Hemet High School, Hemet, CA 92544 (951) 765-5150 Issue #5, December, 2016

Hemet High School

THE BULLDOG

Here’s what to look for in this edition:

1. Religious Holidays 5. Traditions & Remembering December2. Santa & What has society done to Christmas? 6. Mistletoe & Lights or no lights? 3. Winter Wonderland & Gifts 7. Christmas music & End of the year4. Fun with holiday food! 8. Sports, Door Decorating Contest, New consoles

& End of the semester!

Religious HolidaysBy: Hailey Timpson

Everyone knows what Christmas is. Be-ing that Christianity is the largest reli-

gion in the United States, Christmas is the most widely celebrated religious holiday during this time of the year. Christmas is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. But what do other religions celebrate during this time? While many are receiving gifts from under their trees, religions such as Hinduism, Judaism and Islam all have their own religious celebration.

Judaism has Hanukkah, an eight day celebration for the victory by Judah the Macabee over the Syrian

tyrant, Antiochus in 165 B.C. When they returned to their temple, there was only enough oil to burn for one day. However, by way of a miracle the candles on the menorah burned for eight days. That is why for the eight day period, a candle is lit each day and one on the last night. Hannukah is a rather minor Jewish hol-

iday and hasn’t always been a gift giving holiday.

Hinduism widely celebrates Christmas, however they do not recognize it as a

religious holiday. Islam has two large re-ligious holidays, Eid and Ramadan. They take place at different times each year, de-pending on the lunar calendar but they do receive gifts at the end of Ramadan. Many African-Americans celebrate Kwanzaa which goes on from December 26-January

1. They celebrate their culture and heritage.

It’s important to remember that these celebrations are not in place of Christmas, or their versions of a

Christmas. As many of them do not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God. They are simply their re-ligions celebrations, that take place around the same time of the year as Christmas.

In your classroom, on the web, reporting on our school!

Hemet High School 41701 E. Stetson Ave.

Hemet, CA 92544 951-765-5150

www.hemethigh.com

Journalism Staff2016- 2017

Views expressed in this issue are those of the students writers and are not the expressed

or implied views of Hemet High School, it’s Staff, Administration or the District.

HHS Journalism Staff: Hailey Timpson, Matito Shivers, Christian Smith, Natalie

Martinez, Luis Blanca and Anysa Rubio. Not pictured:(Chyna Spencer).

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What society has done to Christmas?

By: Chyna Spencer

The true meaning of Christmas is spending time with loved ones and close friends and

coming together to celebrate the holiday, howev-er most people see it as a cultural holiday rather than a religious occasion. Some people tend to forget what Christmas is really about. Some only care about the materialistic things and some don’t care about the emotional aspects of it all. As we know today, Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and why it is important to us now. In the early years of Christianity, Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas at all, there wasn’t any mention of December 25 in the bible let alone the day of which Jesus was actually born on. Christ-mas wasn’t recognized or celebrated until the end of the 8th century. So why is it that people go so crazy and lose sight of what Christmas is actually about? In the 1800’s Prince Albert of Germany made decorating Christmas trees a thing when he brought it to England from his country. When an image of the Royal Family next to a 40 foot dec-orated Christmas tree was published in the Amer-ican magazines, it started something we continue today.

In the malls today, there is a lot of glitz and glamour bringing in the Christmas spirit, but

all of that goes away this time of year when it comes to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They call it early Christmas shopping, but why would you want to wait in a long line on Thanksgiving, getting pushed, and getting into fights, for deals when you can be at home with your family enjoy-ing a hot meal that others can’t get.

Santa or No SantaBy: Chyna Spencer

There was once a guy named St. Nicholas, who Santa Claus was based on, who was a real per-

son. He was a Dutch Saint that became famous for giving gifts and money to the less fortunate. Now I’m not sure if he really did fly around the world in a sleigh driven by reindeer, enter peo-ple’s homes through their chimneys and deliver presents, all in the span of one single night. Hear-ing it does sound a little absurd, if you ask me.

Giving gifts is an old Christmas tradition go-ing back many centuries, often giving it a

religious significance. The Santa Claus myth has been around for traditions in many households, saying that he was just some guy in a red and white suit but Santa had many outfits before a Coca Cola ad came out in the 1930’s putting him in a red and white suit with leathered boots and a full white beard. The real question is do you be-lieve in the legend of St. Nicholas? A lot of peo-ple don’t, but it’s okay if you do.

