Volume 54 Issue 3 December 2015Mahwah High School

masters ofMETLIFE

SEE PAGE 8-9 FOR COMPLETE METLIFE COVERAGE

December 2015 Page 3

Volume 54 Issue 3 December 2015Mahwah High School

By Renee Cantor and Sarah Herpst

In a school of over 900 stu-dents, it can be hard to keep track of who everyone is. It is even pos-sible that you might not even know all of the students in your grade. With this in mind, the student lot-tery has been created to introduce different students to the school. How does this lot-tery work? One student from each grade was randomly chosen to be inter-viewed so that the student body can learn more about its fellow peers.

Matt Retcho, a Mahwah High School freshman, is an interesting and well-rounded guy. In school, Matt is a member of the drama club, choir, and plays the cello in orchestra. He is very busy in his free time, shar-

ing, “I’m an actor, a singer, a skier, a knitter, a mug cake maker…” The list continues to include longboard-ing, running, knitting, embroidery, crocheting, and sewing. Retcho sums it up by saying, “I do every-thing.” In the future, Matt hopes to be accepted into the Tisch pro-gram of the Arts in NYU and work in theater. His favorite aspects of

high school are the drama and art pro-grams. However, if he could change one thing about high school, he would get rid of the PARCC. “[The PARCC] is ir-ritating,” he says. “I speak the truth. The truth is my feelings matter, not my test scores.” While Matt has no specific goals for this school year,

hopefully the rest of his freshman year goes as well as it started.

Sophomore Ashley Beekman

enjoys many of the aspects that the school has to offer. Her favorite class this year is Eng-lish. “I love writing,” she says. In addition to her classes, Beek-man is a proponent of the overall envi-ronment of MHS, as well as the staff. She explains, “I like the environment and the student-teacher relationships. They treat you more like adults and not just like students.” How-ever, she feels that it is too stressful to be given more than two tests per day, an issue that she believes could be solved through better communica-tion between teachers. Beekman possesses many talents. She plays volleyball for the school and is in-volved in chorus. However, her mu-sical abilities go well beyond cho-rus, as she is also a member of the

chamber choir and plays piano out-side of school. As a well-rounded

student, Beekman explains her goals for the year are to “keep my grades up and make the honor roll again.” She is an intriguing student who pos-sesses a variety of different qualities.

Katie Naslons-ki is a conscientious and involved junior who genuinely en-joys being at Mah-wah High School. When asked what

her favorite part of high school is, she struggled to come up with only one thing because there was so much to say. “Everyone is really nice at Mahwah. The people and the teachers create a friendly at-mosphere.” Perhaps her fond opin-

Student Lottery Profile—Could You Be Next?

College Corner: Sports CommitsBy Rajwinder Kaur

Teaching is a once-in-a-life-time experience; imagine all the people teachers meet through-out their ca-reers and the memories that arise from their countless inter-actions. Unsur-prisingly, these memories will always remain, even after re-tirement. One of MHS’ own Mrs. Benjamin, had retired just last year after teaching English at MHS for 27 years.

Now she enjoys her time by not only reading literature, but

also traveling with her husband (recently retired from corporate publishing) and playing with her four grandchildren. And the beach

is a also frequent destination.

T h o u g h Mrs. Benjamin appreciates her r e t i r e m e n t , she constantly thinks about MHS: “I really, really miss teach-ing English...all the steps of the writing pro-cess, creative thinking, classi-cal texts, and, of

course, the fantastic students and teachers at MHS.” She explains, “The magic of teaching is...seeing

Checking In With Benji

Continued on page 6

Continued on page 3 Continued on page 4

Retirees celebrate their final farewell

Freshman Matt Retcho

Sophomore Ashley Beekman

By Erin Kittredge and Nicole Sinnaeve

Mahwah’s Class of 2016 has proven that it is a talented group, which is being displayed as stu-dents begin to receive college ac-ceptances and make decisions about where they will be going to school next year. In fact, many members of the graduating class of 2016 will be playing a sport at the college level next year and have consequently committed to schools.

James Ciliento is a highly valued part of both MHS’ football and baseball teams. He has spent the last four years as a heavily in-volved Thunderbird athlete with various recognitions and accom-plishments under his belt, includ-ing a recent state championship title in football. Eventually, he

had to pick between his beloved sports and decided to continue his baseball career at Bryant Univer-sity in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Ciliento will take his baseball tal-ents to their Division I program, entering with an undecided ma-jor. He shares, “Honestly, I am a little nervous to see if I will like it or not...but I’m still excited to play baseball!” After what Ciliento has accomplished here at Mahwah, there is no doubt his talents will take him far as he ventures to Bry-ant University next fall.

Another sports commit is Taylor Herrmann, an integral piece of the Girls Lacrosse Team. Herrmann is committed to Bab-son College in Wellesley, Mas-sachusetts, which is roughly 15 minutes outside of Boston. She explains when she knew it would

It’s All Geek to Me

By Deanna Altomara

The holidays are a time to be thankful for what we have, so we asked MHS students for what they were thankful. Here’s what they had to say:

“I’m thankful for how far I’ve come and for my family.” -Sam Trobe

“Music!” -Brianna Stoohs

“I’m thankful for chicken dipped in barbecue sauce.” -Gabby Collazo

“I’m thankful that I get to see my fam-ily.” -Cole LaBruzzo

“Sleeping!” -Valentina Petroni

“I’m thankful that we’re almost grad-uated.” -Jess Cianci

“I’m thankful for study hall!” -Gracie Brooks

“I’m thankful for my driver’s license.” -Josie McMurdy

“Food!” -Nia Butler & Morgan Urrutia

“Theater!” -Jill Seader

“I’m thankful for my family.” -John Soha

“I’m thankful for my dog, Molly.” -Emily Hattem

“I’m thankful for my dad (Gianni S.).” -Fiona Uzeiri

“I’m thankful for my family and friends.” -Oliva Warnet

“I’m thankful for T. Swizzle.” -Harley Angelilo

“I’m thankful for Theater Arts.” -Sam DeVries

“I’m thankful for Mr. Nahum.” -Mike Patella

For What Are You Thankful?be a great fit: “I visited during the school session and met the team. They were really cool and wel-coming towards me.” Herrmann is grateful to be re-lieved of the stress her peers are experiencing from college applications. “I am relieved to not have to go through the long process that all of my friends are going through,” she admits. “It feels good to know where I’m going next year.”

