2019-2020 Issue 4
Table of Contents Page 1: Sports Medicine Trip Page 2: FFA, STUCO, Recaps Page 3: Campus Events Page 4: Drama, Formal, Debate Page 5: Streaming Wars Page 6-7: Christmas Memories Page 8: Holiday Movies Page 9: Christmas Activities
Immanuel Sports Medicine Visits Kerman High School by Lexi Perez
Immanuel’s Sports Medicine class recently visited Kerman High School to learn more about careers in the medical field. Many schools like Exeter, Fowler, Tranquility, Chowchilla, and more were at the event. The day was spent listening to speakers who have pursued medical degrees, where they shared information on how long it took them to get where they are today and what experiences each speaker had in the field. Also they played games like musical chairs, sports med trivia, and snake.
During a typical school week, Sports Med teacher and school athletic trainer Ms. Martinez is teaching techniques like wrapping ankles, wrapping wrists, making ice bags, and more. Students learn different types of injuries that can occur and how to treat them. By the end of the semester each student in the class is required to have 10 hours outside of class helping at games or practicing techniques after school. During games, students help Ms. Martinez by observing how to treat certain injuries and keeping the players hydrated. In other words, they are the waterboy/girl. Immanuel continues to train students for possible future careers in the field, and Ms. Martinez is leading the way
Paving The Way to Success
A Sweet Way to End the Year
by Julia Scarborough
by Taylor Simonian
Immanuel's FFA Alumni Class of 2018 became the first group to receive the American FFA degree at the 2019 National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Graduates Max Barbosa, Makaila Hall, Kallie Huebert, Taylor Lovewell, Preston Pauls, Adam Simonian and Hunter Ward all received their degree, which put them in the company of less than one percent of the 750,000 FFA members nationwide. The degree requirements are earning $10,000 in their personal business, participating in 50 hours of community service, and being a three year member. The American Degrees are awarded to FFA members who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to FFA and made significant accomplishments in their Supervised Agricultural Experiences. Congratulations to our alumni for earning this high achievement.
With winter finals right around the corner, a sweet break is just the thing you need to keep up your spirits. Last week, Student Council held yet another “Sweets Week”, selling baked goods and treats to Immanuel students. Elementary Students, Junior Highers and High Schoolers alike had the opportunity to buy some sweet treats to fundraise for the upcoming Winter Formal. The sweet snacks didn’t just come from Student Council members; all types of students helped out, including Katie and Jacob Hofer bringing in their mom’s infamous zwieback. Along with providing Student Council with a good bit of funds, it also gave students a very much needed boost to jump into finals week.
Fall Semester: Sparknotes Style by Madisyn Baker
As we prepare to jump into a new decade, let's look back at some of the highlights from the first semester: Claire Ramirez and Andrew Herrera won Homecoming queen/king James Long won the talent show with his amazing guitar solo Nicole Ward won supreme champion hog at the Fresno Fair Pete Hingano spoke for spiritual emphasis week Senior girls retreat/guys retreat All-American Sadies at Balakian Park Stage performance of The Secret Garden starring the Chamber singers Nathan Orosco won president in the mock election RHS and IHS play football for the first time (IHS won!) Football went to playoffs (2 rounds) Volleyball went to playoffs (3 rounds into valley, 1 round into state)
Football Season Ends by Aly Perez
This fall season, Immanuel’s boys football team made it to the second round of playoffs. They played Reedley for the first time and took a dub. At this year's awards banquet four players got certificates. Winston Williams won for offensive player of the year. Hector Davila got the Eagle Heart award. Matt Tiger got MVP. Michael Kawagoe won for defensive player of the year. They’ve progressed through the years. It’s safe to say they’ve definitely ended the season well. They may have not won, but they accomplished much more, like taking a defeat to Liberty High School which has never happened before, or playing Reedley and winning! Their final record was 9 wins and 3 loses.
The All is Well Christmas Concert by Jordyn Baptista
Every year Mr. Robbins conducts a Christmas choir performance called All Is Well. Women’s Choir, Men’s Choir, Concert Choir, and the Chamber Singers all perform songs they have been learning this semester. On Monday, December 16, at 7 p.m. in the Chapel, make sure to come get a seat. Support the choir, get ready for the holiday season, and enjoy some Christmas songs.
