THE AZTECVOLUME LXXVII NUMBER IV ALHAMBRA, CA 91801 December 11, 2014

12/8-12/12 Closed Week12/12 Orchestra Winter Concert in Auditorium 7-9 pm12/15-12/17 Final exams, dismissal at 11:45 am 12/18 Minimum Day, dismissal at 12:17 pm 12/19 Pupil Free Day 12/22-1/2 Winter holiday, no school 1/7 Collaboration schedule1/14 Collaboration schedule

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IN THIS ISSUE... News: Deck the Halls • Aztec Singers Concert • Acadec Scrimmage • Winter Pep Rally • Graduation Setting • Drought Talks • Club Showcases

Viewpoint: Harvard Lawsuit • Minimum Wage • Californians Spoiled by Good Weather

Focus: Christmas from the Heart

A&E: Mocking Jay • Christmas Songs • Hoverboard

Sports: Athlete's Profile: Lauren Saiki • Girls' Water Polo • Girls' Soccer • Girls' Basketball • Boys' Basketball • Boys' Soccer • Wrestling

This year's annual Deck the Halls event came together as the freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior class councils volunteered to decorate the A building hall-ways on December 5. Deck the Halls is a yearly tradi-tion in which each class council helps in decorating the halls in honor of the holidays and to help raise school spirit. Each grade decorated their assigned hallways according to a different house which was based off of the over-all Harry Potter theme. Freshmen were assigned the upstairs Eng-lish hall and decorated with the black and yellow house colors of Hufflepuff. Sophomores were assigned the upstairs math hall-ways and decorated their Raven-claw theme with blue and bronze. Juniors decorated the downstairs math hallway with the black and

green colors of Slytherin. Finally, seniors were assigned the main, downstairs English hallway where they decorated with the red and gold colors of Gryffindor. The Harry Potter theme was chosen as a collective effort by members of ASB. According to junior class president Amanda Xaypreseuth, although Keppel

has used the Harry Potter theme for Deck the Halls in the past, ASB decided to use this theme again because they thought that it turned out well when it was used four years ago. For this event, presidents and members of each class counsil take part in the decorating of the halls. Students received volun-

teering hours for some of their service clubs in return for partici-pation. Decorations for the hallways were made over a span of several weeks, but the actual decoration took place only on setup day. Hallway decorations will be tak-en down after about a week.

The Aztec Singers performed in their winter concert, “Christ-mastown” on December 5 in Keppel’s auditorium at 7:00 p.m. Before the performance, Mr. Azeltine said he was, “...looking foward to sharing music with the community.” “Christmastown” included tra-ditional music and pieces from christmas movies such as “Spar-kle Jolly Twinkle Jingly” from Elf and “Hot Chocolate” from The Polar Express. The singers practiced for the show for months but did not run through the full show until a few weeks prior to the event. Outside of school hours, the singers re-hearsed their choreography and staging. Aztec Singer junior Dana Chinn said, “[I] was more ner-vous for our show set because I didn’t want to forget choreogra-phy or a transition.” On the day of the show, the singers preparations included warming up their vocals, apply-ing their makeup, and dressing in

proper outfits. The performance began with a combination of Concert Choir and Aztec Singers. Then, Az-tec Singers performed classical songs along with a version of the modern song "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Ma-fia. Intermission followed these performances and the second half consisted of skits and songs written and performed by Aztec Singers. Aztec Singer junior Cristine Chou said, “There was a full crowd, but that doesn’t pressure the singers, it just encourages them more.” The money made from the ticket sales for the concert went into to the Aztec Singers’ booster account, which is only a holding account for money that will pay for different expenses. Some ex-amples of what the money will go towards include new gear and travels to other venues for their future performances. The Aztec Singers will com-pete throughout the winter and have another concert at Keppel in the spring of next year.

The Winter Pep Rally was on Friday, December 5 at Palm Court during lunch. During the rally, ASB recog-nized all the seniors in the winter sports. ASB recognized both the boys' and girls' basketball teams this past Tuesday. The pep rally started off with cheer performing. After, girls’ water polo, girls’ soccer, and wrestling seniors were an-nounced. Following that, Drill Team performed, and boys’ soc-

cer seniors were announced. Dance Company was not able to perform because they are in preparation for competition sea-son. Also, Color Guard and band did not perform because they had a parade the next day. Soccer senior Lindsay Kui said that the pep rally was, “[A] great way to recognize athletes who have dedicated much of their time and effort to playing that sport." ASB had junior Joshua Rock finish off the pep rally by rapping to a song he wrote himself tune of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem.

Deck the Halls brings holiday spirit to Keppel

The Mark Keppel Academic Decathlon team placed second in their scrimmage at West High School on November 15 against several other high schools from the Los Angeles County. Among the top participants were Chaney Tse, Annette Cai, Justin Ho, and Jason Chang, who all scored over 5,000 points out of a possible 7,000 per indi-vidual. Participants were tested in their knowledge of seven different subjects including art, music, social science, science, economics, language and lit-erature, and mathematics. These topics were all based around this year’s theme: New Alterna-tives in Energy: Ingenuity and Innovation. The team fell short of meeting their goal of 30,000 points and winning the competition, scor-ing a little above 28,000. Coach and social science teacher Mr. Tran stated, “We didn’t reach our goal but we are on task. We are looking to meet our point goal in our scrimmage in January, which is 32,000 points." The top three schools in the Los Angeles County are Bever-ley Hills, South Pasadena, and Mark Keppel. The coaches from other schools noted that Keppel has improved a lot. Coach Tran believes that the team could be doing better. The team had lost several “C” stu-dents that would have helped improve the team’s overall strength. President Chaney Tse says, “Academic Decathlon is an ex-pectedly challenging course, and as a result, our turnover rate each year is pretty high. How-ever, I have utmost confidence that our team will improve each year.” Currently the decathlon team’s goal is to be first place and im-prove their overall score in the upcoming scrimmage and ulti-mately repeat as champions at the county competition in the end of January.