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Winter WonderlandBy: Anysa Rubio

Winter is the time of year when the warm sweaters, the scarfs and the big puffy jack-

ets for the snow come out. Even though it doesn’t snow in Hemet. The common outfit for some girls are the black leggings with ugg boots. Mostly ev-eryone loves the cold weather and warm cloth-ing and fuzzy socks. You see more flannels out in the winter time also with hoodies underneath them. You see the guys with long sleeve shirts in-stead of the normal short sleeve or tank tops. Say

goodbye to summer clothes!

Winter makes me happy, but also mad be-cause I hate being cold! I wear jackets but

that chilly wind always gets to me. And yes I know that I should be lucky to even have clothes on my back because there are people out there who don’t have anything at all. It makes me hap-py because I have the privilege to have things like hot chocolate! Another one of my favorite things. I love drinking a warm cup of cocoa and warming myself up!

When I think of winter, I think of snow even though we do not get snow in Hemet, I think

of Frosty the Snowman and all of the Christmas movies that come on during this time of year. I think of new hoodies I want, or the food that is going to be made (of course I think of food, who doesn’t). I think of the things I want for Christ-mas. Christmas is the time to be spent with fam-ily and friends but, so is everyday, just because it’s the holidays does not mean that’s the only day we’re allowed to spend with our families!

GiftsBy: Anysa Rubio

Although Christmas is really a time to spend with family and friends, I have to admit that

I also look forward to getting gifts! Are you a gift giver or a gift receiver? If you are a gift giv-er, what is the best & worst gift you have gotten someone? If you are a gift receiver, then what is the best & worst gift you have received? For me, I am both a giver and a receiver, so here is my experience with both.

As the gift giver, the best gift I gave was an Obey hoodie. The person I gave it to really

wanted the Obey hoodie and he had been asking for it all year long. I really think he deserved that hoodie. The worst gift I had given somebody else was a $25 gift card to Zumiez. As you may know, Zumiez is extremely expensive. Even when there is a sale, you can possibly get two shirts! When you give, remember not to expect people to give back, and it is okay if you don’t get anything back, sometimes a thank you and a smile is good enough.

As the receiver, the best gift I have received was my iPod because I had always wanted

one. I can listen to my music anywhere, or if I wanted to listen to a certain song, I could just download it and then listen to it whenever I want-ed. I can also talk to my friends when I’m not at school. The worst gift I have received was a bunch of these perfumes because they all smelled like older woman perfume. I didn’t want to tell

my Tia and Tio that I didn’t like the gift so all I did was smile and say thank you for the gift. Don’t get me wrong, I was thankful because they did not have to go out and give me a gift, but they did anyways.

Not everyone in the world has the time or money to go and get gifts, or spend time

with their families. Not everyone has a family to spend Christmas with either. It’s a moment to be thankful that you have the people around you and the things you have. Don’t be mad because you didn’t get the things you want, because some lit-tle kid would be thankful even if they got a teddy bear. Christmas is a time for family and spending as much time with them as you can, so don’t take for granted the best gift you could ever have.

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Funfetti Shortbread BitesBy: Anysa Rubio

Ingredients:• 1 cup (226g) salted butter, cold and diced into 1

Tbsp pieces*• 2/3 cup (142g) granulated sugar• 1/2 tsp almond extract• 2 1/4 cups (318g) all-purpose flour• 2 1/2 Tbsp (30g) nonpareils sprinkles (any color),

then about 1/2 Tbsp more for tops if desired

Directions:

• Butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and line with 2 sheets of parchment paper (one

horizontally and one vertically. I also like to butter between parchment sheets so they stick) leaving a 1-inch over hang on all sides, set aside.

• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer cream together butter and sugar until well com-

bined. Mix in almond extract. With mixer set on low speed slowly add in flour and mix until combined (it will take a while and will appear dry and sandy at first but it will start to come together). Mix and fold in sprinkles. Press dough into an even layer in prepared pan (I did it with my hands first then used the bottom of a flat measuring cup to help smooth it out). Chill dough in refrigerator 20 - 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Lift dough from pan using parchment overhang on all sides. Cut into 1/2-inch

squares using a large sharp knife (it works best to just cut long rows). Sprinkle more sprinkles over the top if desired and gently press into dough. Transfer about 1/3 of the cookies to an unbuttered baking sheet (also do not line pan with parchment or silicone liners) and scatter cookies out spacing cookies 1/2-inch apart. Bake in preheated oven 8 - 12 minutes (keep remaining that aren’t currently baking refrig-erated). Repeat process with remaining bites, adding them to a cool bak-ing sheet. Cool complete-ly then transfer to an air-tight container and store at room temperature.

