Hemet High School

THE BULLDOG Hemet High School, Hemet, CA 92544 (951) 765-5150 Issue #5 - December, 2017

2017: A ReflectionBy Sydney Amestoy

The streamers, the flashing lights, the blaring horns, the excited yells, it’s clearly a new

year! Well, not yet, but soon! So with 2017 com-ing to a close let’s reflect on this crazy year.

Politics this year were a divisive subject this year. No one seemed to agree with one an-

other and this resulted in some violent clashes. America saw a whole year under a new president, who might be the most controversial president in our history. We’ve seen threats of nuclear war from North Korea and investigations into Russian collusion.

The top-s y - t u r v y

world of Hol-lywood expe-rienced a huge shake-up with many claiming that some fa-mous directors and actors are actually sexual predators. While this will likely carry over into next year, we may always remem-ber 2017 as the year Hollywood changed, hope-fully for the better.

The world of sports experienced some incred-ible upsets and wins this year. The Super

bowl between the Patriots and the Falcons fell in the Patriots favor when the Falcons gave up a huge lead. The amazing World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers went back and forth before the Astros ultimately pulled through. Our own Bulldog athletics expe-rienced a solid fall season as well, while our win-ter sports continue into next year.

This year also saw mas-

sive natural di-sasters, mostly in the form of

hurricanes. Hurricane Harvey in Houston flood-ed highways and homes while killing 77 people. Not even a few weeks later, Florida was direct-ly hit with Hurricane Irma. Irma wiped out en-tire stretches of beach and killed 75. Then Puerto Rico was hit with Hurricane Maria. Maria wiped out power to the entire island, and cut off some people from civilization completely. Officials still don’t know how many people were killed.

2017 was also a good year for music and film. The Grammy’s back in February fell mostly

to Adele, but Chance the rap-per became the first unsigned artist to ever win a Gram-my. Bands like The Killers and Imagine Drag-ons released new albums for

the first time in years. The highest grossing films of 2017 included Spider-man: Homecoming and Beauty and the Beast. The highly anticipated new Star Wars movie hasn’t come out yet, releases in December, so film in 2017 isn’t over yet.

2017 was a difficult year to say the least. Disas-ters, deaths, and controversy ran amuck. How-

ever, overall 2017 was a good year. The world pulled through another memorable year. So hap-py new year Bulldogs, see you then!

Hemet High School 41701 E. Stetson Ave.

Hemet, CA 92544 951-765-5150

www.hemethigh.com

Journalism Staff2017- 2018

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: MJ Vargas, Sonya Ty-ler, Sydney Amestoy, Sabrina Hunter, Hanna

Walsh, and Natalie Martinez.

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

New York During The Christmas Holiday

By: MJ vargas

Almost everybody loves the season and the holiday of Christmas! This is the time of

the year where people get to enjoy all of the hol-iday spirit and everything that comes with it. Many enjoy the activities of Christmas such as Ice Skating, making Gingerbread Houses, Putting the Christmas tree up, and hanging lights around the house. Although, there is Christmas Spirit and holiday cheer everywhere, the city that has the most Christmas Spirit and is surely proud to show it is New York City!

New York City is most known for its wonder-ful attractions such as The Big Apple, Broad-

way, Central Park, Town Square and so much more but its mostly known for just being itself! During Christmas, New York City really gets into the Christmas spirit, many Christmas lights are hung up and lit on many trees and building struc-tures. If you’re a skater then Central Park is the place for you to go during the Christmas holiday! As many know, Central Park is the biggest park in the United States and many people enjoy going to the park just to experience and enjoy it’s beauty and all that it has to give, many also know that Central Park has a huge lake! During the Christ-mas season that lake starts to freeze and soon be-comes ice and that’s when many people love to go for ice skating.

There are many places where you can go to do shopping too! Many stores are decorated for

Christmas and they even have seasonal gifts and many new things that you can buy! Many gifts that your loved ones enjoy and will be very happy to receive.

New York City is definitely the place to go during the Christmas holiday if you’re look-

ing for a place to travel and enjoy the wonderful Christmas holiday and cheer!

What Does Christmas Mean To You?By Sonya Tyler

Now to me, Christmas is not all about the gifts. But gifts can be given to family as ap-

preciation. Some people think of Christmas as celebrating the birth of Jesus. Seeing people you don’t see very often and even going to church.

I think it’s amazing how some families come together to celebrate the holidays. I even love

how people get into watching football on Christ-mas. They get so stuck to the TV that when din-ner is called they’re afraid to leave.