Aztec Singers and Concert Choir perform in Winter Concert, "Christmastown"

Pep Rally recognizes winter sports seniors

Acadec places 2nd in scrimmage

SARAH McCORMICKNews Editor

Seniors Brian Gonzales, Michelle Yan, Tiffany Mar, and Destiny Jackson show off the work in the senior hallway. THE AZTEC/CORY MAK

KRISTIN CHINGBURANAKITStaff Writer

JONATHAN LOUStaff Writer

BRIAN CHENAsst. Viewpoint, Web Editor

Seniors (left to right) Monique Baca, Denisse Barajas, Hailey Candelaria, Leyna Cedeno, Claudette De La Vega, Jasmine Escamilla, Vivian Ho, Lindsey Kui, and Vanessa Rodrigues pose for a picture at the pep rally.

THE AZTEC/VICTORIA RAMIREZ

The Aztec 2014-2015

Amber Batchelor Editor-in-Chief

Vivian ToCo-Asst. Editor-in-Chief, Focus Editor

Darwin Tse Co-Asst. Editor-in-Chief, Viewpoint Editor

Sarah McCormick News Editor

Bonnie Grace WongA&E/Features Editor

Brian Yeo Sports Editor

Aren Lim Business Manager

Cory Mak Photographer

Brandon Chung Historian

Karen Ip Co-Copy Editor, Asst. Focus Editor

Lydia XieCo-Copy Editor, Asst. News Editor

Brian Chen Asst. Viewpoint Editor, Web Editor

Alexander Beaumont Asst. Features Editor

Carmen Ma Asst. A&E Editor

Emily MuAsst. Sports Editor

Sally Chen Asst. Business Manager

Alex Dea Staff Writer

Bradley Dea Staff Writer

Victoria Ramirez Staff Writer Asst. Photographer

Rodolfo Arias Staff Writer

Karli ChengStaff Writer

Kristin Ching-buranakit Staff Writer

Yun Huang Staff Writer

Christie HuiStaff Writer

Cristian JimenezStaff Writer

Joann Kong Staff Writer

Eric LamStaff Writer

Ida Lam Staff Writer

Tammy Lee Staff Writer

Jonathan LouStaff Writer

Yang LuStaff Writer

Carmen MaStaff Writer

Maliah Pierribia Staff Writer

Shanae To Staff Writer

Stephanie Tran Staff Writer

Edlyn WongStaff Writer

The aztec is published monthly by the journalism class of mark keppel high school and is printed at ameri-can foothill publishing co., inc. all newsprint used is 100% recycled. opinions expressed are those of the writers, not of the faculty or administration. Articles without bylines are staff editorials, and re-flect the opinion of the staff. Letters to the editor are welcome and are subject to editing. Letters can be given to Ms. Bradley in room a225 or sent to THEaztecstaff@gmail.com. All letters must be signed, but on request, names will be withheld. we do not acknowledge unsigned let-ters. All internet graphics on the aztec newspaper are the properties of their respective owners.

This year’s graduation cere-mony for Keppel’s Class of 2015 will be held at East Los Angeles City College (ELAC) on Satur-day May 30th at 9:00 a.m. It was confirmed on the school’s webpage by our principal Mrs. Cisneros. Students, parents, and staff members can expect a big-ger parking structure and venue. Since the school was estab-lished, graduating seniors tra-ditionally held their graduation ceremony at the Aztec Stadium. Prior to the ceremony, there were performances by the band, choirs, and orchestra. Because of the limited 2,400 spaces available for all attendees to fit within for

our school’s graduation, parking and tickets were always problems that attendees faced each year. According to Mrs. Cisneros, “Each school [in our district] has a budget for graduation.” Because of this, the schools tend to hold their graduations at their home school. However, since Alhambra High School is also renting ELAC as their ven-ue, less money would be spent for graduation and “most likely San Gabriel will also be graduating at ELAC next year,” said Mrs. Cis-neros. Benefits to the new venue in-clude the larger parking structure and a larger venue that can hold around 10,000 people. Also, stu-dents will find it much more ac-cessible to utilize the sound sys-

tem as well. Another difference in using ELAC is that the cere-mony will be held in the morning instead of the evening. Mrs. Cisneros also stated that another change is that students will be able to go to the podium and turn around to go back to their seat instead of walking through the center aisle. When asked about her opin-ion about the new location, se-nior Victoria Penate said, “I don’t think it will make that much of a difference and it still has senti-mental value. However, she also added, “It loses what was special about it because [if you graduate at the Aztec Stadium], you get to say goodbye to your school for one last time.”

Graduation moved to new venue

Drought Seminar features NBC 4 News

More than 300 community members attended NBC 4’s Cali-fornia drought presentation and discussion panel at Keppel on November 19th. Four representatives formed the panel: Council for Watershed Health’s Director of Programs Mark Antos, NBC 4 Reporter Patrick Healy, City of Alhambra Fire Chief Bill Walker, and The-odore Payne Foundation’s Direc-tor of Outreach Lisa Novick. Several members from the San Gabriel Municipal Water District Board and the city councils of Al-hambra and Monterey Park were in attendance. Recognition and certificates of appreciation were presented to NBC 4 for this com-munity awareness event. Crystal Egger, NBC 4 meteo-rologist, welcomed the audience with Running Dry: California’s Historic Drought, a video feature produced by NBC about the sta-tistics and history of the drought in California. After the video segment, Fritz Coleman, NBC 4 weathercaster, introduced the discussion panel and facilitated conversation regarding frequent-ly asked questions, as well as questions from the audience. The panel provided informa-tion and advice ranging from the details of the recently passed

Proposition 1 to the safety radius around houses that should be clear of fire hazards. The com-munity was urged to notice the small daily usage of water and reduce this consumption to con-serve the dwindling reserves of groundwater. Another major point of em-phasis was the modification and replacement of turfs, lawns, and gardens. The Alhambra Unified School District is already experi-menting with the replacement of traditional garden and turf with native species. Lisa Novick, Director of Out-reach of Theodore Payne Foun-dation, said, “We’ve been part-nering with Alhambra Unified schools like Brightwood Ele-mentary, where we put in a native garden and it was so successful that now they want to redo the

entire front of Brightwood Av-enue with all native plants… You don’t have to sacrifice beauty to be responsible [about water us-age].” At Keppel, the Garden Club is working to grow edible plants that serve both beautification and humanitarian purposes. Winnie He, Garden Club president, de-scribed this project, “Basically we are trying to plant more stuff in the garden to make a food bank, kinda, and so we could do-nate it to the food shelters.” Coleman said, “It sounds like your school is doing everything it should be doing… Adults should be as proactive as students have been… I’m really heartened by how well children are doing, es-pecially at Mark Keppel, it seems that people are really aware of they are doing, so good.”