*Unsalted butter will work great too. Simply whisk in

1/2 tsp salt with the flour be-fore adding if using unsalted butter.

Traditional foodBy: Natalie Martinez

At this time of year we tend to eat whatever our heart desires because we’re on Christ-

mas break. No more “healthy” school lunches, or small-portioned juice sizes. We can finally stuff our faces with our parent’s delicious home cooked meals.

During Christmas we all tend to eat different meals due to our culture and traditions, and

I asked fellow students on what they usually eat on my favorite holiday. “We eat bread bowls and soup.” said McKayla Doty, a se-nior, when asked if she had any food that was a family tradition.

Christian Smith, a ju-nior reported that

“My family and I make and eat cinnamon rolls just about every year. We eat one after we open presents”. It’s interesting to hear about so many different food traditions! It makes you think from a different perspective and sometimes even want to change up your traditional foods and try others that you hear about! I know my family and I make

cookies every year and eat stuff like tama-les and ham and cake, but hearing everyone else’s traditions makes me want to try some of theirs!

Some of us will eat the same thing, but

others won’t. It shows us how different and alike we are and it gives us a perspective that’s not in our own circle. Before asking, some of us prob-ably assumed we will eat similar things because of our traditions, but we can’t assume things and we should try asking. What about you Bulldogs? What are your Christmas food traditions?

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Traditional Christmas MoviesBy: Hailey Timpson

One of the best ways to get into the Christmas spirit is to watch a Christmas movie! They’re

pretty easy to find, being that free form (former-ly known as ABC family) has their 25 Days of Christmas every year! And I can’t write this story without mentioning the Hallmark movies. I have to admit, cheesy romantic Christmas movies are the best.

But what are your favorite movies? There’s al-ways the traditional movies: Miracle on 34th

Street, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Polar Ex-press, How the Grinch Stole Christmas... The list goes on and on! As I type all of these I’m thinking about going home, curling up with some hot co-coa and watching a movie! I have to mention one of my favorites, Merry Madagascar. If you hav-en’t seen it and enjoyed the Madagascar movies, I highly recommend it.

This Christmas season, watch a couple movies! Get into that Christmas spirit! ‘Tis the season!

Remembering DecemberBy: Luis Blanco

Isn’t there something about December that just makes you smile and joyful? Christmas time is

the best time of the year; it’s about family and friends coming together, giving and receiving. It brings out the goodness of others and that conta-gious feeling will emanate freely into the air. It roams until someone is in need of something: that special spirit.

What are things that excite you about Decem-ber? Could it be certain traditions that bring

out old nostalgic memories? Because that happens to me almost every year. I think of what it was like as a kid, growing up listening to Christmas jams and traveling to places like the snow with my family. Overlooking the clouds from on top of the mountains, throwing snowballs at my sis-ter, and day dreaming while making snow angels. I love December. If you feel the season differs from joyfulness, than the Grinch really does exist (kidding). If something complicating is happen-ing in your life, let it go for now. Nothing matters more than the happiness you deserve to feel.

Remembering December will always be a part of what made me happy. With all that said,

any Christmas plans? If so, have a great winter break and try not to be too naughty. Merry Christ-mas Bulldogs.

Christmas TraditionsBy: Christian Smith

We all have our Christmas traditions like going to church or sitting around the fire-

place singing carols. Some people (like me) trav-el for Christmas. Every year we drive down to my grandmas to visit her for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic, the night before Christmas is all

about carp. Before they kill, slice, bread, and fry the beast, it takes a bath. The tradition of keeping the festive fish in the tub dates from a time be-fore refrigeration when it was better to store a live fish rath-er than a dead one.

In Venezuela people attend mass by roller-skat-ing to the service.

Ukrainians believe that when you see a spider web on a Christmas morning it brings you

good luck. This is due to an old folklore about a poor woman who could not afford to decorate their Christmas tree. But the next morning, her

children woke up to see the tree covered with webs and when the first light of Christ-mas morning touched the web threads, they turned into gold and silver.

We may not realize all of the interesting tradi-

tions that take place around the world, but we know ours!

