The Mirror
Loma Linda Academy News
Reflecting on LLA since 1940
01
E V E N T S
Our school has no shortage of fun events! We covered some of the most iconic ones including CHOC and SA Beach Day!
02
I N T E R V I E W S
We interviewed an energetic senior, none other than Shawn Manoharan! He told us all about himself, and we’re sharing it with you!
03 04
S P O R T S
Fall at LLA is graced with girls volleyball and flag football We also cover the upcoming basketball season.
05
A D V I C E
We went to some of our best teachers, Ms Phillips and Mr Song, for academic advice They delivered!
R E C I P E S
Culinary teacher Mrs Holm knows everything about food We sat down with her to ask about her best Thanksgiving dessert: a “no bake” pumpkin cheesecake! This piece is particularly delicious!
06
T E A C H E R F E A T U R E
Mr Richards is a much loved teacher here at LLA We dove into his favorite hobby - whip cracking!
EVENTS
WHATS HAPPENING AT LLA? EVENTS! EVENTS!
TEMPERATURES ARE DROPPING, BUT OUR SPIRITS SURE
Loma Linda Academy’s (LLA) “Church on Campus” (CHOC) was an AthleticsDepartmenteventcentered around community sportsmanship It celebrated the flag-football athletes, punctuating the end of the annual flag ball tournament On Friday, October 11, 2024, various sports teamsandstudentscorralledintothe Chan auditorium where the evening vespers was held Pastor Tim opened thevespersandusheredinagroupof four energetic student singers. Afterward, the different schools throughout the audience loudly introduced themselves with wild shouts as their schools were called Over five Seventh-day Adventist schools’ flagball teamsattended.This diversityallowedeveryonetointeract with their peers, build friendships, and get an understanding of their competitors outside of the battle for flagfootballdominance.
FALL CHOC ‘24
WRITER:TAFADZWAGAVAZA
Prior to CHOC, Pastor Meshach providedthemessageforeachdayof “Week of Worship,” a week of everydaychapelsandcampusevents reflecting on a spiritual message This CHOC theme was “A Community WithEnough”
EDITOR:RANIAGEORGE
AREN’T -
Outside the auditorium, during the post-service “Afterglow,” Campus Ministries greeted students with light snacks and refreshments Cookies, pastries, and beverages were served, and students took the time to fully interactandenjoytheirtimetogether inalesscompetitiveenvironment. My opinion of CHOC? Even though not everyone was a flag ball tournament participant, the environment was still accessible. Students, student-athletes, parents, and teachers all came together to worship The message was also a hit with the audience, Pr Meshach heavily engaged the crowd. The whole congregation was latched onto what he preached and the singers aided in creating a fun environment, yet still spiritual and invigorating. Overall, this year’s LLA “Church on Campus” was a spiritual event for friend-making and companionship
“Itwasveryenjoyable.Hismessagewasveryage-appropriate,
INTERVIEWS
MEET THE STUDENTS! SHAWN SHAWN
Hey Loma Linda! Welcome to our first star student interview, with the enigmatic senior, Shawn Manoharan. Get to know this interesting student, and find out more about him, and his experience at LLA.
Abby: Hi I’m Abby Zinke and today I will be inter viewing Shawn Manoharan.
Abby: Shawn, what was your experience performing as Shrek in the senior presentation?
Shawn: I didn't memorize my lines, so the last week before the performance I had to lock in and memorize them.
Abby: How was your pro-musica audition experience?
Shawn: JV Wongkaren* really helped me, shout out to JV for really helping me and thank you
Abby: What happened with your attempt at running for a position in SA?
Shawn: Mrs. Constanzo, sorry for protesting in your room. One of my friends is very sorry that he posted that flier online.
Abby: How is your academic life going at LLA?
Shawn: It’s alright, straight-A student, you know? Mr Song can vouch for me
Abby: Who is your favorite teacher here?
Shawn: My favorite teacher is Mrs. Ferrando, shout out to you Mrs. Ferrando.
Abby: What was it like having a sibling who also went to LLA?
Shawn: It was very fun
Abby: How was your experience moving from Cope middle school to RHS then to LLA?
Shawn: It was very hard because I'm such a very popular, very nice person, so all my popularity went to RHS, it didn’t come to LLA
Abby: What has been the highlight of your senior year so far?
Shawn: Probably Havasu, it was really fun. I also enjoyed spending time with David Benjamin, Sebastian Neri, and my other friends.
Abby: How was your baptism experience?
Shawn: It was very good, Pastor Chris Stanley is a very good teacher He taught me his knowledge and he transferred it to me
Abby: How was your junior-senior banquet experience? Specifically, your banquet asking for Hyeri?