This year, for the first time ever, ASB is having a club show-case, where all clubs in school will be required to host an event in Palm Court during lunch. Like Club Rush, the clubs set themselves up in Palm Court and display their achievements and purpose of the club. Unlike Club Rush, however, clubs partici-pating in club showcase are re-quired to create shows that give an overview of what each club is all about. According to ASB advisor Mrs. Carmona, these club showcases are now “one of the requirements of being a club on campus in or-der to highlight all the... [aspects of the] clubs.” The clubs have the freedom to choose when to hold their event, as well as to choose what they want to do. Examples of the ac-tivities clubs do for their show-case include Crown and Sceptre which did a water balloon toss, Project Green which held a booth about water conservation, Guitar Club which performed songs for the students, and NHS, which had a game of musical chairs. Many clubs are also plan to have a spirit week. The idea of club showcase was thought up last year by Mrs. Car-mona, who noticed that most of the student body was not aware of many of the clubs active on campus. She got the idea of clubs

showing off to students from a leadership magazine given to her by NHS advisor Ms. Rosso-bill. She then suggested the idea to ASB, who voted to approve it. This requirement was imple-mented due to a lack of attention towards the clubs on campus. Senior Akirah Limthaveemon-gkol, who coordinated some of the dates for the showcase, said, “The purpose of the club show-case is to help encourage more school spirit from both clubs and students.” She also stated, “the showcase helps to provide [the clubs] with more publicity as well as give them more op-portunity to participate in school related events.” The showcase was originally supposed to span the length of the first semester, opening on the first day of school, but due to weather problems, it had to be pushed into January. Clubs that operate during a particular season, have certain time slots in which to do their showcase. Senior Nicole Ang of Math Club, who will be holding the club’s showcase on the day be-fore Pi Day, said,” I expect [Club Showcase] to bring more atten-tion to the clubs.” However, she is unsure of the impact that club showcase will have on their overall membership. Mrs. Carmona hopes to see another Club Showcase next year, saying, “there are plans to continue this process [for future years].”

New requirement implemented for club showcasings

KAREN IP Co-Copy Editor, Asst. Focus

BRANDON CHUNG & ERIC LAMHistorian & Staff Writer

YANG LUStaff Writer

NBC 4 and city representatives lead seminar on California drought. THE AZTEC/EMILY MU

A lawsuit is being filed against Harvard University claiming that the institution discriminates against Asian Americans in its admissions process. This case high-lights the issue of affirmative action. The lawsuit is being filed on the basis that Harvard is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against certain students due to their race. Beneath the surface, however, the lawsuit is not being led by Asian American students but by Edward Blum, the leader of the group Project on Fair Representation. Blum, who found plaintiffs through a post on his website, is a white, Republican lawyer known for his fights against affir-mative action. This specific litigation may lead to many more lawsuits against elite colleges in the future due to signs of anti-Asian bias at top-level universities. Colleges like Harvard often cite their “holistic” admissions process, claiming to consider all factors of a student’s applica-tion. Critics point to this as a smudging of criteria in order to judge students of the same race against each other rather than against all other applicants. Harvard’s most recently admitted class was 20% Asian American (compared to 13% Hispanic, 12% African American, and 63% white), a number that has re-mained about the same for two decades despite the fact that Asian Americans are the fastest growing immigrant popula-tion and over half of students applying to Harvard with top SAT scores were Asian.

Comparing Harvard’s admission to UC Berkeley, where race has been prohibited as a factor for admissions, Berkeley’s ad-mission of students in 2013 comprised of 40 percent Asian American and 30 percent white, suggesting the presence of an anti-Asian bias at Harvard. At its core, however, this suit is one that challenges affirmative action. Affir-mative action was first implemented at a time when hiring discrimination against minorities was prevalent in the U.S. Nowadays, certain institutions, includ-ing some colleges, actively admit under-represented minorities even if they are not as qualified as other candidates. It is meant to balance socio-economic inequalities, but race and wealth are not synonymous However, the majority of black students admitted to Harvard are not impoverished kids but children of wealthy people. If colleges want to make up for certain eco-nomic situations, then they should adjust their admissions policies to make family income a larger factor instead of race. Supporters of affirmative action claim that it promotes diversity. It is not fair for a deserving student to be passed up by his or her dream college for another less-qual-ified student just for the sake of diversity. Should a student’s achievements in high school be mitigated when applying to col-lege just because expectations are higher for people of his race? As for seniors still applying to colleges, their race is not something they can con-trol. What they can control is the effort they put into high school.

While not all residents of Cali-fornia prefer a warm climate to a colder one, it is hard to argue against the claim California is spoiled by good weather. California’s climate is often compared to that of the Mediter-ranean, due to warm, dry sum-mers, and mild, wet winters. In the state, average yearly tem-peratures (in Fahrenheit) range between the low 40s and the high 70s and 80s. Californians are definitely blessed with pleasant weather in comparison to other states such as New York, which experienced alarming blizzards last winter, which caused re-peated power outages and traffic jams. Although California experi-ences favorable temperatures for most of the year, the weather does have its drawbacks.