Brendan Leniw is also among the sports com-mits, as he has decided to play Division III lacrosse at Catholic University in the fall. This university is located in Washington D.C. Leniw explains why Catholic University appeals to him, saying, “It has a suburban campus, which I wanted, but also is five minutes from the city, so it was perfect.” Since most students are still in the midst of applying to schools, Leniw describes being committed by say-ing, “It’s a really good feeling and takes a lot of stress away. It’s making senior year a lot more fun.”

Clearly, this year’s graduating class has a lot to offer to colleges. With gifted athletes already com-mitted to their future schools, it will be exciting to see the other amazing things these students can achieve.

By Erin Kittredge

Comic Conventions: Festi-vals featuring comic books, games, arts, movies, and various pop cul-ture, currently taking our world by storm each year. I had the chance to experience one when I went to see the Mahwah High School pro-duction of Geek! This play brought the world of video games and com-ic books to real life on the Thun-derbird stage by chronicling the journey of the two main characters Dayna and Honey, played by Jill Cedar and Illeana Blustein, respec-tively, through the nine levels of Dante’s Fire Con. These girls are driven by their obsessive desire to meet their favorite anime creator at the convention and must battle other real life reenactment players in order to get there. However, real life begins to get in the way of this game as the girls struggle to deal with a very real loss in their lives.

The quest through these lev-

els includes magical creatures and characters from all sorts of games and stories. The incredible cos-tumes, sets, and sounds used dur-ing this production transported the audience into the world of com-ics. A giant G a m e b o y was re-p e a t e d l y b r o u g h t onto the stage and was used to help guide the a u d i e n c e t h r o u g h the comic convention. Senior Tamia Mitchell appeared inside the Gameboy and perfectly depicted a robot like figure through her move-ments and voice. Another stage ef-fect included giant painted anime posters on the sides of the stage, which brings me to the incredible work done by the stage crew. Not

only did the show go off without a hitch, but the sets and move-ment of props was elaborate and original. Junior Allan Chan, a stage crew member, divulged what went into the stage design of this pro-

duction and how it came together during the show. He shared, “A col-lective effort from the dedicated and creative students and teach-ers made an impressive set design. During the show, all our hard work paid off once the scenes seamlessly transitioned from one to another and helped Drama Club put on a

fantastic Fall Play once again.”The cast of this show displayed

the talent that sweeps across this school in all grades, with cast mem-bers from the freshman to senior class. I had the chance to speak

with senior Meghan Loveman about her experience working on this show. Loveman played the role of Devil Cat #1 and shared with the Tom-Tom, “The play was so much fun to put to-gether. I never heard of it until it was announced at the beginning of this year and by show time it all came together. After numer-ous six hour rehearsals, the dra-ma club put on a wonderful show

and it was a great way to kick off se-nior year.” Under the new direction of Mr. Nahum, this play showcased originality and creativity. Through the contribution of experienced seniors and dedicated students of all grades, this show was able to comically, emotionally, and visually thrill audiences of all ages.

Cast of Geek! following their performance

Back Row: James Ciliento, Alex DiMartino, Jordan ManneFront Row: Dylan Herrmann, Britni Jaskot, Taylor Hermann,

Brendan Leniw

Sports Commits (Cont.)

Page 4 December 2015 December 2015 Page 5

A Wintry City Day—Planned to Perfection

Benji Check-In (Cont.)2016 Winter Predictions

By Raheyma Siddiqui

Get your blanket forts ready, Mahwah, because this year is about to get chillier. Well, that’s what meteorologists (the guys who cor-rectly predict predict upcoming storms 47% of the time) are saying. The first winter storm is coming to knock on the Midwest’s door soon, bringing a load of Jack Frost’s blessing with it. Affectionately dubbed “Winter Storm Bella,” 6 inches of snow per 12 hours is expected to hit cities like Chicago and Milwaukee for approxi-mately 48 hours. That means nearly 18 inches of snow!

What does that mean for us here in Bergen County, New Jersey? Meteorologists aren’t sure. It’s either going to get really, really cold, or Bella is going to decide to shift completely eastward and hit us instead. Or they’re going to continue to confuse the general public on how the weath-er a state over can be 30 degrees warmer with a good ol’ dose of sunshine despite the freezing chaos a couple miles away.

Regardless, it’s suggested that Mahwah teens break out their shovels and get ready to plow through mile long driveways for five dol-lars in the future. If the weathermen are right and Bella’s staying in the Midwest, then it looks like you won’t be able to go spend that extra cash at Starbucks.

The possibilities are endless, and your local news channel apologizes profusely in advance of possible failure.

By Danielle Doria and Leah Wong

With winter comes the desire to stay indoors, snuggle with your cat, and avoid the frigid outside world. But contrary to popular be-lief, there are plenty of activities to do and many places to go. The prob-lem is, no one ever actually knows what to do! Don’t fear—an entire day of plans is waiting for you. Though there is nothing wrong with staying indoors and watching Netflix, over winter break we high-ly recommend getting your toasty butts outside to take a trip to New York City, Philadelphia, or Boston. Follow these plans for a memorable day in a beautiful city.

New York City: A melting pot of culture and

adventure, New York City is notori-ous for being the place to be. It is so close to home, yet many don’t get the chance to explore the great jun-gle. If you want to visit NYC, first things first is to get into the city. Firstly, you have to decide whether to take the train from Mahwah, Ramsey, or Ramsey Route 17, and

check the train times. Now you can either take the train all the way to Hoboken and take the Path into New York, or you can get off at Se-caucus and take the train to New

York Penn Station. It depends on where your destination is.

Spending a day in the city can be quite expensive if you don’t play your cards right. With meals, ac-tivities, travel expenses, don’t for-get shopping, not to mention the dollar thrown to take that picture with the naked guitar man, costs can rack up pretty quickly. But it doesn’t need to be that way. For breakfast, instead of a sit-down diner meal or a Starbucks run, opt

for a delicious bagel and coffee from a deli or cafe and decorate it as you please.