Shawn: It was very last minute, thank you to Ika for making that poster for me. Shoutout to Hyeri Kang She's at La Sierra right now.
Abby: What are your plans for after high school?
Shawn: Going to college, probably at La Sierra Or you never know, Harvard is calling
LLA MAKES WAVES AT ANNUAL SA BEACH DAY
Forthefirsttimeinfouryears,LLA high school was able to experience a beloved event: the Student Association (SA) beach day. The SA beach day had been canceled due to various mishaps suchasCOVID-19,linefires,anda lack of buses Students held their breath in anticipation as the SA announced their rescheduling of beachdayfromSept 16toOct 9 due to the line fires in Highland Many thought that all hope of having a beach day was lost due to SA’s last-minute rescheduling of buses, which was a factor for cancellation in the past Thankfully, the tireless efforts of SA sponsors and administrators solidified the event in the school calendar Brightandearlyat8am on the Friday of Oct. 9, 2024, LLA students happily boarded the six charterbusesandmadetheirway toHuntingtonBeach
WRITER : SOPHIA
LALAS
EDITIOR: RANIA
GEORGE
Once students arrived at the beach, they hustled to the conebordered area of the sand and began to participate in the SA class games– various in which classes strive to gain class points by winning. The three-legged race, tug-of-war, and pyramid race engendered healthy competitionbetweentheclasses. Once the morning games were finished, students enjoyed free time playing various sports like volleyball, spikeball, and football. At 2:30 pm, students began heading to the shoreline to build the most extravagant parablethemed sandcastle they could comeupwith.Oncethestudents had thoroughly exhausted their efforts to become the Michelangelosofsand,theywere treated to warm veggie hot-dogs and corn-on-the-cob The beach day concluded with a joint worship and campfire vespers where new teachers shared testimonies and fun anecdotes withthestudents
Overall, the beach day was viewedasasuccess,asitbrought back nostalgic memories for the seniorsandsethighexpectations fortherestoftheclasses
EXTRA EXTRA
LLA 2024
“RED RIBBON WEEK” - SA SPIRIT WEEK!
InOctober,LLAcelebrated“RedRibbonWeek,”ayearlycampaignrecognizedbyschoolsacrossthecountrytoraiseawareness aboutdrug,violenceprevention,andadvocateforabstainingfromalcoholandtobaccouse Itthecountry'slargestandlongestrunningdrugawarenessprogram.The“RedRibbonWeek”beganin1985,asatributetoalateDEAspecialagentbythenameof EnriqueCamerena LLAshowedtheirschoolspiritandpledgedto“justsayno!”todrugsandalcohol
MONDAY
Students celebrated being drug freebycomingtoschoolinminion themedoutfits!
WEDNESDAY
Wacky Wednesday is a must, and students wore their weirdest outfits so they could steer clear of drugs!
TUESDAY
LLA students showed their spirit with a country theme that looked straightoutofthewildwest!
FRIDAY
Life is a fairy tale, and you should liveyourswithoutdrugs Onthelast day of spirit week, students came dressedasallkindsoffairytales!
WRITER:OWENBELLEAU
THURSDAY
Studentscametoschoolwitheach classdressedasdifferentdecades, fromthe50stothe80s!
SPORTS
WHO ARE OUR ATHLETES?
SPORTS! SPORTS!
VARSITY GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TAKES GOLD IN THE WALLA WALLA FALL CLASSIC:
WRITER:OWENBELLEAU
The Loma Linda Academy (LLA) Varsity Girls Volleyball team competed in the 2024 Fall Classic, held at Walla Walla University. Fighting hard, they secured a gold medal for the second year in a row. Things didn'tallgoasplanned,however, especially for two girls who had an unlikely encounter with a rabbitintheirdorm!
DORMING WITH WILDLIFE?
EDITOR:SOPHIALALAS
Two players on the team, junior Izzy Reyes and freshman Chloe Im were unlucky enough to have this wildlife encounter. Their trip started out normal, arriving at their dorms and they were expecting to meet their roommates and get a good night’s sleep. Fate had other plansforthem,though.
Izzy recounted meeting with her roommates, “we met them, and they told us they had a secret that we had to keep for them. She pulled open her bed and there was a bunny underneath”
A few moments later, the RA confronted the college students, tellingthemtogetridof
the bunny by the next day. Izzy commented on this, saying, “it was really awkward, and they went out to find who snitched. They were out till, like, 2am and it kept us up the whole night.”
Our players were moved to another dorm, but it was definitely not the start to their triptheyexpected!