CheckMate! by Jordyn Baptista
Students gathered on the green during the week before Thanksgiving for a massive, high school-wide chess tournament. Immanuel Elementary actually participates in chess tournaments all the time among other Reedley schools, but this is high school. The teacher in charge, Mr. Bergthold, known around school as Mr. B, runs a chess club and to get people excited to join he started a chess tournament. This competitive competition went on for a week every day at lunch. Mr. B chose who the students play against in the first match up, and then games after that were determined by winning scores. Depending on if the students win or lose they can go up or down in the standings. After the students find out who they are playing, they get assigned what chessboard they play at. Junior Thomas Balakian
The students play until one wins or lunch ends. At the end of the tournament whoever had the highest score and won the most chess games received a $30 gift card and the second place winner got a $20 gift card. After a long hard battle the winner of this year’s chess tournament was senior Karry Reinke, with the second place award going to junior Zackary Baptista. Congratulations to these two students! Let’s hope Mr. B makes this an Immanuel High School tradition.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Jonah Gomez
The Immanuel drama department and junior high choir recently presented “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”. This is the hilarious story of an unexpected group of rowdy and rambunctious kids, the Herdmans, who are cast in the classic Christmas story for their local church. Imogene Herdman (played by freshman Eleanor Mackey) is cast as Mary and Ralph Herdman (played by junior Michael Kawagoe) is cast as Joseph. The problem is they’ve never heard the Christmas story before and they have a reputation in their small town for delinquent behavior. It also doesn’t help that the church kids are absolutely petrified at the sight of the Herdmans and the old church ladies (played by Senior Taylor Simonian, freshman Katie Hofer, junior Jamee Lindahl, and sophomore Karolina Kuzmockza) despise them. Grace Bradley (played by junior Elena York) is tasked with the challenge of putting on this Pageant. The angel/shepherd choir was played by the junior high choir. This comical play was a perfect way to kick off the Christmas season, and it reminded the audience of why we are really celebrating. It truly was the best Christmas pageant ever.
A Roaring 20s Formal by Taylor Simonian
Bring in the new year in style, and get ready for Immanuel High School’s 2020 Winter Formal on January 18. With the 20s finally upon us, the Student Council decided to seize the opportunity for a Roaring 20s/Great Gatsby themed formal. Appropriate attire would include thousand dollar suits bought with dirty money, excessively beaded dresses that may have put you into some significant credit card debt, and a poor attitude. Just kidding. Don’t get 2020 mixed up with 1920, because we all know how messy that can get. But boys, do get to asking, because it’s closer than you think.
The Winter Break Debate by Ronnie Alvarado
With winter break right around the corner many people have argued that it’s too short. For those who don’t know, here at Immanuel we have two weeks off of school, while some schools in nearby districts, such as Kings Canyon Unified in Reedley, have three weeks off for winter break. Some students think that having two weeks off of school is not fair because other schools have three weeks off. Arguments can be made for both sides. Those who support a 2-week Christmas break say that although Immanuel students have to come back to school a week earlier while other schools get extra time to stay at home, our school year also ends a week earlier. While the other schools are still in school taking finals our seniors are graduating, which means we have an extra week of summer vacation. For seniors that means an extra week off before they move off to college or start their careers. For those who support a 3week Christmas break, I get it, you get another week of break and it is just one more week of school, it’s not the end of the world. As for this year, winter break is still two weeks long. If you want to have an extra week of break in the future, compelling arguments would have to be presented to make that happen.