Synonymous to winter, there’s no better wintry thrill than gliding

around on ice! Ice skat-ing is a great activity to do this break because it’s r e l a t i v e l y cheap, fun, and there’s so many places to choose from.

You can head to one of the classic rinks in Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park, or Central Park’s Wollman Rink, but if it’s just too raw out-side, head indoors to the Chelsea Piers or City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City, Queens. If ice skating isn’t your thing or you just want to do something else, NYC is home to a number of eminent museums. Most are ever changing where new galleries and art are shown throughout the year. There are a

handful of exciting exhibitions and events at every single museum which can easily be found on their websites. You can catch a Picasso and Jackson Pollock exhibition at the MoMA or the “Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960–1980” which is full of colorful and cultured pieces.

Exploring NYC’s cultural di-versity can lead you to explore places you never would have en-visioned yourself before. By this time, you’re most likely hungry again. Lunch can be as simple as a hotdog from a food cart, or $1 piz-za (I’ve come to learn 2 Bros is by far the best). If you’re looking for a healthier option, a great place with quite a few locations throughout the city is Pax Wholesome Foods. They offer delicious sandwiches, salads, pastas, desserts and fruits. Although pricier than $1 pizza, it is a much healthier alternative.

If you’re a music buff, NYC is also notorious for being home to some awesome music venues. From Madison Square Garden to

the incredible growth and interest of my stu-dents in...their writing and thinking skills from September until the end of the school year.” Although Mrs. Benjamin’s class involved the writing of rigorous essays, all students would agree that their time spent in her class very much paid off.

Is there anything about her teaching ca-reer Mrs. Benjamin would change? Absolutely

not. For her, teaching stretched way beyond four walls in a classroom grading papers. Inter-actions between faculty and students taught her valuable lessons as well. She says, “My stu-dents taught me to believe in one’s abilities and discover the passion within your soul. I was blessed...teaching English was a paramount as-pect of my identity.”

Central Park’s Wollman Rink

Continued on page 11

By Robert Khorami

Party like it’s 1975! Forty years ago, Mahwah High School was an entirely different place. Let’s take a trip down memory lane….

The 1975-76 school year was the first in which MHS had a com-puter terminal. At that time, there were classes and clubs that solely gave instructions on how to use a computer! This may sound ab-surd to us now, but these classes were viewed as “cutting-edge” back then. Today, if you showed your cell phone to someone from 1975,

he might mistake you for an alien! The technology that we have today was foreign to people during the 70s. Now, back to the present… The 2015-16 school year is the first in which laptops have been granted to students enrolled in the new S.T.E.M class, an addition to the science curriculum. In 1975, computers were introduced to the school, and now in 2015, students are being given their own laptops. Who knows? Maybe in 40 years, fu-ture MHS students will be amazed by how this generation lived with-out flying cars.

Don’t some clubs seem as though they have been around for as long as one can recall? That is the case with the Model U.N. club here at MHS. Even in 1975, stu-dents participated in simulating meetings of the United Nations. 40 years later and the club is still alive and growing strong. What a historic run it has had!

To see or not to see. That is the question…who went to the play? The school production in 1975 was titled Fair Exchange. It was a com-edy that took place in a Long Island community and concerned an un-

conventional Spring Prom, to say the least. The Mahwah Theatre De-partment continues to marvel four decades later. This year, the play, Geek, was a satirical touch on the renowned Shakespeare play, The Odyssey. It was a huge success and received a myriad of laughs! Con-grats to all who participated and thank you for a wonderful show!

That’s all for now! Join us next time as we explore other eras in Tom-Tom history! Who knows what will be uncovered... and when?

Tom-Tom Time Travels to 1975

By Ally Damante

While Americans remember the sacri-fices and honor the patriotism of our veterans each and every day, there is one day each year that is dedicated solely to our coura-geous veterans. On November 11th, 2015, many Mahwah residents gath-ered at Veterans Memorial Park to be a part of Mahwah’s annual Veterans Day Service and to help pay tribute to those who have protected our country. The Master of Ceremonies, Michael Devine (Quartermaster Mahwah Me-morial V.F.W. Post 7124), orchestrated the ceremony, introducing each of the speakers that came to pay their re-spect to the veterans. Vicar Matt Hass from Holy Cross Lutheran Church opened the ceremony with an invo-cation, and Reverend William Grob from the Ramapo Reformed Church closed the ceremo-

ny with a benediction. The bill of speakers in-cluded Mayor Laforet, Frank Calandrillo (PDC, American Legion Post 531), and Gary Montroy (Commander of VFW Post 7124), all of whom spoke about the purpose of Veterans

Day, especially during such a troubling time in our history. Fur-thermore, the Acad-emy of Saint Paul presented wreaths in honor of Mahwah’s veterans, and two students from Saint Paul shared their own personal connections to Veterans Day and what it means to them as individuals. One of our own students, Joe

Lebiak, also played a part in the ceremony, as he gave a passionate and patriotic speech about

Veterans Day. Mahwah High School students Jill Seader, Ally Damante, Therese Bohde, Ak-shitha Adhiyaman, Jonathan Blaustein, and Noah Steinberg performed the National An-

them and unified the community in song when they led “God Bless America.” In addi-tion, young Betsy Ross students made their contri-bution to the cer-emony by proudly and cheerfully singing “This Land is Your Land” at the beginning

of the ceremony. To conclude the ceremony, “Taps” was played by Mahwah High School Stu-dents Daniel Notarfrancesco, Reid Heisler, and Jay Olu-Wehuje.

Mahwah’s Veterans Day Service

MHS senior Joe Lebiak

Late in the game on November 28th, Marty Kapoian was skating toward the Wayne Valley goal. The net was empty. They had pulled their goalie in favor of an extra player in an effort to tie the game. Rather than score a sure third goal, which would have been his second hat trick in two games, Marty chose to pass the puck to a freshman. This selfless act allowed the freshman to earn his first varsity hat trick (3 goals in a game). Coming into this year’s hockey season Marty had achieved 87 points in just 59 games. Now, in his first two games he acquired 9 more points. Then in game 3 against West Milford, Marty scored his 50th career goal. On December 5th, Game 4 against Lakeland, he scored another goal making him only the 6th Mahwah player to reach 100 career points. At this early stage, he now has 8 goals and 5 assists in just the first 4 games. For his career, he has accumulated 51 goals (tied for 5th all time), 49 assists (6th all time)

and 100 points (6th all time) in 63 games. Way to go, Marty!!!