Senior Andy Fung does not believe that Californians are spoiled by good weather because “we are one of the few states in the nation that has to deal with soaring 100-degree weather in the summer.” Contrary to the opinions of those Californians who enjoy the mainly warm weather in the state, Fung be-lieves the “average national tem-perature in November is definite-ly a drawback” as someone who prefers cooler weather. Because of the mild winter weather California experiences, residents are often ignorant of the effects of cold weather. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel showed a compilation of various news weather reports discussing the “cold” weather across South-ern California. One reporter in Riverside found it newsworthy that the “cold weather” caused “oranges

to blow on the ground.” Another reporter in Lancaster reported that if the 42 degree temperature had “dropped just a little bit more, ... it might have snowed.” Junior Samir Al-Alami finds these deriding products of the internet “hilarious” because “we really don’t know [what the weather is like].” Playful mockery aside, Californians are a blessed bunch. While residents of colder states begin to bundle up come fall, California’s residents continue to bask in their summer appar-el. The weather never seems to change according to each season, which, some say, ruins the mood of seasonal festivities. Winter holidays are warm, and students in the Golden State will never be able to build snowmen in their front yards or hope for school to be cancelled because of a snow-storm.

Many students who work entry-level part-time jobs have to balance their work schedules with their schoolwork and so-cial life. Although they may have a little extra money on hand, students who work part-time have to sacrifice parts of their week to earn their wages. Therefore, it may ultimately not be beneficial to be si-multaneously be employed as a minimum wage worker and enrolled as a full time student. The value of minimum wage versus the time and energy spent working for actual paychecks may cause some students to hesitate before committing to a part-time job. “Once you get older and start college, minimum wage won’t be enough to pay for all of your bills,” said senior Marcus Rodriguez, who works as a library page at the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Memo-rial Library. “It won’t be worth the time and labor.” Rodriguez’s job responsibili-ties include organizing the daily influx of returned library materials and shelving sections of the library’s collections. California’s statewide minimum wage is currently $9 per hour, and is scheduled to increase to $10 on January 1, 2016. In San Francisco and Seattle, the minimum wage is even higher than in LA. On November 4, voters in San Francisco chose to raise their minimum wage to $15. If Los An-geles voters follow suit in the following years, student workers can look forward

to making even more money working part-time. Some students may only see their mini-mum wage jobs as a temporary income. However, senior Tennyson Lee, who works 10-15 hours a week, believes that California’s minimum wage is complete-ly worth it. “I think minimum wage is quite a bit for what I do,” Lee stated. “I feel like my employers might actually be overpaying me, because I’m basically getting paid to chill during the winter.” While minimum wage may provide extre income for some students, the extra time required for a job may outweigh the extra cash.

IDA LAMStaff Writer

Does a minimum wage job maximise stress?BRIAN YEO

Sports Editor

Harvard sued for asian discrimination

CARMEN MA Asst. A&E Editor

Californians are spoiled by good weatherSenior Jacqueline Reyes working at the McDonalds driv-thru.

THE AZTEC/ CORY MAK

CARTOON BY VIVIAN TO

CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART

KARLI CHENGStaff Writer

VIVIAN TOFocus Editor/ Co-Asst. Editor-in-Chief

STEPHANIE TRANStaff Writer

As Christmas seems to come sooner

every year, many students begin to make

their Christmas wish list even earlier. The tradition

of gift-giving is to remind people of the presents given

to Jesus by the Wise Men. Most people give and receive

gifts without knowing the reason for this practice.

Over the years, this tradition has changed. Many children

now expect gifts such as iPads, game consoles, and other

luxuries. “When I was younger,” said junior Khrystalie Le,

“I wanted a lot of electronics and big gifts like a Nintendo.” Not many

people appreciate the thought of a gift anymore. Something as meaningful

as a handmade card or a small gift would be demoted if compared to the

newest Playstation. “I can see why they want all [those items], but what’s the point? It’s

all meaningless. I would appreciate a handmade card more than a store bought

card,” said senior Raymond Lam.

Since our childhood, there must have been a time when we cared about wheth-

er or not our games were just as good as the others’. As we get older, some

begin to understand the true meaning of gift-giving. Book lovers, Le and senior

Jacalyn Tien, think that a simple gift like a book would suffi ce as a great present. “I

fi nd that although they’re [electronics] still fun and entertaining, my life has been

consumed with school. I have less time to indulge in those kinds of things. Instead

of getting worked up about a single game that I can get bored of quickly I’d rather

sit down with a good book,” says Tien.

CHRISTIE HUIStaff Writer

Christmas caroling is twice as festive in Keppel this year. On Thursday, December 4th, Ms. Verner’s French students sang Christmas songs in French in classrooms re-quested by teachers. This Friday, students from Ms. Dominguez’s periods one through fi ve will be singing traditional Spanish carols from Spain. Ms. Verner’s French classes started caroling 14 years ago. She said her favorite part about caroling is watching her students get excited. “We give out candy, there’s a lot of camaraderie [team spirit], and it’s a bonding experience.” Each year, her students sing songs such as “Vive le vent” and “C’est l’hiver”, which mean “Jingle Bells” and “Let it Snow”, respectively. There are a total of 11 songs, but students only visit fi ve classrooms to sing one song during his or her period. Ms. Verner says that her students’ favorite song to sing is “Let it Snow”. French students started practicing before Thanks-giving. Caroling is mandatory for all French students, but some French Club students participate in caroling as well. Bridget Ho, the co-vice president of French Club, said, “I think that caroling is a success every year because I always hear people talking about how happy they were when French carolers came in. Whether they [students] know French or not, bringing the Christmas spirit to classrooms is always a good feeling.” As for Spanish caroling, Ms. Dominguez’s students will be singing songs including: “Campana sobre Campana”, “Los peces en el rio”, and “Ay, del Chiquirritín” in various classrooms. This is the fi rst time Ms. Dominguez’s classes are doing caroling. Unlike Ms. Verner’s French classes, Spanish caroling is extra credit. Junior Bryan Ha said that he looks forward to having fun and thinks caroling will be a good experience. When asked what she thought students could learn from this experience, Ms. Dominguez stated that students can learn “some vocabulary, some sentence structure, and maybe some rhythm”. Could Spanish caroling become a tradition like French caroling? Ms. Dominguez said, “I think [caroling] could be a tradition that we can continue to do every year.” If this happens, Keppel students can look forward to visits from French as well as Spanish carolers to spread some holiday joy.

CAROLING

Voices: What do you want for

Christmas?