The Streaming Wars by Ethan Garcia Instead of talking about toxic politics, let's talk about something more light-hearted but that also involves capitalism: streaming wars. With the launch of Disney+, Disney ushered in a new era of streaming. Services that typically come to mind are Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, and now Disney+, but there are actually 200+ streaming services, some focused on specific film and show genres such as horror films or independent films. Even Walmart has gotten into the game with its own streaming service. There are so many competitors to the giant corporation Netflix, but no one could match their subscribers, until Disney launched its own service. If you break it down to the bare bones, the whole streaming wars are capitalist companies feeding off nostalgia for as low as $6.99 a month. Just this year alone Netflix made 4.52 billion dollars, two million more than their expected income. So far Disney+ has made 19.1 billion since it launched only a few weeks ago. But they predicted that they were going to make 19.18 billion, so Netflix made more while Disney+ earned less. Plus Disney+ lost followers after the 7-day free trial. The streaming wars include hundreds of services but we're going to focus on Netflix and Disney+ for the rest of the article. As you decide what service to subscribe to, it’s important to note the costs involved. A Disney+ subscription cost $6.99 but you can compromise and have an account with Hulu and Espn for $12.99 for all three. Netflix costs $8.99 for their basic plan.
Disney+ has a massive array of pure nostalgia along with originals but their properties are pretty impressive, including Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. On the other hand, Netflix has more content, including some of its famous originals, current movies, and classics. The best subscription for any subscriber will depend on the content they are interested in and what they are willing to pay.
What Christmas Means to You by Erin Orosco
The Christmas season is rich with tradition, beginning with the original reason for the season and continuing into our modern day Hallmark holiday festivities. This time of year is especially prone to nostalgia, and family-centered activities. In order to get a better understanding of the spirit of Christmas according to my peers, I went around campus asking students and teachers alike for their favorite Christmas traditions.
“I beg my grandma to make me pumpkin roll every Christmas.” Taylor Simonian, Senior
“Every Christmas and Thanksgiving we play left, right, center but we use money instead.” Sienna Mehling, Freshman
“We have a competition where we look on the tree for a felt pickle that one of my aunts made. Most years it gets super crazy; sometimes the tree even gets knocked over.” Jordyn Baptista, Freshman
“My grandma hides cherries in pineapple jello and whoever finds it gets a dollar.” Madisyn Baker, Senior
“At dinner, my grandma asks everyone at the table what Christmas means to them.” Jonah Gomez, Senior
“Our Christmas tradition is going to Disneyland with my entire extended family.” Claire Ramirez, Senior
“My husband drives my mom crazy by hiding the baby Jesus from her nativity set every year. One year he hid it in some flowers and she threw both the flowers and baby Jesus away so he’s been on the hunt ever since to find a new one from the matching nativity.” Mrs. Ayers
“Every Christmas Eve my family eats P.F Chang’s for dinner.” Mackenzie Coats, Senior
“My favorite part of Christmas is watching my parents look at the best present they’ve ever received: me.” Mikaela Mora, Senior
“I love playing board games with my grandparents at their house on Christmas Day.” Paige Howard, Junior
“After church on Christmas Eve we come home and eat dinner. Then we open our presents all along the tree and argue about who gets to open theirs first.” Halle Brett, Senior
“The biggest tradition we have is that we all decorate the tree together and everyone knows that I ALWAYS put the star on top. On the morning of Christmas we open presents, then we have a big banana pancake breakfast.” Mr. Goetz
Is It Worth the Watch? Holiday Edition by Nathan Orosco
There are hundreds of Christmas movies out there, and limited watching time in a day. In order to help narrow down your watchlist, here are some reviews of popular Christmas films. These are my picks for what you should be watching with friends and family this Christmas. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965): Though this story is having little success among younger audiences, it is still a crowd favorite. The Charles Schultz classic focuses on Charlie Brown experiencing a case of the holiday blues, which is turned around when he directs a Christmas Pageant and adopts a small delicate little Christmas tree that he sees as himself. His best friend Linus explains to him that Christmas isn't about feeling sad for yourself, but rather it should be a celebration of Christ, lending it a 7/10. A Christmas Story (1983): Set in the 1940s, this beloved tale follows young Ralphie who wants nothing more than a Red Ryder 200shot Carbine action BB Gun, despite being told by his parents, teacher, and even a mall Santa that he would only shoot his eye out. Audiences young and old alike can relate to this feeling of wanting something so badly for Christmas that you are willing to write an entire essay on it. A Christmas Story is both nostalgic and humorous, earning it an 8/10.