Top 5 MHS Hockey Scorers:Ralph Antonelli 2003/04 – 2006/07 187 Points (130 goals/57a)Rob Prezioso 2004/05 – 2007/08 144 Points (63 goals/81a)Ryan Magner 2007/08 – 2010/11 134 Points (75 goals/59 a)Tyler Gutierrez 2011/12 – 2014/15 117 points (59 goals/ 58a)Luke May 2009/10 – 2010/11 104 Points (51 goals/53a)

Marty Kapoian Joins Hockey’s 100-Point Club

Page 6 December 2015 December 2015 Page 7Recap of 2015By Olivia Corless and Harveen Kaur

Al-Qaeda members attacked the Charlie Hebdo offices (a satirical French newspa-per) on January 7, striking terror throughout Paris. The terrorist group was of-fended by the publication’s portrayals of the prophet Muhammad.

America experienced one of the coldest and snowiest win-ters it had in awhile, prompting many school and flight cancellations.

The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Se-ahawks in the 49th Super Bowl. NBC’s broadcast of the game was the most watched program in television history. The Patriots’ Tom Brady won his third MVP award prior to the “Deflategate” controversy.Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist

group from northeastern Nigeria, was labeled “the world’s deadli-est terrorist organization” by The Atlantic.

On May 2, Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao in a much-anticipated bout that most found disappointing and definite-ly not “The Fight of the Century” due to both boxers playing it safe.

On March 24, Germanwings Flight 9525 was deliberately crashed in the French Alps by one of its co-pilots named Andreas Lubitz, killing all 150 people on board. He was treated for suicidal tendencies prior to the crash and declared by a doctor to be “unfit for work.”

On April 1, Governor Jerry Brown an-nounced mandatory water restrictions in an attempt to combat the worst drought in California’s history. Unfortunately, this would not be the last problem that Califor-nia faced: it would continue to experience the drought and undergo an earthquake.

On April 4, African-American Walter Scott was shot and killed by Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer. Slager was later charged with murder after a graphic video was released that contradicted his ac-count.

On June 17, nine people were shot and killed at the Emmanuel Afri-can Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The perpetrator was Dylann Roof, who admitted that he wanted to ignite a race war. Roof’s social media pictures depicting him with the Confederate flag prompted debate on its modern display, and South Carolina ended up removing the flag from its statehouse grounds.

On July 14, Harper Lee released her sequel to To Kill a Mocking-bird, Go Set a Watchman, which was originally completed in the 1950s but misplaced. Although the decision was claimed to be en-tirely her own, her agent and the publishing company were under scrutiny because it was thought that they were taking advantage of Lee and made the decision to publish without her consent.

On August 21, a Moroccan man attempted to attack a train in France with heavy weapons, but was stopped by three Americans. Alek Skarlotos, a member of the National Guard, Spencer Stone, an Airman First Class, and An-thony Sadler, a college student, all tackled the gunman and were able to thwart a major disaster.

On September 28, the Taliban cap-tured the city of Kunduz, Afghani-stan, taking control of a major city for the first time in over a decade. Afghanistan responded with plans for a counterattack and attacked the next day. They were aided by the United States who launched airstrikes against the Taliban.

On October 29, China ended its one-child policy after 35 years, allowing parents to have more children.

On November 14, ISIS bombed a Paris stadium, two restaurants, and a concert venue. 129 people were killed as suicide bombers set off two explosions in the sta-dium, followed by attacks on other locations, bombing them as well. The top sus-pect, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was confirmed dead along with a few other bombers.

On October 3, a United States airstrike accidentally hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in north-ern Afghanistan, killing 22 people. The U.S. military later claimed that the airstrike was intended to at-tack Taliban forces near the city of Kunduz.

ion of the high school has inspired her to possibly pursue a career in education. She is president of the Future Edu-cators Club and encourages new members to join: “Anyone who is thinking about becoming a teacher can join.” In addi-tion to the Fu-ture Educators Club, Naslonski plays volleyball for both the school team and a volleyball club. When she isn’t in

school, she is playing volleyball, listening to music, hanging out

with friends, and do-ing homework. “All that fun stuff,” Naslonski jokes about the latter. She has set her goals high this school year. She hopes to “make high honor roll, get into some good classes for next year, and just have fun, that’s important.” With this set of pri-orities, she is bound to have a successful year.

“Ceara loves ev-eryone,” claims a friend of Mah-wah High School senior Ceara

Woelfel. In congruence with her friends statement, Ceara says that her favor-ite thing about school is that she has “made a lot of friends” and “there are some teachers [she] has forged re-ally great bonds with.” So far, her favorite class this year is studio art because she re-ally enjoys art and her teacher, Ms. Murphy. She is also part of art

club, the new club design collec-tive, REBEL, French Honor Soci-

ety, and chorus. This year, as a senior, she has been enjoying the privilege of going off-campus,especially dur-ing double. Her goals for this year remain similar to years’ past: “My goal has always been to get above a 90 in each class but since it’s my senior year, my goal is to maintain high honor roll, above an 85.” After high school, Ceara is hoping to at-tend Scranton.

Student Lottery (Cont.)

Junior Katie Naslonski

Senior Ceara Woelfel

T-Birds Fly SouthBy Evan Bonfield and Dan Chappell

Cross CountryAmanda Mohre: “I couldn’t have asked for a better

group of girls and boys to run and bond with all the way through the end. I know that next year the future cap-tains and Pasek will prepare and push both the boys and girls teams just as well as we did this year. With just a little more effort and faith both teams could absolutely make it to Holmdel next season.”

Boys Dual Meet Record (2-2)Girls Dual Meet Record (1-3)

Boys SoccerBrandon Santos: “Although

we didn’t get as far as we would have liked to in the state tourna-ment, it was an amazing experi-ence, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Our future looks extreme-ly bright. We have a ton of young talent and next year’s senior class will be phenomenal. We pose a great threat to win both the league and the section.”