Q: What kind of volunteer work do you do?A: I volunteer at walks and marathons, food banks, festivals, and other various events. Occasionally, I also help out at a tutor-ing program called Project NEO at their events.Q: Do these events interfere with your school work? If yes, how do you deal with it?A: Volunteering interferes with my school work a lot. My mom actually lectures me about it because I spend most of my week-ends volunteering or planning for Key Club events. As a result, my grades aren’t what they could be, but I’m not too disap-pointed since I think the volunteering was worth it. I do, how-ever, know that I should have organized myself better. Since I’m president of Key Club this year, I planned my schedule so that it would be easy enough for me to handle both school and volunteering.Q: What made you want to put so much effort into volunteering?A: It wasn’t any conscious decision; it just grew on me over

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volunteering:cathy Liu During the Christmas season, there are al-ways people who want to do good things to help others in need, whether it is feeding the homeless or helping students at tutoring cen-ters. At Keppel, there are many students who also help out with these programs. One of these students is senior Cathy Liu who accom-plishes this by participating in various volun-teering activities for the past four years in high school.

Senior Cathy Liu, President of Key Club

Buying things isn’t the only way you can give gif ts for Christmas. You can also help out in programs such as:

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STEPHANIE TRANSTEPHANIE TRANSTEPHANIE TRAN

Christmas Camera Clicks

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Pictures are worth a thousand words, but are they worth an entire winter break? Many students enjoy taking pictures to capture mem-orable moments and share them on social media sites such as Face-book, Twitter, or Instagram. During the winter break, many students will go out to spend time with friends and family which means, for many, new pictures to add to the album. Of course, it would be nice to capture all the good memories before it all ends, but do some go too overboard with the pictures? Senior Maggie Chong said, “I know there are some people who overdo the pictures. I like to take a lot of pictures when I go out, but not so much that it wastes time during my experiences.” Actual memories may not be made if most of the vacation is spent taking pictures rather than enjoying the moment while it lasts, but junior Jay Wang thinks differently. “I think [taking pictures] adds to the moment since some are actually funny, and you end up laughing with friends and family sometimes.” Another reason people like to take pictures is to share them online. Wang explained, “I like to post pictures to share the good vibes with friends, especially with those who are in the photo.” There is no doubt that pictures are a work of art, and it is a great way to preserve parts of an important occasion. Whether taking pic-tures is comprised into part of an event or not, it is most important to make sure that the two weeks of winter break is enjoyed to its fullest.

* Toys for Tots** Angel Tree** It’s a Wrap*

*Mkhs Service Clubs*

CHRISTMAS FROM THE HEART

It’s that time of year again. The house

smells like baked goods (ranging from gin-gerbread cookies to fruit cake), the Christmas tree

is decorated with glistening lights, and most of the world has a merry vibe. When De-cember comes, all the troubles seem to

disappear, and people have many different traditions to celebrate this joyous holiday.

One of the biggest traditions during Christ-mas is just spending some quality time with fam-

ily and close ones. Junior Mikala Encisco said, “[I en-joy] spending time with my family and friends; this season

makes me feel so blissful”. Another tradition is having hot choc-olate wiht some baked goods. Sophomore Vicky Chan says

that during this season, she comes home “smelling gin-gerbread cookies cooling off in the kitchen. My family and I always eat them with hot chocolate.”

A common tradition done among friends and family members is activities like Secret Santa and White Ele-

phant. Senior Selina Ter said, “My cousins and I play Secret Santa. We’re never able to keep the secret of who has who, but

it’s still fun to be with my family and obviously getting presents.” Keppel students celebrate the holiday by keeping one thing in mind, be-

ing with their families; however some students also celebrate by cooking or enjoying cultural foods.

“One of the most important Christmas traditions for a Latino is having tamales. My grandma would tell me we ate tamales to have

something to unwrap on Christmas,” said junior Edmundo Fernandez. “Eating my grandma’s honey roast ham is something we always do on

Christmas, it’s a must” said junior Kimberly Medina. Food is defi nitely one of the things that bring families together, but something that can also bring them

together are the presents. There is no price that can be put on a gift that is given from the heart. Just helping oth-

ers is one way of giving to people. Sophomore Andy Garcia and his family go out to homeless shelters and help out. He said, “We feel that as fortunate as we are, we should be giving to

others who don’t have as much as we do.” Although most people might not volunteer as much during Christmas, it is a nice tradition to start.

This holiday season, appreciate what you have, and make sure to keep celebrating your traditions. It’s also never too

late to start a new one!

‘Tis the season

to be jollyRODOLFO ARIASStaff Writer

Christmas caroling is twice as festive in Keppel this year. On Thursday, December 4th, Ms. Verner’s French students sang Christmas songs in French in classrooms re-quested by teachers. This Friday, students from Ms. Dominguez’s periods one through fi ve will be singing traditional Spanish carols from Spain. Ms. Verner’s French classes started caroling 14 years ago. She said her favorite part about caroling is watching her students get excited. “We give out candy, there’s a lot of camaraderie [team spirit], and it’s a bonding experience.” Each year, her students sing songs such as “Vive le vent” and “C’est l’hiver”, which mean “Jingle Bells” and “Let it Snow”, respectively. There are a total of 11 songs, but students only visit fi ve classrooms to sing one song during his or her period. Ms. Verner says that her students’ favorite song to sing is “Let it Snow”. French students started practicing before Thanks-giving. Caroling is mandatory for all French students, but some French Club students participate in caroling as well. Bridget Ho, the co-vice president of French Club, said, “I think that caroling is a success every year because I always hear people talking about how happy they were when French carolers came in. Whether they [students] know French or not, bringing the Christmas spirit to classrooms is always a good feeling.” As for Spanish caroling, Ms. Dominguez’s students will be singing songs including: “Campana sobre Campana”, “Los peces en el rio”, and “Ay, del Chiquirritín” in various classrooms. This is the fi rst time Ms. Dominguez’s classes are doing caroling. Unlike Ms. Verner’s French classes, Spanish caroling is extra credit. Junior Bryan Ha said that he looks forward to having fun and thinks caroling will be a good experience. When asked what she thought students could learn from this experience, Ms. Dominguez stated that students can learn “some vocabulary, some sentence structure, and maybe some rhythm”. Could Spanish caroling become a tradition like French caroling? Ms. Dominguez said, “I think [caroling] could be a tradition that we can continue to do every year.” If this happens, Keppel students can look forward to visits from French as well as Spanish carolers to spread some holiday joy.