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MistletoeBy: Luis Blanco

Christmas time is near and so is the end of the year. Hanging up Christmas lights, making

gingerbread cookies, decorating the Christmas tree, singing Christmas carols, and spending time with family and friends. And if any mistletoes are in sight, runaway (just kidding). You know in those Hallmark or ABC Christmas movies, there is a girl and a boy. They’re in love but concealed it from one another until something magical hap-pens. The mistletoe grows above their heads (cue the kiss).

The mistletoe symbolizes many terms. Many tales have been told of the meaning behind the

mistletoe and a majority of them, is about those who stand beneath it, must kiss one another. If they refused, it was viewed as bad luck (sorry la-dies). In Norse mythology, “when the god Odin’s son Baldur was prophesied to die, his mother Frigg, the goddess of love, went to all the animals and plants of the natural world to secure an oath that they would not harm him. But Frigg neglect-ed to consult with the unassuming mistletoe, so the scheming god Loki made an arrow from the plant and saw that it was used to kill the otherwise invincible Baldur,” (History Channel). However, in more of the story, Baldur was resurrected by the gods and the goddess of love, Frigg, declared the mistletoe as a symbol of love and vowed to plant a kiss on whoever passes beneath it. I found this story most interesting out of the other folk-tales that were created to cover the background to the mistletoe.

Do you think Mis-tletoe is roman-

tic? Or do you think it’s just a cheap way of getting someone to kiss you? Cause if he’s not worth it, just turn the other cheek and call it a day. “MER-RY CHRISTMAS!” Right? Watch out for that Mistletoe Bull-dogs.

Lights or No Lights? By: Natalie Martinez

A question that many families are asking this year (including my own) is whether or not to

put Christmas lights up on the house for Christ-mas. Now I personally have always loved any-thing and everything to do with Christmas, so I tell my parents to put them up every year, but this year despite our Christmas spirit, my parents con-templated whether to put them up or not. The fact that they even thought of that question blew my mind away! Why wouldn’t we hang up lights? It’s what ties Christmas together! The next day we went to the store to purchase our Christmas lights and saw a machine that you put in front of your house and it displays lasers (lights) all over your house! I finally figured it out! People were getting too lazy to put up their lights!

It’s understandable that people don’t want to put up their lights every year, but in my family

it’s tradition, so I was pretty surprised that my parents didn’t want to put up lights because they were too lazy. I asked several of my friends and family members whether or not they were putting up lights this year, and quite a few of them said that they didn’t know whether or not they were going to put up them up! For example, I asked a fellow classmate, Hailey Timpson, lights or no lights? “Lights.” she said. I then asked would it be disappointing if your parents decided not to put up the lights because they were lazy and didn’t want to? She almost immediately replied “yes!” She then explained to me that she honestly didn’t know whether or not her parents were going to put up the lights this year. “My mom says that they were going to put them up, but they get busy and forget”. Which is understandable because our parents are busy working and taking care of us, but still there should always be time for holiday cheer!

At the same time it seems almost comical that parents are willing to buy laser machines

so they won’t have to go through the traditional struggle to put up their lights! Would you buy that machine? What do you think Bulldogs? Lights or no lights? Is laziness finally taking over tradition? Let us know!

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Christmas MusicBy: Natalie Martinez

It’s that time of year again where trees are be-ing chopped down and lights are being hung.

Christmas is right around the corner for us Bull-dogs and all of us are preparing for the end of the semester as well as Christmas break! A bunch of us are scrambling to get our work done on time to perfect our grades, and while we do this, we loose our Christmas spirit, which was originally activated within ourselves as soon as December hits. To get into the Christmas spirit while dealing with school, try listening to some Christmas mu-sic! It will be sure to put you in a holiday mood! Listen to it when you do homework, maybe when eating lunch or whenever you have free time.

Some popular Christmas music that we Bull-dogs can listen to are:• Jingle bells (the most popular)• I want to wish you a merry Christmas• Deck the halls• Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!• Winter wonderland• A Holly Jolly Christmas• All I want for Christmas• I want a hippopotamus for Christmas• Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town• Rudolph the red nose reindeer • Rockin’ Around the Christmas tree• The most wonderful time of the year• I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus• Blue Christmas

These songs are most commonly played on the radio and are on 24/7 so it will be easy to find

them. If no else will get in the Christmas spirit, then get into it by yourself and listen to some mu-sic! It will be sure to help! Have a great Christmas break Bulldogs and happy holidays!