Record (8-8-2)

Girls SoccerJennifer Moutenot: “This season is undoubtedly

the most memorable of my four years at Mahwah High School. We accomplished more than anyone ever ex-pected by getting to the State Sectional finals, winning the League, and of course beating Ramsey...twice! As for MGS next year, I think that the team will be successful from the amount of underclassmen who got a taste of what it’s like to play at the varsity level.”

Record: (15-4-2)

TennisKelly Pushie: “I had so much

fun with each and every person on the team and we all became such good friends. Although I’m incred-ibly upset that it’s over for me, a lot of great players are returning and I know the team will be even better in the years to come!”

League: (8-0) Overall: (11-7)

CheerleadingKasey Bronstein:

“It was the best season yet, and I’m going to miss everyone on the team so much next year because I have gotten very close with all of them.”

VolleyballOlivia Brand: “This season has been

the best last season I could’ve asked for. Our team grew so close and we ac-complished things we never thought we could’ve. Next year’s team has a lot of po-tential and talent and I can’t wait to come back and watch them play.”

Record (20-5)

FootballJames Ciliento: “My last football season

has been unforgettable. I have a really great team and I’m never going to forget the mo-ments that we had together. To prepare for MetLife, we are going to watch film, run, lift, and stay focused like we do each week to make sure that we have all our t’s crossed and our i’s dotted.”

Record (11-1)

Page 8 December 2015 December 2015 Page 9

The one thing that I will remember the most from this season is the memories I built with my teammates, memories that will never be forgotten. For the past year, this team was a family we built and something that will never be forgotten. Whether it was double sessions in the 90-degree heat or the practices we had when it was 25 degrees, it is something we will never want to change. Every day, whether we ran, lifted, or practiced, it was a day we looked forward to because it was time spent with some of our best friends. Playing in MetLife Stadium was the most exciting event this season. All of the hard work we put in finally paid off. The feeling of being on that field was surreal; you almost felt like you were a professional because you never imagine yourself playing in an NFL stadium. The fans we have at Mahwah are some of the craziest and most enthusiastic fans there are. There is no better feeling than looking up and see-ing all of your friends going crazy, yelling and cheering for you. It’s something us players are so thankful for. Also, the support we have from our parents is amazing. On Thursdays, they take time out of their days to serve us dinner to fuel us up for the next day. Plus, all the extra time they spent being at all of our games and money spent on equipment is another thing we couldn’t be more thankful for. This season is one that will never be forgotten. To everyone outside the football team who is there to support us, we just want to say thank you for one exciting football season. ~Mike Peltekian

The game was a really good time on Friday, and it was an amaz-ing experience. I am extremely proud of my team for doing something so special and getting a state championship for Coach Remo. Playing at MetLife was breathtaking, and it was really good to see all of our hard work pay off. The fans were amazing, and we had so much support from the teachers and faculty. ~James Ciliento

MHS Football: New Jersey Section I, Group 2 Title Champions

Standing on the sidelines every Friday night since I was a freshman is something I will never forget. Especially being a captain my senior year was an amazing experi-ence. Getting to cheer at MetLife was one of the best nights of my life, looking into the stands and seeing all of my friends for one last time screaming and root-ing for the football team, holding onto my teammates’ hands and counting down from 20 to be announced as state champs, those are the moments I will cherish for-ever. I couldn’t have asked for any other way to end my cheerleading experience. ~Kasey Bronstein

All season we have been looking forward to the possi-bility of cheering for the football team at MetLife Sta-dium. When we finally walked onto the field, I knew I was so lucky to experience something like that, es-pecially during my senior year. This season has been very special for me, after being named a captain and eventually getting to go to States. It was a long season for cheerleading, from summer practices to competi-tions, so it was a really proud moment to perform our halftime routine on the field at MetLife one last time. My last game as a Thunderbird Cheerleader could not have been any more special. I will truly miss standing on the sidelines with some of my closest friends, and I will never forget the countless laughs we have shared throughout the past four seasons. It was amazing to watch the team claim the State Championship title, and I am so proud of my own team of great cheerleaders and all that we have accomplished this year. ~Nicole Sinnaeve

10. Mike Peltekian intercepted a pass in the 2nd quarter and ran it in for an easy TD to completely demoralize Glen Rock and slam the door shut on the first half stomping. 9. The Mahwah Marching Thunderbirds’ “Mahwah Rumble,” aided by the cheerleaders, sufficiently pumped up the entire student section multiple times during the game. The drumline taking up an entire aisle while MetLife security looked on with chagrin was also hilarious. Sorry, security dude, the show must go on. Like Glen Rock, drums were made for beating. 8. Remo getting faked out on the massive jumbotron. “Hey coach, look up there…” Justin Walker then took the opportunity to dump a Gatorade cooler of ice water on coach’s back, all while the crowd watched and cheered on the big screen. Best post-game shower coach ever took. 7. CBS News anchor and Mahwah alum Chris Wragge, wearing his T-Bird varsity jacket, joins the team in the locker room for the pre-game speech and stayed for the entire game, cheering on his favorite football team, next to the Giants, who the T-Birds could probably beat right now. 6. Seeing the cheerleaders at the center of the massive MetLife field was quite a sight. These athletes put just as much work in as the players and the cheer squad’s enthusiasm and dedication inspired fans and players alike during this amazing year. Thanks, ladies. 5. Zayjay was unstoppable. Like a speeding fire hydrant bowling over black jerseys. Straight cruis-ing all night long. 4. Tell us you saw Ciliento stiff arm #10’s face to the ground then splash into the end zone? Truly an amazing play by the most talented player in the stadium. T-Bird country will miss you man, along with all the seniors. Heck of a way to go out though, boys. (Meanwhile, ol’ # 10 had a rough game…)3. So…Justin Walker blew up some poor soul with an earth shattering block during a kick return. Yes, a simple nasty block, but it was also a message-sending-moment. The message: you will find no safe place on this field today, Glen Rock. We’re here to play football the Mahwah way, all day, on every play. 2. Mr. Doris should be hired as the new director of fan cheers. His bellowing voice and vocal-cheer leadership should earn him this honor. Can anyone say “Mahwah Fan Club” next year? Orga-nized cheers? Practice? Hmmm… Mr. Doris’ rendition of “We Are the Champions” as our champs hoisted the hardware was also a highlight. Our voices are still scratchy.1. We will always remember the players jumping into the mass of fans. It was really a perfect end to a magical season. It was truly cathartic. We needed it. Though we wanted to storm the field ourselves, we were too intimidated by NJ State Troopers; instead, our team brought the field to us. We the fans loved every moment of this gesture, and we cannot think of a better image to take with us forever then that sea of white jerseys charging toward us in ecstatic jubilation. That’s a forever memory.