I think the whole point of Christmas is families coming together. Even on New Years, I feel it’s

celebrating another year of living. Staying up un-til midnight, going to parties, and drinking apple cider. 2018 is going to be lit!!!!

Christmas MoviesBy Sabrina Hunter

It’s time for the holidays and with Christmas around the corner, it’s time for holiday mov-

ies. Settle in Bulldogs because the winter is going to be chilly. However, with holiday chills comes holiday cheers. Sitting inside in a sweater with hot chocolate and a fuzzy blanket watching mov-ies is now appealing. What movies to watch? Christmas movies of course!

The top of this Christmas watch list has to be Elf starring Will Ferrell. This holiday movie

is sure to bring you cheer as you watch Buddy the Elf navigate New York in Christmas with his newfound family. Home Alone would also be at the top of this list. It’s a Christmas classic to watch this holiday sea-son when Kevin McCal-lister (Macaulay Culkin) is left to fend for him self when his family leaves him alone and two men attempt to rob the house.

Another movie that is sure to make some-

one laugh is A Christmas Story with Peter Billing-sley as Ralphie. Ralphie tries to make it through to Christmas happily as he is at odds with his fa-ther and a bully at school; he dreams of a perfect Christmas gift.

The happy holiday movies continue with Christmas Vacation, Scrooged, and Christ-

mas with the Kranks. All of these movies have the familiar stars we all know. Speaking of stars we all know, the Santa Claus movies are all great movies to binge watch this season.

Finally, the Christmas cartoons are plentiful. A Charlie Brown Christmas is a holiday clas-

sic that everyone enjoys. Another movie that ev-eryone has been watching since they were kids is The Polar Express. If you choose to watch this movie, it’s sure to make you smile and you wish you could have rode the train. Jim Carrey brings back a classic in Disney’s A Christmas Carol.

These are only some of the best Christmas movies. There are plenty more and if you find

a match for you, it won’t be surprising if you find yourself re-watching this movie year after year. Have a cozy winter Bulldogs!

Glitter CandleBy Hanna Walsh

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is getting to express my excitement through

decorations. At my house, we decorate a real tree, set up our miniature lighthouse village, my moth-er hangs our Christmas projects from elementary school, and she burns her festive candles. It’s a time of year where by doing a project can lift your holiday spirits. Below is a fun DIY decoration so that you can get into your joy this Christmas sea-son. Happy Holidays Bulldogs!!

Supplies Needed-Ashland Jar CandleRecollections Glass GlitterMod Podge MatteFoam BrushPaper PlateCelebrate It Satin Ribbon (Pewter)Wood Snowflake OrnamentScissors

Procedure-

Using a foam brush, paint one side of the jar with a coat of mod podge. Roll that side of

the candle in the glitter and let it dry. Repeat for the other side. Tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar, thread the ornament on to the ribbon and tie a bow to secure.

Why is Christmas Celebrated on the 25th? By Sonya Tyler

The Christmas ParadeBy Sabrina Hunter

Hemet High theatre performed with a float! The technicians worked hard to build the

Thinga-ma-jigger, the Cat in the Hat’s car. Ka-miron Werking Volk operated the fish puppet as well. Sally and Nick rode in the Thinga-ma-jig-ger. The performers danced to “Welcome to the Party of the Year” with characters such as the Cat in the Hat, Betty Beaver, Mr. Macaw, Thing 1, and Thing 2. Other people were involved as well to pass out candy and hold the banner.

Hemet High did a fantastic job in the parade and one on-looking student, Savannah Hunt-

er, said that Hemet High was by far the neatest group. Great job Bulldogs!

In the Hemet Christmas Parade, Hemet High had five groups performing. The Hemet High

Theatre performed as well as ROTC, band, cheer and dance. The groups kept up spirit and energy throughout the long parade to the “The Whimsi-cal World of Dr. Seuss.” theme.

Band led the Hemet

High crowd per-forming a med-ley of Christmas songs. The mu-sic was definite-ly a crowd pleas-er as everyone cheered for the students in band. Cheer followed

band and had high spirit with Babe the Bulldog, the school mascot. Following cheer was dance. Their dance uniforms allowed them to stand out and the

long sleeves sure had them fighting the heat. ROTC marched behind them.

The first three centuries of Christianity’s exis-tence, the birth of Jesus Christ wasn’t celebrat-

ed at all. The religions most significant holiday that was celebrated was Easter; Jesus’ resurrec-tion. The first mention of the 25th was originally on a Roman calen-dar from 336 A.D.