2016 Has Come To An EndBy: Luis Blanco

Every year, people make New Years resolu-tions and think of it as a “New Year, New

Me” opportunity type of thing, but newsflash! That doesn’t exist. Not one bit at all. Although you won’t become a whole new person, you can set goals to change. 2016 was another year of self-building for the world outside of these school halls and 2017 will be the establishment of what I am meant to be. I hope it is for you too.

Many people are hoping that 2017 is a bet-ter year, claiming that 2016 has seriously

sucked! Maybe it’s been the best of your life. Or perhaps, it was a realization of things you’ve nev-er encountered before. If none of those apply to you of what 2016 was like, did you make a differ-ence? With yourself? Friends? Family? Or goals you wanted to live up to from the beginning of the year? If so, that is all that matters. If not, you’ll have another chance. It will be whatever you make it, and in my opinion, anything is possible.

Reminiscence on the things in the past couple of months that made you happy, laugh, and

love. Forgive and forget the things that caused you to question your worth, state of self doubt, and the gray skies hovering over your head. A new leaf. If life bites you, bite back. Have a wonderful Holiday Bulldogs and end this year with a bang that I call, “Unity”. As a whole, you are capable of overcoming all the challenges ahead.

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End of the SemesterBy: Hailey Timpson

New ConsolesBy Christian Smith

Recently this year, Microsoft and Sony have released new gaming consoles. They re-

leased the Xbox One Slim and the Play Station 4 Pro. These consoles are getting smaller and smaller, leaving more room for things other than your consoles, such as T.V. box or, if you want to, another console. As you get more and more hard-ware, you’ll need specific items such as HDMI cords and a few other easy-to-get items. The more challenging thing to get is the console itself.Each console cost around three hundred and ninety-nine dollars. The Xbox One has around five hundred gigabytes to around two terrabytes of storage. The Play station 4 has around five hundred giga-bytes. Think about how often you’re going to use before you buy something that expensive!

Every year of high school goes by faster and faster. And once Thanksgiving break hits, it’s

just break after break until the year is over. The first semester goes differently for everyone. Some set a goal to get straight A’s, and they achieve that goal. Maybe some fall short. Second semester seems to go by somewhat smoother because we understand the way our teachers work and how classes go.

But isn’t it exciting to finish the first semester?! Even though finals can be pretty stressful. As

a senior, this semester has been more stressful than any I’ve ever had before. Applying to colleges, keeping my grades up, working and attempting to maintain a social life. After I finished applying that seniorities hit pretty hard. My advice to you seniors is to finish applying to colleges, apply to scholarships, keep your grades up! Don’t let that

seniorities get to you!

And my advice to all of you underclassmen is to con-

tinue working hard. You will NOT regret getting good grades when you’re applying to col-leges. Keep on keepin’ on Bull-dogs!

HHS SportsBy: Matito Shivers

For those of you who like sports, come on out to your local peers games that will be going

on in December & January! If you do not know where or when it’s taking place, here’s a short schedule!• Varsity Boys Basketball - December 14th.

Yucca Valley • Varsity Girls Basketball - December 6th,

Hemet tournament• Varsity Boys Soccer - December 14th, Can-

yon Springs• Varsity Girls Soccer - December 14th, Can-

yon Springs• Varsity Girls Water Polo - January 3rd, Te-

mecula Valley• Wrestling - December 15th, Beaumont

JV Soccer player, Elijah Plascencia, be-lieves that they will have a successful

season, “If they keep learning their assignments and doing them, they will have a better and good season”. ‘I honestly think that they are gonna be okay, there’s going to be a lot of rough parts through the season, but I think they’re gonna be okay’. I agree! Good luck to all of our Bulldogs! Get out and support them!

The entire winter sports schedule is available on line at www.hemethigh.om under th eath-

letics tab.

Door Decorating ContestBy: Matito Shivers

Everyone likes having a competition, especially the teachers. The teachers recently had a door

decorating competition, as you may have noticed. Mrs. Self is one of the many teachers that is do-ing the competition. The first place winner got to have a pizza party with their classroom. Mrs. Self decided to let her students decorate the door. Por-ter Simpson, Cheyne Tate, and Emily Star were all the students who decorated the door. The stu-dents liked the door and believed that there was a lot of work put into designing the door to win the competition. Mrs. Lewis’ decoration was also

really good. She also made hot chocolate for anybody who wanted it fifth period. It was nicely done.

The final winner of the competition

was Mrs. Dewit, from the math department. She won by a close 4 points. Congratulations to all the participants and great job Mrs. De-wit!