Catholic’s annual Earth Day service project.  This event, sponsored by the Interact Club, allows students to do something help the environment in the Hanover area.   In past years, the club has worked with Conewago Township to plant trees, which were donated by the Adams County Conservation District, near the old Hanover aiport. This year, students focused closer to home and laid mulch, weeded, and planted flowers around the grounds of Delone Catholic. The weather may have been cold and rainy, but the students and teacher volunteers maintained a cheerful attitude with their muddy hands and wet hair. “The weather did not affect our hard work! We may have been a little cold, but the end result was worth it,” commented Senior Interact Officer Megan Jones. The Interact Club had nearly 20 members present at the project, including

by Brenna Yingling & Maria Elser Each year, Delone Catholic’s Interact Club hosts the Adopt-A-Highway event as part of the Pennsylvania state-wide initiative. Adopt-A-Highway involves picking up trash and other debris along roadways throughout the state. Delone Catholic has participated for 15 years by cleaning a stretch of Route 194 toward Littlestown. Mrs. Marrocco, moderator of the Interact Club, was in charge of this well-attended event. Participants of Adopt-A-Highway are required to walk along the sides of the highway in groups with trash bags, gloves, and trash pickers. Clean-up usually occurs twice a year; once in the fall and once in the spring. This is also one of the many service opportunities in which members of the club can participate. One participant, Freshman Sophie Strickler, shared some of her findings and experiences from this year’s Adopt-A-Highway. “It was a great experience to feel like I played a part in the environment’s health.” F

by Christian Powell The act of public speaking is not an easy one, even seeming impossible to some. But the Forensics team at Delone Catholic makes it appear simple. The team recruited new members this year, including five freshmen and one junior. With a wide variety of debaters in Lincoln-Douglas and Congress, the speakers in Humorous Interpretation, Informative, and Prose and Poetry, the team was well prepared and represented at several tournaments. But even with great preparation, the challenges of public speaking can have unexpected twists and turns. Speaking aloud to a group is a difficult act, but is easily practiced by simple activities, such as practice speaking to a wall. Calming nerves can be difficult but something as simple as taking a deep breath can help to prepare to speak in front of strangers and simply deliver what was practiced. In team policy debate, you must have well-structured and thought out responses and prepared to take the affirmative or

By Caroline Dudenhoeffer On a sunny day in September, select members of Interact Club gathered together to enjoy breakfast at the North Fifth Street Diner.  But they were not meeting just for the food.  They came together to help an inspiring member of the McSherrystown community, Lawrence Bolin, more commonly referred to as Gump. This man is so much more than a frequent visitor of McSherrystown’s beloved diner.  He was a part of one of the first classes to go through Delone Catholic High School.  At only eighteen years old this man selflessly signed up to join the United States Army.  Not only was Gump involved in the invasion of Normandy, but he fought in every major battle in Europe and fought alongside General Patton, who Gump has been known to call “crazy.” At age 92, Bolin is still full of energy and can always be counted on for a rousing war story. He also is a local artist, with one of his works of Annunciation B.V.M. Church hanging in a place of honor at the

by Megan Jones The Delone Catholic Girls Tennis team has done it again. For the second year in a row, the team has won first place in the YAIAA league. With an undefeated season in their league of 8-0 and an overall record of 12-1, the girls were seeded third in the YAIAA Team Districts Tournament. At the YAIAA Team District Championship, the team placed fourth, narrowly missing the ability to move on to states. With a powerhouse duo of Alyssa and Ellie Neudecker as number one and two on the team, the sisters led the team to another YAIAA league victory. Ellie Neudecker was the champion of the YAIAA County singles. As a doubles team, the Neudecker sisters were also formidable contenders, winning first at the YAIAA County doubles. In the 17 years that Head Coach Denise Dunn has been coaching at Delone Catholic this is the closest that the tennis team has ever been to reaching states. With her usual humor, team member, Julie Thackston joked “We’ve finally Dunn it.