CAROLING

^Q: What kind of volunteer work do you do?A: I volunteer at walks and marathons, food banks, festivals, and other various events. Occasionally, I also help out at a tutor-ing program called Project NEO at their events.Q: Do these events interfere with your school work? If yes, how do you deal with it?A: Volunteering interferes with my school work a lot. My mom actually lectures me about it because I spend most of my week-ends volunteering or planning for Key Club events. As a result, my grades aren’t what they could be, but I’m not too disap-pointed since I think the volunteering was worth it. I do, how-ever, know that I should have organized myself better. Since I’m president of Key Club this year, I planned my schedule so that it would be easy enough for me to handle both school and volunteering.Q: What made you want to put so much effort into volunteering?A: It wasn’t any conscious decision; it just grew on me over

time. Honestly, it makes me feel good. I feel as if I’m actual-ly doing something useful with my time. I hadn’t realized how selfi sh I was with my time before volunteering. I also love it be-cause of the people I get to interact with. There’s something re-ally genuine about these people who dedicate so much time and effort to helping others without gaining anything themselves.Q: How long have you been volunteering?A: I’ve been volunteering for 4 years.Q: How do you feel when you fi nish volunteering?A: I feel a sense of accomplishment, like I did something valu-able with my time.Q: Will you be going to any volunteering events during the Christmas season?A: I’m most likely going to volunteer at some walks or mara-thons. I was hoping to help out at a food bank or with feeding the homeless, but it seems as if all the spots for those events are full.

“Mr. Chin’s love”

“All I want for Christmas is straight A’s.”

“I want my mom to

come out of jail.”

“I want work-out clothes, Dr. Martens, and a black

windbreaker.”

Sophomore Jacob Hansen

Freshman Celeste Flores Junior Amanda Xaypraseuth

Senior Leon Sy

THE AZTEC/VIVIAN TO

THE AZTEC/VIVIAN TO

THE AZTEC/AREN LIM

THE AZTEC/AREN LIM

COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGESMariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” is a Christmas favorite.

While some Keppel students may enjoy listening to time-less Christmas jingles, more Keppelites are gravitating to-wards modern, upbeat remakes. There are many Christmas classics such as Last Christ-mas by Wham!. This has been a popular song to remake. Country and pop singer Taylor Swift and Jimmy Eat World, a rock band, have both sung the song Last Christmas in their own unique musical styles while keeping a majority of the lyrics the same. A more modernized version of the song was most recently sung by Ariana Grande, a pop singer. Grande’s version of Last Christmas is noticeably more upbeat than the original version. Both versions of the song cater to people with different musi-cal tastes. Senior Chaney Tse says, “I love Last Christmas…or at least the Wham! version.” Although there have been many remakes of Christmas classics, the holiday spirit still remains in the modern versions. Senior Samuel Tay says, “I feel that covers of Christmas music are great because it introduces new generations to the classical mu-sic that they otherwise wouldn’t

have been exposed to if their favorite singers didn’t sing it.” Despite being an avid lis-tener to traditional songs, Tay enjoys listening to modern covers like Justin Bieber, Tay-lor Swift, and Justin Bieber. Whether the songs are original-ly sung or not, the holiday spirit remains in the lyrics that gener-ally remain the same through-out every additional cover. Listening to Christmas music may become repetitive over the weeks leading up to Christmas. However, Keppelites may be brightened up with the new cov-ers of favorite traditional classics. Traditional songs will always be meaningful. New covers and original songs both promote the holiday spirit, which is what lis-tening any holiday music is about.

Christmas songs: out with the old and in with the new

The invention of the hov-erboard has finally brought childhood imaginations and television shows to reality. The creator of the mechanism is Greg Henderson who named his product the Hendo Hover-board. The board is powered by four different hover engines that emit a series of magnetic fields underneath the board which al-lows it to hover above the sur-face. It is smoother than any ride on wheels and is directed with natural body movements. The board is also equipped with many safeguards to pro-tect the rider. It hovers one inch above the ground and can travel in any direction you want to go. Up hills, down hills, above water, you name it. Of course what comes with new technology is high prices.

Transportation of the futureBRADLEY DEAStaff Writer

Mockingjay Part 1 was re-leased on November 19, 2014 starring Jennifer Lawerence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hem-sworth. Francis Lawrence, director, is back with a third installment of The Hunger Games series. The film begins when Katniss Ever-deen returns from the 75th Hun-ger Games and in District 13. Many people had high expec-

tations for the movie. Senior Victoria Phun said, "I enjoyed Mockingjay, but I prefer Catch-ing Fire since it had more action and suspense.” The film received mixed reviews with a rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes and 64% on Metacrit-ic. Junior Aihrone Segundo said, "I would give the movie a 3.5 out of 5 stars. The beginning of the film was devastatingly boring, so I was only intrigued by it towards the middle. I was hoping that the movie would have a strong start

and build up a lot of anticipation for the next installment."

People who would like to buy a hoverboard will have to be willing to spend $10,000. With the invention of the hover-board, the concern with the popu-larity of mechanisms like bikes and skateboards has occurred. It allows riders to discover new moves that they weren’t able to do on other vehicles includ-ing 1080 spins and swift smooth turns. "This is real, folks," the skateboard icon Tony Hawk said in a Youtube video. "This is the real hoverboard right here, so forget everything you know."

SALLY CHEN Asst. Buisness Manager

Join the Mockingjay rebellion

LYDIA XIEAsst. News & Co-Copy Editor

The Hendo Hoverboard has the ability to levitate 1 inch off the ground. COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES

Junior skatesboarder Tommy Hu states, “I think in the future the hoverboard may become more popular, but for now, skateboards are more popular because they are much cheaper.” Junior Lynn Takahashi be-lieves, “I think the hover-board is overpriced because it only hovers an inch off the ground. If it could fly higher it would be more worth it.” Though hoverboards are not popular right now, their popularity may continue to rise with the newest “cool” factor.

COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGESMockingjay Part I features Katniss Everdeen.

14-year-old Hiro spends most of his time in back-alley robot fights. Tadashi, Hiro’s brother, is worried about Hiro’s robot fight-ing addiction and takes him to his robotics lab in his university. There he meets his brother’s clos-est friends and sees the nventions they have made, one of which is his brother’s, Baymax, who is a

robot. Hiro sees the potential he can have in the university and decides to enter a robotics contest to try to get accepted. All goes well until in a twist of events, tragedy strikes. It is up to Hero and Bay-max to solve the mystery of what happened. Since its release on November 7, Big Hero 6 has turned into one of the biggest hits this year for movies and earned $224.7 mil-

lion in the box office. Some say it was another Frozen. Junior Elaine Ha says “I was really blown away from the movie. I didn’t expect it to be good.”

Become a Hiro with Big Hero 6ALEX DEAStaff Writer

Girls’ basketball plays in Redondo Beach Tournament

Girls’ water polo sets high expectations

The girls’ varsity basketball team has been actively getting ready for the sea-son. After training intensely for weeks, they headed out to the Battle of the Beach tournament in Redondo Beach. However, despite their status last season as unde-feated Almont League champions, the team finished with a 1-3 tournament re-cord. Commenting on the team’s perfor-mance, senior Kristin Koga stated,”We were burnt out because we had just fin-ished a tough tournament.” Senior, and captain, Lauren Saiki also

stated, “We competed in back-to-back tournaments (8 games in 12 days) so we are still getting our legs into game shape, but all of our losses were close games, so we just need to work on the little things at practice, rest up, and get ready for the next tournament.” Saiki also went on to say that they were still early in the season, so the losses were okay. She said that “it show [the team] what we need to work on for league and CIF.” Junior Sophia Song thought that they didn’t do as well in this tournament be-cause their “focus wasn’t there”. She also said that their defense could have been better. Saiki said, “Something that can be quickly improved is our defense because as we face bigger and better competition, we will need to work as a unit on the de-fensive end to stop these teams.” Adding to her teammate, Koga said, “We should have hustled more because the teams we play are bigger than us.” The Lady Aztecs now shift their focus forward into the schedule. “We still have a long way to go,” Saiki said. For the Al-mont League, the girls’ goal is to retain their league title, which they have held for over a decade. Last season, the team advanced to CIF but was not able to make it past the first round. This year, the team hopes to im-prove on that result. Coach Joe Kikuchi stated that his num-ber one goal is to “get a CIF ranking and make it a memorable year for the se-niors.”

The Mark Keppel Girl’s Water Polo team has set high expectations for them-selves this season, following a defeat in last year’s CIF qualifying round. As stated by co-captain, varsity Senior Fion Gu, and co-coach Joseph Chan, the primary goal of the team is to make it to CIF. Co-captain and varsity senior Mia Kato said, “The boys team had an amaz-ing season, and I know that with the proper training and motivation the girls will be able to go as far also.” Gu also said, “What I really want is for us to fin-ish off strong this year and develop a good base team for next year’s season.” This year, the only returning Var-sity members are seniors Fion Gu, Mia Kato, and Nathalie Martinez, and the returning seniors are Jayme Chan and Yujeong Kim. This year’s roster is very different from last year’s setup, which had 5 returning varsity players and se-niors.

Despite the team’s lack of game ex-perience, Coach Chan believes that the team’s strength is their strong relation-ship with one another: “Chemistry-wise, we’re holding at a good pace.” Gu echoes this thought, stating, “so-cially they’re very close-knit.” She also says that “this year we want the girls to be much more motivated than last year in the sense that we have team coordi-nation.” To prepare for this year’s season, the team has been practicing during sixth period and afterschool. Senior and fel-low co-captain Mia Kato said, “to pre-pare for the upcoming season we went back to the basics in order to strengthen our foundation, which involves a lot of sprinting, treading, shooting, and pass-ing sets.” Before she bids farewell to the team, Gu would like to see the girls win at least one game, “because I know some-times winning is what makes this sport fun. And I want them to be prepared for next year’s season.”

MALIAH PIERRIBIAStaff Writer

A pass is intercepted during a practice scrimmage

BRANDON CHUNGHistorian

THE AZTEC/CORY MAK

Athlete’s Profile:Lauren Saiki

Boys’ basketball prepares to defend title

EMILY MUAsst. Sports Editor

Senior Lauren Saiki is a four year member of the Keppel girls’ varsity bas-ketball team. She plays point guard and is captain of the Lady Aztecs, which in-cludes 10 other seniors. Saiki has been playing for 12 years through Tigers Youth Club, SGV, Cal Storm Team Taurasi, and now Keppel. Saiki said, “I grew up playing basket-ball and I have a passion for the game. I’m very competitive. It’s fun to play with and against people I grew up with. I love how fun basketball is but I love win-ning even more.” Saiki said, “Being a student athlete is not easy but I am thankful that God gave me the talent to pursue basketball at a high level and get a good education.” She is very excited for this upcoming season with hopes that the team will go far in CIF. Saiki believes the team has great chem-istry both on and off the court, making it easier to play on the court. “A lot of us have grown up together so I’m glad I can spend my high school years playing with them,” she said. Saiki is involved as a general member of ASB. For college, Saiki has committed to West Virginia University and will be attending the college on a full scholar-ship. She will be playing as guard for the Mountaineers next fall. In the future, Saiki wants to still be involved with basketball as an athletic trainer or physical therapist. She would like to give a shout-out to her parents, the girls’ and boys’ basket-ball programs, and ASB. She is excited to finish her last season with the team-mates she calls family.