When church official set-

tled on the 25th of December at the end of the third century, they wanted to coin-cide with the ex-isting pagan festi-vals that honored Saturn and Mithra which were Persian and Ro-man gods.

The reason the church officials chose the 25th was because it was around the Winter Sol-

stice on the Roman calendar. It was nine months after the vernal equinox.

I don’t think there is any evidence showing the actual day Jesus was born.

BusytownBy Sabrina Hunter

Hemet High Children’s Theatre will be putting on Busytown on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of

January in 2018. The show is about Huckle cat finding out what people do all day. The upbeat musical is sure to brighten your night.

The director of the production, Mr. Cherland, wanted to see this play done because once a

year they do a play directed toward a young au-dience of children. Not only was that a reason, but also it is a “very colorful show” that the stu-dents could handle. The assistant direc-tors also each had their own reasons for being excited for the show. Nicole Robinson said that she is excited “for the final product, when the show goes up”. The feedback from young students and teachers who see the show will definitely be exciting for her to hear. Jai Proppe is most excited to see the final set because of all of the moving parts in the show. In the end, he believes it will look like a children’s book.

Nicole and Jai are not the only students that are looking forward to the final product. The

lead, Huckle Cat played by Indah Rekoske is ex-cited, but nervous to play the lead role in the show. In the show, Huckle’s best friend is a worm who doesn’t speak, and the girl holding the puppet is Chevelle Parker. The actors are happy about their characters and their personalities. Indah is happy to play an enthusiastic character with a big per-sonality. Chevelle, on the other hand, is happy to learn to act with purely expressions and move-ment. While playing a puppet, she not only has to react with the puppet, but with her own expres-sions.

Even students, who have roles that are not nec-essarily lead roles, are excited. Almost every

actor that was interviewed answered that the au-dience’s reaction was what they were most excit-ed for. Each role is important and each character has their own personalities to love. Natalia Apffel really enjoys that her character, Train the Dog, is very interactive with the audience. Jazmine Fer-rell really enjoys her character Captain Salty as

well. Allison Pap enjoys that her character, Gro-cer Cat, loves her son so much and is so energet-ic. Parker Winne plays a minor role as Jason the Mason and really likes that his character is a pig and he aspires to be more than he is.

Opening up the show, Katelyn Gonzales plays Sergeant Murphy. Sergeant Murphy is a cop

and Katelyn is happy to play this fun character that’s different from anything she has ever played before. As well as Katelyn, Jessica Bruce is excit-ed for a different role from the past as well. Her song with Huckle shows two scenes within one. This role is Betsy Bear. Betsy Bear is far girlier and cuter than anything Jessica has played in the past.

The technicians are excited for the show as well. Although it’s rather stressful, it is a

great opportunity and the final product is sure to be fantastic. In January the final product will be revealed and their hard work will surely show. Support your fellow Bulldogs after the new year begins because this show is sure to be a good one!

The Christmas PickleBy Sydney Amestoy

Every family has a certain holiday tradition, even if they don’t necessarily celebrate

Christmas. However, one of the strangest tradi-tions of all time is the infamous Christmas pickle.

The Christmas Pickle is simple. Someone hangs a pickle ornament on the tree in secret.

The pickle needs to be hidden from plain view. The first person to find the pickle gets to open up their presents first!

This tradition has been long thought to be a German tradition, but in reality no one really

knows how it started. The most plausible story we have is Woolworth’s selling Bavarian orna-ments of vegetables and fruits. This included pickles! However there are many more outland-ish and bizarre stories, from a dying civil war sol-dier surviving on a single pickle alone to Santa Claus saving two kids stuffed in a pickle barrel by a crazy innkeeper.

No matter how crazy the story, the Christ-mas pickle has been a long-lasting tradition.

There is even the Christmas pickle of the world, Berrien Springs, MI. The Christmas pickle is for sure one of the strangest traditions of all.

Thor Ragnarocks This Year As The Best Marvel Movie!

By: MJ Vargas

Thor Ragnarok is said to be the most successful Marvel movie of 2017! It is the trilogy to the

other two Thors that have been made: Thor and Thor: The Dark World. This Marvel movie hit broke box office records and has towered over “Dad-dy’s Home 2” and “Jus-tice League.” M a n y find Thor: Ragnarok to be the fun-niest Marvel movie of the year!