by Sophie Strickler The floors in the 1955 will be replaced in the upcoming summer months.  Delone Catholic has been undergoing many renovations, mainly done in the summer, so as not to interfere with student life and studies. Last summer all bathrooms in the lobby area were completely remodeled complete with a new layout and fixtures; all made possible from the money donated through the Diamond Decade Initiative.  These donations also ensured that the flooring in the 1955 wing could be removed during the summer of 2016, in order to prepare for future renovations. During the summer of 2017 some more renovations will be underway. Delone Catholic will once again have a brand new look. Classrooms in the 1955 wing will be completely updated including flooring, light fixtures, and air conditioning. Each classroom with also be outfitted with interactive projectors, completing the technology updates for the entire school. All the lockers will be like those found in

by Maggie Rink Delone Catholic Marching Band. Made up of 33 students and their main instructor Brian Yealy. Formed from a motley group, these students come together each year to bring about a uniformed show for the audience’s entertainment every Friday night under the lights. These members give up their summer every year to put together a show to please the audience. Practices start the third week of June and run all the way through November. In the middle of July, these musicians take a week out of their summer to spend long, over 12 hour days, preparing for the marching show. Students are out in the summer sun for hours learning and practicing the routine. The work does not end there. Every Tuesday and Thursday during the school year the students have practice from 6:30 pm to 9 pm. Days can be hot and full of hard work. Learning steps, movements, and group work seems to be a daunting task. Sometimes it feels like no progress is being made at all. These stude

by Jake Warrington Throughout the year, the baseball field is simply a baseball field. However, through the months of September to November, it becomes the home of Delone Catholic soccer team. The fence is removed and fresh white lines are painted. The goals are brought out of storage and the flags are placed in the corners. And the excitement builds. Senior night is always under the lights on the football field, a unique way to celebrate the graduation group. The players arrive with smiles on their faces and anxiety in their stomachs for the start of the season.  Players dig into the uneven ground as they tie their cleats tightly. Coaches share their aspirations for the season and motivate the players by enumerating the talents of the team. Practices begin and the team is exhausted and out of breath as they work through their daily conditioning. The drills grow more intense as each practice closes and the sun begins to go down. Weeks go by and the team prepar

By Abbey Welsh The Week of October 17th, Delone Catholic hosted its annual Spirit Week in preparation for Homecoming. The theme this year was Disney. Each day was centered around all-things Disney, from the theme park to movies, Monday was “Monster’s University Day”, on which the students wore college apparel. Every day the teachers would vote who is “best dressed” in each class. Those winners would receive a free homecoming ticket.             When asked about her experience during Spirit Week, Senior Katie Farrington, responded, “I love spirit week because I love to dress up and down. I think it makes school so much more fun. I love dress down days and an entire week of them is great! I can finally wear all my costumes that sit in my closet. Plus, it gets me hyped for Homecoming.” Most students enjoyed the week overall, but a student favorite was Prince and Princess day. Students were able to dress in fun costumes and wear crowns, tiaras, dresses and even capes res

By Joel Reiner There is a wonderful tradition that is offered to the students of Delone Catholic and surrounding spectators: the Theater Departments bi-annual productions. Two productions are usually offered every school year, one being the fall play and the other in the spring either being another play or a musical. This past fall, the Delone Catholic Drama Department presented, The Mousetrap , a crime fiction play written by Agatha Christie. The setting takes place in Monkswell Manor located in London around the early 1950s. The opening of the play takes an unsettling turn by starting with a tragic event, setting the stage for a true murder mystery. Characters Mollie Ralston, played by Senior Gabi Cranga, and Giles Ralston, played by Sophomores Christian Powell and Alex Guy, open a guest house in Monkwell Manor, where they begin to invite their first guests to visit. What happens next to these characters after they discover that a murder has occurred in the local p