Solanco APRIL 16, 2025
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
Southern End Tracksters growing by leaps and bounds
were on Solanco’s high school squad. That number grew to 55 last year. “It was a goal of mine when I took over the (Solanco High School) track program (five
See Tracksters pg 2
See Explorers pg 3
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BY GEORGE DEIBEL
years ago),” McDowell said. “My goal was to get some of those younger ones involved in it. Last year, when word started getting around that I was getting all these
Southern End Tracksters, including (front, from left) athletes Finn Curry, Jose Dominguez, and Mason Shertzer; (back) coach Jen McDowell; athlete Kennedy Burrell; coach Ashley Mundorff; and athletes Daphne Kylar and Noah Findley
The Tracksters club is a W-9 nonprofit seeking business sponsorships as the team continues to grow. There were 12 members in the first season, most of whom
Swift students “sea” the world Swift Middle School students recently took a trip around the globe without leaving the building. Swift seventh-graders showed their projects to classmates, family members, and Clermont Elementary students March 14 during the school’s annual Explorers’ Fair. Social studies teacher Justin Zellman said students were focusing on 15th- and 16th-century European explorers during the Age of Discovery. Zellman’s class and Sara Pizzo’s EL A (English and language arts) class spent a month collaborating on the project. “My class focused on the creation of artifacts and the creation of trifolds to make it into this big fair,” said Zellman. Pizzo explained how her class went about the project. “The ELA process of the explorers’ project focuses heavily on the paragraph development and research aspects,” she said. “Students spend about a week conducting a plethora of research to learn all about their explorer. From there, they spend about a week to a week and a half developing paragraphs that focus on their research questions. Each of their research questions focused on different parts of their explorer’s life, such as childhood, achievements, and legacy, to name a few.”
BY GEORGE DEIBEL
On your mark, S.E.T., go! The Southern End Tracksters are in the starting blocks, preparing to start a third season. The Tracksters are an Amateur Athletic Association (AAU) track and field team operated by Solanco High School head coach Jen McDowell. It is made up of athletes ages 4 through 18 from the Solanco, Penn Manor, and Lampeter-Strasburg school districts. “We have started this camaraderie in the Southern End,” said McDowell. “That was the whole idea of the Southern End Tracksters. To get other people involved. Track is one of those unique sports. We’ve got rivals, but not like you do in a lot of other sports. We are there to support and guide each other. My kids are learning from some of the Penn Manor coaches. Penn Manor kids are learning from us. We’re seeing it pay off already at the high school level.” There is no cost to join the Southern End Tracksters program, but participants must pay to join the AAU and pay an entry fee for meets. Athletes can pay for a uniform or borrow one. Anyone interested in joining the Tracksters can email McDowell at southernendtracksters @gmail.com.
VOL LXI • NO 52
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