THE AZTEC/CORY MAK

The Aztec boys’ basketball team is en-tering this upcoming season as reigning Almont League champions. Though the team lost several players from last season, the Aztec roster boasts eight seniors. However, senior Bertram Mak said, “The team is smaller than last year so we have to be faster and play hard-er than the other teams.” The roster changes are not the only ones affecting the basketball team this season. Earlier in the year, CIF implemented new rules concering on-ball defense. Defenders are now more restricted in

how much contact they can initiate against offensive players. Junior and three-year Varsity player Kenneth Zhang said, “We have to play off-ball much more now.” The Aztecs, who have been practicing all throughout the summer and the school year, are focusing primarily on their on-ball defense. Specifically, Mak said, “We need to make sure we keep our hands-off.” Last season, the Aztecs finished league play with a 9-1 record, ending their un-defeated streak. Though they reached the CIF tournament, their first round exit left the team hoping for more. This year, the players have stated that their goal is to reach CIF again and make it as far as they can. The Aztecs participated in the Sierra

Vista Tournament during the week of De-cember 1 to December 5. The tournament bracket contained nu-merous CIF-caliber teams. The Aztecs won their first two rounds before falling to Thousand Oaks High School, 43-47. “They’re a very good team,” said Zhang. “So that game proved we can compete with some of the best.” The team finished the tournament with a record of 3-2, ranking 6th place. Though they finished with a winning record, Mak expressed disappointment. He said, “[The tournament] showed us that we have some improvement to do. We have to work much harder to make a deep CIF run.”

BRIAN YEOSports Editor

The Aztec wrestling team is getting ready for a new season with captain Hec-tor Ruiz leading the team. Last year Ruiz placed 3rd at a Gabrieli-no tournament and placed 3rd in league fi-nals which qualified him to CIF. Last year the team’s strength was executing moves well and their weakness was conditioning. To combat that, they plan on focusing on technique and endurance. The biggest set-back this year is the amount of members wrestling and maintaining weight classes. With only two seniors and one of them injured, they’re managing by stretching

properly and warming up and practicing technique. Junior Keaton Quon says, “Having the lowest amount of wrestlers compared to all the other schools makes it a bigger challenge, but it makes us work harder. I plan on myself and the team to do the best we can and give 110%.” Since the team has such a small number of wrestlers, each member must maintain their weight to wrestle. Quon said, “We al-ways try to cut as much weight as we can and watch what we eat.” Ruiz said that the weight is not too hard to maintain. Their way of losing weight is to condition with their sweaters and sweats on. He says, “we would tuck them

in and not have any skin exposed and we put our hoodie on and start conditioning.” After practicing two and a half hours ev-eryday, captain Ruiz gives a motivational speech and the team breaks off together. Ruiz said, “My strategy for this sea-son is to create a better wrestling program such as getting people into wrestling and sticking with it and not quitting.” The team’s expectations are to place first at league finals and expand the wres-tling program. They also want to win more tourna-ments, season matches and place first at league finals as a team. Quon said, “Wres-tling is a hard sport but it’s rewarding in the end.”

Wrestling ready to tackle new seasonEMILY MUAsst. Sports Editor

The Lady Aztecs played a pre-season game at Edgewood High School on Tues-day, December 9. The game started with an early goal by senior Lindsay Kui. The Lady Aztecs built on their lead and ended the first half 4-0. The second half was back and forth. Both teams struggled to set up good of-fensive plays. With five minutes left of the game, freshman Nicole Hernandez finally got through Edgewood’s defense and scored the last goal of the game. The Aztecs came out victorious with a 5-0 win.The Lady Aztecs are currently undefeated with a 3-0 pre-season record. This year, the Lady Aztecs are accompanied by a new varsity coach, Steve Shahin. This is Coach Shahin’s first year coaching soccer at a high school level, but he has 7 years

of experience coaching for youth soccer clubs. Coach said he “somehow got suck-ered into coaching” by his kids, for he has a child in each of the teams he coaches.Throughout the game, Coach Shahin stressed keeping possession on the ball, and playing a mental game with the op-posing team. saying “When you’re play-ing a team that is not up to your caliber, if you give them too much hope, then they might actually feel like they can do well. When you’re a better player than some-body else, they should not have any hope against how you play and what you’re try-ing to do.” Following the win, senior and captain Claudette De La Vega said, “Although we won, we didn’t do the best we could.We could have done so much better if we would’ve connected on our passes and communicated more.” Coach Shahin was happy about the vic

tory, but he is more concentrated on trying to help the team grow to their full poten-tial. Coach said, “Sometimes people put too much emphasis on winning and los-ing, and they forget why they’re playing. We’re here to develop, to learn, and to get better.”

Girls’ soccer defeats Edgewood, 5-0AREN LIMBusiness Manager

The boys’ soccer team has been working since mid-June on improving their skills, practicing ball skills and communication

for their upcoming season. Coach Andrew Marin selected Keoni Young and Ryan Mejia as captains for a team with seven seniors. Young is fairly new to the Mark Keppel soccer team but has had previous experience playing for a

club team . Mejia has played soccer for ten years with various teams such as the USA team, Chelsea and LA Tornadoes club teams. He is currently training with the LA Galaxy team. Coming into their game against Blair High School on December 9 with a pre-season record of 0-4, the Aztecs prepara-tion included working on their defensive and offensive strategies. As the game started the Aztecs attempt-ed to keep their defense tight and prevent Blair from scoring. However, though Kep-pel’s defense was able to keep Blair at bay for a while, Blair broke through and scored an early goal. Offensively, Keppel tried their hardest to break through Blair’s defense and scored

on a goal by senior Fernando Evangolista.Blair scored two more goals and the first half ended with a score of 1-3. Near the end of the second half, sopho-more Gabriel Vera was able to score on a penalty kick. That was the final goal of the game, which ended in a 2-3 win for Blair. Despite the loss, Mejia remained con-fident saying, “I still think it was a game to be proud of because all of the players competed throughout the entire game.” Following this loss, Coach Marin said that the team needs to “play at the level they are capable of playing.” However, Marin has hope in the team saying, “They’re gaining confidence in themselves. Even though the team is mostly new, they are more skilled than past teams. Once they become solid and consistent the wins will come.”

Boys’ soccer narrowly falls to Blair High School

Senior Luis Garcia passes to teammate while pressuring the opposing defense. THE AZTEC/BRIAN YEO

AMBER BATCHELOREditor-in-Chief

THE AZTEC/AREN LIMSophomore Tatiana Garnett heads the ball.