In this Thor movie trilogy it would be surprising to know that Thor and his adopted evil broth-

er, Loki, join forces to stop Ragnarok from de-stroying and overpowering their home known as Asgard, they will also have to face another evil and sinister villain known as Hela, The Goddess Of Death and also their elder sister. Surprising to

known that Loki isn’t actually the villain in this tril-ogy however, Thor forms a team con-sisting of Loki, The Hulk, Valky-rie, and himself, together they try to defend the king-dom of Asgard and

protect it from the evil Goddess who wants to de-stroy their home.

Thor: Ragnarok was estimated to make $56.6 million in the United States and Canada com-

bined; in conclusion it made $211.6 million in the past two weeks. This trilogy is funny and also in-troduces the Marvel fandom to two new charac-ters in the Marvel Universe: Valkyrie and Hela. The Marvel Universe sure does have a lot to offer especially new characters whether they’re evil villains or super mutant humans! Be sure to check out Thor: Ragnorak! In theaters now!

Get ready for your world to be

Ragna-rocked!

Breaking the Bank: A Christmas Tradition

By Sydney Amestoy

It makes sense that the holidays are big cash cows. Most traditions require the buying of

gifts, decorations, or food. However, when look-ing at the numbers, the amount spent every De-cember is truly staggering.

Americans may be buying more on-line but that doesn’t mean that less money is being

spent. As of 2016, the average American spends over $800 a year on the holidays. In 2001, the average American spent over $1,000 every year. The only spending dip we’ve had was in 2008 when that number dropped to a little over $300, but it quickly recovered.

Why do Americans spend so much this sea-son? Think of the price of gifts. The new

IPhone X costs at least $1,000 for a base model. A Christmas run to the store can add up to hundreds of dollars fast. Even the food is expensive; a ham can run you $20. Add the decorations into your budget and the price only grows.

In total, the world spent one trillion dollars last year, according to the 2016 holiday survey. Yes,

you heard that right, one trillion dollars! That number is shocking. It almost makes breaking the bank on Christmas seem like the most popular.

Disneyland Christmas By Natalie Martinez

The most anticipated holiday of the year is transformed into the most anticipated month

of the year at Disneyland and California Adven-tures. The popular theme parks not so surprising-ly go all out when December hits! Ticket sales skyrocket because when you go to disneyland during December, everything festive you could ever want and dream of is there. The characters dress up in cute holiday wear and not just the tra-ditional american clothes! Donald Duck has been seen wearing a sombrero and music of different languages plays all day. The food makes your mouth water with the red and green churros and hot chocolate with decorated cookies. I think the most appealing family friendly factor is the pa-rade. It is nothing but Christmas music and Santa is on the float. Yes, SANTA. Now when I was a kid, that was the big thing, seeing Santa and having him wave down at you was everything! What really makes it the ticket seller is the snow. Well, fake snow. But snow nonetheless! When the fireworks and castle changing colors come to a close, fake snow falls from the sky, and that ef-fect, makes it the entire Christmas package. That as a kid was magical. It’s what makes people come back. If you have the time be sure to check it out Bulldogs!

How the Modern World is Changing ChristmasBy Hanna Walsh

Christmas is by definition the annual Chris-tian festival celebrating Christ’s birth, held

every December 25th in the Western Church. Yet, how many of us are actually celebrating Christ-mas? In this modern day, what is the meaning of Christmas? Has it turned into one big com-mercialized holi-day? Has it lost its religious ties and become an Ameri-can tradition across the nation? For most children gifts are expected, it’s the one-day of year you go to church, and you get a break off from school.

There are un-derlying questions that we should be asking

ourselves now though. According to a study in 2013 by the Pew Research Center, nine out of ten Americans celebrate Christmas. The fact that 81 percent of the nation is non-Christians and still celebrate Christmas is a huge factor considering Christmas is ironically the most expensive hol-

iday of the year, celebrated by people who don’t believe in the origins of the day. Not to mention that 87 percent of the population that claim no re-ligion, about 76 percent of Asian-American Bud-dhists, and 73 percent of Hindus celebrate Christ-mas every year. How is it that people of so many different faiths and beliefs are all indulging in the same Christian holiday? Christmas-time is seen as more of a cultural event these days.

The Pew Research Center also had a survey on the different views of the holiday. 65 percent

of Christians see it as a religious holiday, while non-Christians view it as a festivity more or less. Where does this leave us in the future then, as the amount of Christians in the U.S. continues to drop every year? Perhaps its religious values will end and it will become an American tradition that any person can partake in. Maybe a new holiday with a new name will take Christmas’ place. This Christmas-time ask yourself, your friends, and your family why they celebrate it.