The rest of the tournament went smoothly for our team, goingundefeatedforall8games and winning the championship matchagainstWallaWallaValley Academy. Coach Kayla Redfield was proud of her team, saying “it's always fun to play at Walla, and I'm proud of my girls for pullingthrough.”
WHO’S OUR ATHLETES? SPORTS! SPORTS!
INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW DIXON
WRITER:NAOMINICHOLS
EDITOR:OWENBELLEAU
As the next sports season is rolling in, teams have started gathering and getting ready for all of the upcoming games and events this winter. Loma Linda Academy participates in many sportsthroughouttheschoolyear.With this, The Mirror thought that we should talk to an athlete and see how they feel abouttheupcomingseason.
On the boys varsity basketball team, Matthew Dixon is looking forward to his senior year and being able to play for LLA. He started playing for the school team in his sophomore year on the junior varsity team and now plays on varsity. When asked how he made his way to the varsity team, he replied: “I practiced every day, watched a lot of basketball,andpracticewithmycousin. He would train me and do some filming sessionstoincreasemyIQ.”
Having grown up playing not only basketball but also soccer, baseball, and flag football, Matthew would like to continue to play at the college level. When asked how he would better improve before then, he said, “I will bulk and lift weights, play a lot more, and just keeplearnin’.”
Looking forward to this season that is before us, Matthew shows some promising qualities that one should possess to continue on in a sport to the varsitylevel.
WHO ARE OUR ATHLETES? SPORTS! SPORTS!
Zaiden Ricketts is a senior at Loma Linda Academy who is very active throughout the athletics department. One of Zaidens favorite sports to play is football and was a captain on the team for 2 years. Zaiden said being a senior and capitan made him realize that someone might be watching his every move and that he has to lead by example. He wanted football to be a fun experience for everybodyandbeingasenior andcapitanjustmadeiteven moreimportant.Iinterviewed Zaidenaboutafewquestions about the season and some of the advice that he would give to others. Here were someofhisresponses.
Zaiden has had a lot of jaw dropping moments throughout his football journey, some of his favorites were traveling to different tournaments and bonding with the team. One of his specificfavoritetournaments wasgoingtoMBAalsoknown as Monterey Bay, which he said¨broughttheteamcloser togetherasaunitandhelped ourchemistrywhichmadeus moresuccessful.¨
ZAIDEN’S FOOTBALL ADVICE
WRITER:CALVINDULAN EDITOR:ERICPARK
Overall,
Zaiden's advice can help many students realize the potential that the students have, even if they don't believe in themselves. They should always keep in mind to never give up even if the situationlookshorrible.
Another thing Zaiden talked about were some of the reasons they didn't win the tourney and what we can do next year to win it Zaiden mentioned that he thinks some of the reasons that we didn't win as a team was because we weren't focused as a team all together especially during tourney weekend His advice to next year'sfootballteamwouldbe to believe in yourself and worry about doing your part and not anyone else's He said that ¨If you guys operate as a family, then no one can beatyou.
“Ifyouguysoperateasa family,thennoonecanbeat you.
Zaiden finally ended the interview by talking about advice he would give to people who are interested in or want to make the team next year. He stated, ¨ even if you don't believe in yourself, you should just try out because there's nothing to lose.¨ One of his own experiences with the football teams was that when he was a freshman he was told that they don't usually make the team but tried out anyway because he loved football, and eventually became captain.
NO BAKE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE RECIPES! RECIPES!
Ingredients
RECIPES MRS. HOLM’S RECIPES
8ouncescreamcheese softened
1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon,divided 1 tablespoon granulatedsugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces whipped topping
1grahamcrackercrust
15 ounces pumpkin puree1can
2 boxes instant vanilla pudding mix 34 ounceseach
1teaspooncinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin piespice
Recipe
In a large bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, sugar,1tablespoonofmilk,and vanillaextract,withawhisk. Fold in ½ of whipped topping, and spread onto the graham crackerpiecrust
Whisktogetheronecupofmilk, pumpkinpuree,spices,anddry pudding mix, until it is creamy, putthisoverthecreamcheese layer
Add the rest of the whip topping on top, and chill for 4 hours
Take it out of the fridge, and serve!
WRITERS: RANIA GEORGE, ALEXIS JONATHAN
EDITOR:SOPHIA LALAS,NAOMI NICHOLS,
ADVICE
TEACHERS KNOW BEST! ADVICE! ADVICE!