Congratulations, Champs.

Tom-Tom’s Top 10 MetLife Moments

Page 10 December 2015 December 2015 Page 11

Winter City Day (Cont.)

underground places like Santos Party House, great music can be found everywhere. Even by simply walking around or standing on subway platforms, you will encounter musicians, most of whom aren’t too shabby. A useful app for music is Bandsintown. You plug in a location and the distance you’re willing to travel, and in return you’re given a plentiful list of concerts going on in that area. You can also view who’s coming through the City and when their gig is so you can plan your trip accordingly. A concert in NYC is a personal favorite to end the night-they just have an atmosphere you can’t seem to get anywhere else. It’s freaking New York City, man! People travel across the world to come here and we’re only a train ride away!

New York City is a more than beautiful place, especially when engulfed by layers upon layers of white. Just make sure you’re bundled up! It’s great to take advantage of the break and plan yourself a day in the city, but what I’ve come to learn is the best days are the ones un-planned. Go with the flow and live in the mo-ment. Have yourself a happy holiday and head into the city for some memorable times.

Philadelphia:If you have been to Boston and NYC before,

another place to visit is Philadelphia. Make your way down to the Ramsey train station. On your way to Philadelphia, you will have to change trains a few times: the first change is at Secau-cus. When the Ramsey train arrives at Secaucus, you will need to get off and transfer onto a new train to Trenton. Once at Trenton, you will need to get off the train again, and embark on a new

train that will lead you to Philadelphia. On this train, pay attention to when it arrives at 30th Street in Philadelphia and get off at that stop. You are now here and ready for an eventful day!

For a palatable breakfast, hop in a taxi and make your way down to Honey’s Sit ‘n Eat, voted as the best place for breakfast in Philadel-phia by Philly Magazine. After enjoying a nice breakfast, it is time to get your day started. An amazing place to visit is Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, a beautiful mosaic museum made up of mesmerizing pieces of mosaic art. Another option is to visit Philadelphia’s Museum of Art, one of America’s largest museums filled with famous European and American art. Once you are finished enjoying these memorable places, you’ll probably be famished! There are tons of places for a delicious lunch in Philadelphia, but if you’re in the mood for a nice Italian dish, make your way to Zeppoli. Once you’re stuffed with delectable Italian food, the afternoon is yours. There are tons of colleges to look at, such as the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, or Temple University. If you’re not in the col-lege-searching mood, go for some sightseeing! Check out the famous Liberty Bell, a symbol of American independence. After a long day, it’s time to enjoy one of Philadelphia’s delicious res-taurants again. Stop by Vernick Food and Drink to end off a wonderful day and to start thinking about your next trip!

Boston:To get to Boston, wake up bright and early

and prepare for an action-packed day. The easi-est way to get to Boston is to drive to the New-

ark train station and take an Amtrak train to Boston. If you do not have access to a car, there are plenty of other options. One option is to make your way to the Ramsey station, and take a train to Secaucus via NJ Transit. At Secaucus, transfer trains and make your way to Newark. Once at Newark, you’ll have to take an Amtrak train to Boston, and now you’ve made it. Once you arrive, breakfast in Boston is a must. The Breakfast Club is a delicious option that holds all the breakfast classics. After breakfast, you should definitely take the time to check out the prestigious colleges of Boston, such as North-eastern University and Boston College. But if you’re not in the mood to figure out your fu-ture yet, take a walk in the picturesque Boston Public Garden, or check out the Boston Water-front. When lunch rolls around, stop by A4 for a mouth-watering slice of pizza—one of the best places for pizza in Boston and the nation itself. After lunch, take advantage of Boston’s unique places of interest. Some promising places to vis-it are the New England Aquarium, the Museum of Science, or Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. If you are in the mood to explore Boston’s history, visit Boston Common, the oldest city park in the United States. Or take a look at the Free-dom Trail, a 2.5-mile trail that leads you to 16 historic Boston sites. After a long, cold day in the city, end with dinner at Summer Shack, a beach-styled restaurant that will help you warm up from a frigid day with delicious seafood along with beef and chicken dishes.

MHS Talent Show 2015

Rise Of The Tomb Raider (Xbox 360, Xbox One)$59.99 (Gamestop) Now this one is set a year later from the previous Tomb Raider, which means that it has twice the action and breathtaking stunts. It is hard to believe that someone like Lara Croft could pull off these stunts while

somehow being constantly injured.

Call Of Duty Black Ops 3 (PC, Ps3, Ps4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)$49.99 (Gamestop)Treyarch strikes again. If you have enjoyed previ-ous Call of Duty Games, this one is for you or the special giftee.

Star Wars Battlefront (PC, Ps4, Xbox One)$59.99 (Gamestop)The saga continues with the new movie being released December 18th. Star Wars Battlefront is sure to please. Maybe after 15 years of just sitting there, the Stormtroopers got around to practicing their aim?

Star Wars BB9 Toy$149.99 (Barnes and Noble or Brookestone)This is definitely the droid that you are looking for! move over R2-D2, this little guys the next best thing in the remote control droid scene. Even better, you can control this gift with any device that has bluetooth.

AmyRelease Date: December 1st, DVD $12.99 and Blu-Ray $14.99 (Best Buy)Amy Winehouse was, and frankly still is, an icon and inspiration for people who have listened to her amazing music. This documentary portrays Winehouse from a totally different angle, pro-viding a new perspective of her both as a person and an R&B artist.