I believe their reason will be the same for most of you. Either it is something that your family

and theirs past have always done, or it truly is to celebrate a part of their religion.

What to do in Hemet This Christmas BreakBy Hanna Walsh

You may think that Hemet has nothing to offer you, especially when you’re home with not

much else to do for two weeks. Here I offer you a solution: a list of things to do. Some of these ideas are things you didn’t know Hemet had to offer. Some of these things are activities you ha-ven’t done since you were little, and may even make you a bit nostalgic. Without further a-do, here is a list of things to do in Hemet this Christ-mas Break.

The first of things I suggest is that you go see the Western Science Center. It’s the perfect

place to go with friends or your little brother or sister. They always have different activities and events you can participate in and I highly recom-mend checking it out. The second activity I sug-gest for my adventurous reader is to take a trip up to Simpson Park. There are a lot of great little hik-ing paths and taking your dog makes it so much more fun. Plus we are fortunate in California in that we don’t have too harsh of cold weather. Go out and enjoy it while you can! The Fingerprints Youth Museum is the next option I recommend you check out. Most of us who have lived in Hemet since we were children have most likely

been here. They always have activities gong on and the locals love it. If you’re into art or want to try your hand at a creative project, they will some-times offer a type of art class that you can take. Something you probably never imagined doing in Hemet is riding horseback. A family owned ranch called Rancho Bravo offers rides and a trail tour of the scenic side of Hemet. The price is moderate and the ride lasts two hours. The last two things I recommend are to enjoy our town’s bowling alley or skating rink. Take your best friend or go with your family, I know they would appreciate some quality time with you.

These may be basic activities but if you spend the time with the right people, you can make

great memories. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll actually miss Hemet.

Knotts Berry Farm is the Merriest Event Of The Season!

By: MJ Vargas

Knotts Berry Farm is the merriest of amuse-ment parks every year! Many enjoy the hol-

iday season of Christ-mas and enjoy it even more at Knotts Merry Farm! There are many activities that you can take part in and many shows that you can see such as the Cal-ico Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, the Christmas Crafts Village, It’s the Mer-riest Christmas Show Ever Charlie Brown, Mrs Claus’s Kitchen, Snow and Glow Show and so much more!

The Snow and Glow Show is a wonderful ex-perience that many people would love to get

to see, when the sun goes down the entire city of Ghost Town comes to life with many bright and beautiful Christmas lights including the best part about Christmas… Snow! The snow falls down on those standing right below it on the streets of Ghost Town.

The Snoopy Snow Ice Show: Merry Christmas Snoopy! Is a wonderful show that many will

love and enjoy, you can watch Snoopy ice skate around the stage as he and other friends dance along to many marvelous and traditional Christ-mas Carols! There is also a Snoopy Christmas story that is told by Snoopy’s wonderful friends such as Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty and the rest of the Peanuts gang!

Knotts Merry Farm is a wonderful place to go if you’re looking for some family fun and a

place to enjoy the cheer and the marvelous spirit of Christmas!

Christmas TraditionsBy Sonya Tyler

What’s your Christmas Traditions? Is it Christmas Pageant or opening presents on

Christmas Eve? Even just decorating your house.

Has anyone ever tried homemade monkey bread?

Well, here is what you’ll need to make mon-key bread:

2 loaves of yeast that is thawed3 tablespoons butter (melted)1 teaspoon of cinnamon½ cup (100g) sugarBundt pan

Do you watch football on Christmas? Or even participate in Christ-

mas performances?

There is tons of things to do with family on Christmas. Take advantage of your time with

your family. Don’t sleep the whole break.

Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in a food processor; and you’re gonna want to reserve

this for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin if you find it more convenient.) Then crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place it in a medium bowl. Add cream cheese; and mix until it is well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.

Dip balls in chocolate; and place them on wax paper-covered baking sheet. (Any left-

over chocolate can be stored at room temperature for another use.) Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.

Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store left-over truffles, covered, in refrigerator.And

that’s it! Enjoy your dessert and happy holidays!(allrecipe.com)

Oreo TrufflesBy Natalie Martinez

Hey Bullpups! Christmas is here and there is nothing better than desserts! So here is an

easy recipe for you to make and share with your family this holiday season.Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided

1 (8 ounce) package PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 (8 ounce) packages BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Jingle bells2. We Wish You A Merry Christmas3. Feliz Navidad4. Let it snow5. Last Christmas6. All I want for Christmas is you7. Deck The Halls8. Santa baby9. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus10. Blue Christmas

Top Ten X-mas SongsBy: Natalie Martinez