HOW TO STAY ORGANIZED:
WISE WORDS FROM TPHIL
WRITER:OWEN BELLEAU
EDITOR:SOPHIA LALAS
Ms.Phillips(TPhil)hasbeenteachingatLLAforalongtimeandhasseenherfairshareof students. When asked, she gave her best advice for students on what methods work for staying organized Ms Phillips teaches Geometry, Honors Geometry, and Honors PreCalc. She’s been here longer than most and has her own gold mines of information if you’rebraveenoughtoask.Weaskedforyou,andshedelivered.Ms.Phillip’sfirstpieceof adviceforstudentsis:“takinggoodnotesgoesalongway.Ihavestudentswhotakebetter notesthanIdo,andtheytendtodoverywellinmyclasses.”Takingnotesinclasscanbe annoying, but they definitely do help in staying organized. When asked how she stays organized, Ms. Phillips said that she uses lists to keep herself accountable. “When I was younger, I could remember everything in my head, but now I need to use lists to remember things.” Using lists is a great way to stay organized, as they put your thoughts on paper. Plus, it's fun to check them off! If you’re struggling with keeping organized, feel free to try some of these methods, or even ask Ms. Phillips herself! She doesn't bite -unlessyoudon'tdoyourhomework--andisgreatatgivingstudentsadvice.
TEACHERS KNOW BEST!
STUDY SKILLS WITH SONG
Manystudentsstrugglewithdevelopinggoodstudyhabits.TheMirror’sownSophiaLalassat downwithMr.Song,LLAscienceteacher,toqueryhimonstudyskillsandstrivingforacademic sucess!
EDITOR:DEAHNAGOMAR
When it comes to studying for a class, most students end up procrastinating till thevery last moment. With this semester coming to an end, students would benefit fromlearningafew key study habits to help them get through tough midterms and finals. Mr. Song,aculpritof students’ difficult academic lives, suggests studying in increments of 30 minutes andreviewing bydoingpracticequestions. A popular saying of his is, “you’ll sleep when you’re dead,”and Song refers to the constant studyingrequiredtoexcelin academics.
WRITER:SOPHIALALAS
“You’llsleepwhen you’redead.” Mr.Song,2024
Mr.Songalsobreakingupa study session into two parts: reviewing notes and previous quizzes and redoingtheconceptsthat arechallengingbyutilizinga progression of readily available practice problems.Hisapproachto time management is to get the hard work done first and enjoy your free time later.Mr.Songis commonly found pushing students to get their work. He is a proponent for finishing class work in the earlyafternoonsostudents canhavethe evening to themselves to enjoy – hopefully they enjoy studying for his next quiz!
Photo:Mr.Song
TEACHER FEATURE
MEET MR. RICHARDS! TEACHER FEATURE!
WATCH ME WHIP: MR. RICHARDS AND HIS FAVORITE HOBBY
MrRichards,ateacheratLLA, teaches Mathematics and Coding for all high schoolers. Inthisinterview,Mr Richards shared anecdotes about his life and recounted his hobby ofAmericanwhip-cracking. He began by talking of the widevarietyofwhips,fromall around the world, he started by mentioning the multitude ofwhipsfromSouthAmerica, and mentioned the whips from Australia, which he said both are good for making music.Hisfavoritehoweveris the american bullwhip which can range from 6 to even ten feet long, however he says that using those whips can hurt your shoulder after use, the smaller the whips the easier it is on the shoulder andviceversa.
WRITER:RIVERJOHNSON
EDITOR:OWENBELLEAU
Mr.Richardssaidhisfavoritethingabout whip cracking was the artistry in making whips, he enjoys the combining of multiple leathers and the unique dyeing ofthewhipswiththeleatherwork.
Nowwewereallwondering howMr.Richardsgot interestedinwhipcracking, wellaccordingtothemanitall startedwhenhewasayoung boyandboredonthe weekendshestartedmaking hisownrudimentarywhips outofsticksandropes,andas anyyoungboywoulddohe startedbeatinghismom’s plantswithhiswhips,itjustso happenedthatsincelittleMr. Richardswaslivingneara housingdevelopment,oneof theconstructionworkers, noticedMr Richardsandsaid, “hey,doyouwannaseeareal whip”,andpromptlyshowed himafull8footAmerican Bullwhip,whichaccordingto Mr.Richards,hegotthehang ofitinunderthirtyminutes. ThusMr Richards'loveof whipcrackingwasborn.
Thank You for Reading!
Writers
Editors
Editor in Chief
Rhyen Lo
River Johnson
Copy Editor
Sophia Lalas
Owen Belleau, Abby Zinke, Naomi Nichols, Deahna Gomar, Calvin Dulan, Rania George, Tafadzwa Gavaza, Alexis Jonathan
Mia Lopez, Owen Belleau, Eric Park, Deahna Gomar, Rania George, Sophia Lalas
Photographers
Alexis Johnathan
Calvin Dulin
Video Editors
Eric Park
Naomi Nichols
Layout Editor
Owen Belleau