Mens Military Field Grooming Kit$65.00 (UncommonGoods.com) If your man takes his grooming so seri-ously to the point where it makes you uncomfortable, get him this jewel. With this gift, he can bask in the beauty of his face fuzz. This treasure comes with a screwdriver also for some reason. May-be the screwdriver yells motivational phrases at your man while he fuels his obsession.

Wooden iPhone Cases$24.00 (DarbySmart.com)So these are actually pretty cool, wooden iPhone cases are the fu-ture of sleek and barron looking iphone accessories. Try not to drop it on your hardwood floor, it’s going to be like a game of Where’s Waldo, only you are not going to find it with a face stuck in a con-stant death stare.

Unisa Thayer Chelsea Boots$44.95 (DSW)The Holidays are for laughing and being with family but for the shoe hoarder, it is fair game. These boots are nice for those winter walks through the park at 4 pm when it is dark and cold and you forgot to bring a jacket. You will not need a jacket when you wear these babies, because style is totally more important than freezing un-til you become a popsicle.

Fuzzy Pom-Pom Beanie$9.90 (Forever 21)These hats look super warm, and you will not have to send out holiday greeting cards to your friends and family. You could just wear this hat and just hope that they sense your holiday spirit.

MinionsRelease Date: December 8th, DVD $19.99 and Blu-Ray $29.99 (Best Buy)Previously in Despicable Me the Minions have taken a life of their own and evolved themselves into their own fan base. They even had a Minion Twinkie; yes you read that right.

Ant-ManRelease Date: December 8th, DVD $19.99 and Blu-Ray $24.99 (Best Buy)This one is specifically for the superhero nerd, Ant Man is coming out and this is a big deal. Other people might not get it but this is a super huge deal. Think of a celebrity breakup. This is bigger than that.

Clip On Man Bun$14.99 (Amazon.com)Does the man in your life not have the lus-cious locks to create the newest and most pointless fad out there now? Do not fret; plop one of these on his noggin and send him out to show off his new favorite ac-cessory. Then when everyone’s stopped raving over these things, go in your back-yard, and burn the thing.

Michael Kors Selma Satchel$213.99 (Macy’s)What is the holiday season without blowing a ridiculous amount of your money on material things that she may or may not like? This is a Michael Kors bag so either way she will be touched by the gesture and take it everywhere telling everyone that you’re the best person ever. So I guess in that sense it is really a win-win.

2015 Holiday Gift IdeasBy Aidan Douglas

For the Gamer...

For the Movie Fan...For the Guys...

For the Girls...

Page 12 December 2015 December 2015 Page 13

By Mahnoor Khan

The importance of history stems from its ability to be remembered and appreciated. One of the most notable moments of the Civil Rights Movement was when Rosa Parks, an Af-rican-American woman, refused to yield her seat on the bus for a white man. This historic moment occurred 60 years ago this month on December 1st, 1955, a pre-cursor to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott was announced on December 4th, 1955 which prompted approximate-ly 40,000 African-Americans to join the next day. Boycotting the segregated sys-tem also resulted in the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which had elected Martin Luther King Jr., a 26 year old pastor, as the presi-dent. The movement lasted 381 days, and ended on December 20th, 1956 with the U.S. Supreme Court recognizing the deci-sion of the Montgomery federal court that any racial segregation of seating on buses violated the 14th Amendment.

While Parks’ heroic actions led to an unjust arrest and fines, she was not the only African-American woman who acted for the civil rights cause. On March 2nd, 1955, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl, was arrest-

ed for the same crime: not surrendering her seat to a white person. Colvin’s arrest initiated the tension building up for the bus boycott because she had actually acted in accordance with the law; she was already sitting in the designated seats behind the front ones reserved for whites

only, meaning that she was not required to give up her seat for anyone. Regardless, Colvin was convicted.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a re-sult of Parks’s arrest as well as the tension that was already mounting in the city. E.D. Nixon, a prominent African-American leader, bailed Parks out of jail and determined that she would be the ideal plaintiff in a legal challenge against systematic segregation. Other African-Ameri-can leaders also helped fight for the establish-ment of equality; MIA organized meetings and thought of ways to facilitate transportation for African Americans so that the demands -- such as establishing common courtesy, the hiring of black drivers, and a first-come, first-seated policy -- could be met.

Current events show that racism contin-ues to be an issue today. While segregation is not permitted legally, many Americans still fall victim to discrimination. Even though 60 years have passed since Parks’ arrest initiated one of America’s first mass protests for the civ-il rights cause, it is still important to recognize the significance of her actions. In commemora-tion for this event, Alabama State University, which had played a key role in spreading the word about the boycott, will be hosting sev-eral events during the first week of December, including riding the historic bus itself and re-

enacting the annual mass meetings.

60th Anniversary of Rosa Parks’ Courageous Act

By Ben Gerson

Although the presidential election is 12 months away, candidates from both parties continue to make headlines daily. Let’s check in on some recent developments surrounding the campaigns of the top two Republican and Democratic candidates.

The Democrats:

CLINTON AND WALL STREETIn a November 14th Democratic debate,

former New York Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invoked the 9/11 attacks to defend her questionable ties with major Wall Street backers and super PACs. As a sena-tor from New York in the early 2000s, Clinton argued, her assistance in the recovery of New York City won her the support of big business. These comments have fallen under criticism from many in the Democratic party, such as fellow candidate Bernie Sanders, who have re-jected super PAC funds and aim to restructure Wall Street.

SANDERS AND GAY RIGHTSAlthough Senator Bernie Sanders is a self-

proclaimed unwavering, outspoken gay rights supporter, new evidence has surfaced pointing to his timidness on the issue during earlier in his political career. According to the Vermont magazine Seven Days, getting Sanders to pub-

licly voice his support for marriage equality in the 1990s was as difficult as “pulling teeth from a rhinoceros.” The progressive Senator has re-peatedly praised his opposition to the 1996 antigay Defense of Marriage Act, yet his wife revealed that he truly rejected the Act as a viola-tion of states’ rights. Sanders repeatedly made similar decisions praised by the gay rights com-munity; however, not until the Vermont state legislature explicitly defended same-sex mar-riage in 2009 did Sanders officially endorse the concept.

