Lampeter-Strasburg townlively.com
APRIL 19, 2023
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LIX • NO 50
Red Raven recognizes Lampeter-Strasburg student artists ed Raven Art Gallery, 138 N. Prince St., Lancaster, has announced the recipients of its scholarships, which it awards to student artists each year. Aubrey Magagna and Lucy Smucker, who are both seniors at LampeterStrasburg High School, each received a scholarship. Magagna and Smucker will be individually featured in an exhibit at the gallery this summer. Magagna was awarded the Red Raven Art Company Scholarship, which the gallery created when it first opened its doors 16 years ago. To be considered for the scholarship, Magagna submitted a slide presentation of her artist statement alongside still-life works and a portfolio of 10 art pieces, which she selected with the help of her art teachers. She began creating art at a young age, and although she primarily works with fine pens, watercolor paints and colored pencils, Magagna said that she likes to experiment with a variety of mediums to carry out her vision for each piece. “I admire how subjective art can be. When showing viewers my
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pieces, I want the work to be as interpretive as possible,” Magagna said. “Whether it is a feeling, a memory or a materialistic form, I want my pieces to inspire introspection or contemplation in the viewer.” Magagna plans to attend Kutztown University to study art education after high school. Smucker was awarded the Mitch Lyons Clay Scholarship, which was created in memory of the late Mitch Lyons in 2018. To be considered for the scholarship, Smucker submitted an artist statement and a portfolio of her work, which she said that she curated with the assistance of her art teachers. Smucker has been drawing and painting since she was young but decided to further develop her artistic skills and she has accepted commission work in high school. “I want my art to feel whimsical and lively. I love including houses in my work, and I have been really digging into themes of home and belonging,” Smucker said. “I hope those themes come through and resonate with people.” Smucker added that her favorite mediums are currently clay, watercolor and gouache. She plans to attend Messiah University after high school to major in studio art. See Student artists pg 2
BY ADRIAN ESCHENWALD
First Presbyterian Church, 101 S. Decatur St., Strasburg, recently announced that it will make changes to its preschool program, Great Beginnings. By adjusting certain aspects of its programs, the church hopes to make classes more accessible for students and instructors. Great Beginnings offers programs that are divided into three levels: one for 2-year-olds, one for 3-yearolds and one for prekindergarten students. Previously, most of the
See Preschool pg 6
Lucy Smucker
Staying smart about AI BY ADRIAN ESCHENWALD
classes met once a week. For its classes for 2-year-olds, Great Beginnings will offer a class on Mondays and Wednesdays and a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays in addition to the weekly class on Fridays. “We realized that the 2 year olds do much better when they attend classes more than one day a week,” said Heather Reynolds, a prekindergarten teacher and administrative director at Great Beginnings. Reynolds first started teaching at Great Beginnings in 2016 as an instructor in the program for 3-year-olds. She noticed that due to
The term artificial intelligence (AI) draws mixed reactions. Thanks to decades of science fiction films, television shows and books, many people hear the term AI and immediately begin to picture a bleak dystopia where robots have taken over the world, accompanied by the worry that Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t be able to save the day. Charlie Reisinger, chief information officer for Penn Manor School District, shared his perspective on the technological phenomenon to clear up some common misconceptions about AI.
“AI is just another chapter in humanity’s quest to create machines that mirror other humans,” Reisinger said. “There are age-old stories of human beings trying to create life, like the tales of Frankenstein’s monster and the Greek myth of Pygmalion. At its core, it’s trying to breathe some sort of life into technology, but AI is really just math and computer code, nothing more.” The research of AI has been occurring for decades. The fundamental idea was to create software that could emulate human decision making, but many research efforts were not fruitful enough and were
Charlie Reisinger
See Artificial Intelligence pg 7
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Great Beginnings will expand programs
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BY ADRIAN ESCHENWALD