Elf (2003): A more recent comedy, this movie features Will Ferrell as a human named Buddy who lives with Santa in the North Pole and believes he is an elf.
He goes on a journey to reconnect with his father in New York, while trying to inspire a little Christmas spirit along the way. Though this movie relies heavily on the comedic effect generated by Will Ferrell in an elf costume, it is still a surefire laugh whenever one may be feeling down around the holidays, and deserving of a 7/10. It's a Wonderful Life (1947): Widely considered one of the all-time classic Christmas movies, this story of George Bailey takes audiences on a journey. Despite the Christmas season, George is feeling down on his luck and considers ending it all. He is helped by his guardian angel, who shows him how destitute his small town would have been if not for all the good deeds he has done throughout the years. A heartwarming redemption tale, it earns an 9/10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000): This live-action adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss Christmas tale is always a good choice to watch during the holiday season. It stars Jim Carrey as the Grinch, a social outcast with a hatred for everything about Christmas. He concocts a devious plan to ruin the most wonderful time of the year for the nearby residents of Whoville, accompanied by his faithful dog Max. There are many unexpected twists for someone unfamiliar with the story, but the delightful character arc is sure to make everyone want to watch it whenever the opportunity arises, giving it a 8/10. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): Tim Burton’s 1993 film was a daring new take on Christmas movies in
t’s time. Done in claymation style, it takes on a darker feel than most Christmas movies. It follows Jack Skellington, the beloved pumpkin king of Halloweentown, as he journeys to Christmastown, with the intentions of kidnapping Santa Claus. He soon finds that even meticulous plans can often have problems. The very similar, but often forgotten predecessor to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it also earns an 8/10. Die Hard (1988): Another modern classic, this gripping story follows policeman John McClane as he visits his estranged wife and their kids for a Christmas party. However, their heartfelt reunion is interrupted by a terrorist attack on the building where the party is being held. Realising that only he can save those taken hostage, including his family, John embarks on a thrilling mission to defeat the evil and save Christmas. This movie truly has it all: heart-stopping suspense, well choreographed action, and even romance. It is truly deserving of a 10/10. This list was compiled through much deliberation and consultation. However, some honorable mentions include: The Santa Clause (1994), Home Alone (1990), and The Polar Express (2004). Regardless of whether or not you agree with these reviews, Christmas is about spending time with friends and family, and reflecting on the true reason for the season.
A Joy-Filled Christmas Season by Sienna Mehling The Christmas season is here and it’s officially time to whip out your favorite ugly sweater and drink unprecedented amounts of hot chocolate. Luckily for you, there is so much to do in the area to satisfy any Christmas tooth. Here are a list of ideas that you could consider.
Christmas Tree Lane - A tradition that has been going throughout many years. Every December, there is a one way street on N Van Ness Blvd, in Fresno that is lined with hundreds of trees and homes all decked out for the holidays. The visitors can either walk or drive the two mile distance. This attraction is opened all the way until Christmas Day. Gingerbread Houses - A fun activity if you want to show your inner arts! There are so many places you can buy kits like at Target, Walmart, and Costco. If you feel really creative, you can make one from scratch! Ice Skating - Gateway Ice Center in Fresno is open! Take some friends with you and go ice skating! You may fall and get hurt, but you will have a good time with your friends and making memories.
Christmas movie marathon - For something more relaxed, you can enjoy a night watching some of your favorite Christmas movies, or even some old classics. Bake some sweet treats with friends or family and enjoy a quiet night in. Christmas Shopping - If you haven’t gone shopping for your family, or you are in the mood to spend money, then Christmas shopping is always an idea. It is fun especially if you do it with the people you enjoy being with. Secret Santa - Secret Santa is a game you can play with your friends and you all choose a name out of a hat or an object and get a gift for that person, and they have to guess who it is from. Along with this, you can have a little get together with them and celebrate the Christmas season. Giving Back - During the holidays it is good to think about others, especially the less fortunate. You can go out and buy some blankets, scarves, board games, and so many other things to donate to different organizations like Salvation Army or Toys for Tots.