The Republicans:

CARSON IN JORDANAmid the controversy of his comparison

of Syrian refugees in America to “rabid dogs,” retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson travelled to Syrian refugee camps in Jordan over Thanksgiv-ing weekend. After con-sulting with refugees, aid workers, and govern-ment officials, Carson concluded that Syrians, contrary to the opinions of many politicians, wish to return home rather than emigrate to the United States. By increasing funding to the Jor-danian refugee camps, Carson theorized, the flow of Syrians to the United States would de-

crease, thus eliminating a national security risk. Carson’s foreign policy skills have frequently been questioned, yet he refuses to admit that the trip was an effort to help expand his knowl-edge of global affairs. He has also received scorn from numerous Muslim leaders after comments that Muslims should be restricted from holding the title of President.

TRUMP’S 9/11 CONTROVERSYOn Tuesday, November 24th, in an at-

tempt to defend his claims that American Mus-lims outwardly celebrated the 9/11 attacks, Re-publican frontrunner Donald Trump mocked the physical disabilities of Serge Kovaleski, an ex-Washington Post writer who once refer-enced in an article claims of Muslim residents in Jersey City throwing parties after the Twin Towers had fallen. Shortly after the article was

published, however, both Kovales-ki and the Post deemed the allega-tions unfounded. In his campaign rally, Trump mimicked Kovaleski’s posture and movement to high-light the reporter’s supposed in-decisiveness. Faced with burning post-gaffe questions from the pub-lic, Trump proclaimed he had never

met Kovaleski and knew nothing of his condition. However, Kova-

leski has cited numerous journalistic meetings with Trump in the 1980s, in which the two ad-dressed each other on a first-name basis.

Presidential Candidate Update

Presidential Candidate Donald Trump

By Jarrad Levy

The birds are beginning to fly south for the winter, the air is getting cooler, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens is days away from being released on December 18th. Wait, hold on...Star Wars is only a few days away? That cannot possibly be right. It feels like it was an eternity ago when the seventh movie in the epic series of the galactic space opera was announced. The movie has been highly anticipated since its announcement by Disney and Lucasfilm, and is easily the most anticipated movie of the year, possibly the most anticipated movie of the 21st century. But what cre-ated this anticipation? Well, here’s a list of things that did just that. Warning: Read-ing these Star Wars facts may just make you as excited as one of the mega fans see-ing the film on opening night.

The Original TrilogyNo Star Wars fan is complete with-

out seeing the original trilogy of films, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Re-turn of the Jedi. These are the movies that started it all. Without them, Star Wars: The Force Awakens would not even be an idea. The trilogy single-handedly cre-ated the sci-fi summer blockbuster genre and a mass legion of loyal fans. Rewatch-ing these films (or watching them for the first time) would take 30+ hours, leaving you craving for more. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be waiting when you finish.

DisappointmentThe year is 1999. It has been sixteen

years since the release of Return of the Jedi. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is set to release and is arguably the most an-ticipated film in history up to this point. Now present day, The Phantom Menace is universally hated and seen as the worst film in the esteemed saga. In fact, the fol-lowing two movies in the series were not much better. The three most recent Star

Wars movies have been hated and have caused massive disappointment in the eyes of all Star Wars fans. The fans are rav-enous for anything new that can repair the image of Star Wars, that was tarnished by the trilogy of prequels to the original trilogy. Seeing how amazing the new film looks, people are more excited than ever to repair the broken views of a once flaw-less saga.

Star Wars BattlefrontThe video game Star Wars Battlefront

was released on November 17th on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC. This game, like Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been highly anticipated for years. In fact, it was a genius marketing strategy for the game to be released a month before the movie. It allows people to kindle their Star Wars nostalgia just before the film is released. What will make people even more excited is the downloadable “Battle of Jakku” con-tent for Star Wars Battlefront that acts as a prologue for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The downloadable content will be released December 8th for all players, only ten days before the movie’s release. If you own any gaming hardware and want to be excited for The Force Awakens, Star Wars Battle-front is a must.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is only a month away, and is on the road to demol-ishing records. It has already crashed the Internet when pre-ordered tickets went up for sale online. It is likely that it will destroy the opening weekend revenue re-cord, and possibly exceeding the all time revenue record as well. People all over the world are more than ecstatic for the film that has been expected since Return of the Jedi in 1983. This excitement is growing exponentially as a result of the original trilogy, the disappointment of the pre-quels, and Star Wars Battlefront. As the trailer states, “The Force is calling to you. Let it in.”

May the Force Be Here SoonBy Simran Karamchandani

As 2015 is coming to an end, it is time to forget the past and think about the future. What’s going to happen in 2016?

If you’re looking for blockbuster movies, then look no further. Start with a Marvel classic that many have been dying to see since 2010: Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds, is going to be fully dedicated to the anti-he-ro. The morally ambiguous characters don’t stop there. DC’s Suicide Squad will defy the superhero genre with a team of villains forced by a secret government agency to save the day. The movie involves an all-star cast in-

cluding Emmy-winning Viola Davis playing the head of the agency A.R.G.U.S., Oscar-winning Jared Leto as the Joker, and Will Smith as Deadshot. It’s definitely going to be an action-packed film that you will not want to miss. If you don’t like villains, then be prepared to check out a movie that fans have been waiting for between two longstanding heroes, Batman and Superman. The movie Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is a movie that will not only feature the two heroes, but will also show the first live-action film performances of Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Be sure to check this one out!

If you don’t like action movies, then go on an adven-ture with Dory in the new film, Finding Dory. Its prequel, Finding Nemo, was a classic and will forever be one, but why stop swimming with the fishes there? Dory invites you on an adventure with her under the sea in order to find her family. This is sure to be a comedy for all ages, so don’t hesitate to watch the movie if you think you’ll be the oldest one in the audience! Following the com-edy streak, Ghostbusters is a film that will give you only laughter, as the Bridesmaids cast and SNL cast members join to give you the entertainment you need.

There are many new technological advances that might be of interest. Robots are now being made to pa-trol the streets and will be under the control of humans through headsets. The Telebot is a robot that will behave as a police officer. It intentionally has a cruel look in or-der to fend off any criminals and to enforce the law to many.

The robots don’t end there. If you like McDonald’s, then you’ll see thousands of restaurants running with robots at the counter. McDonald’s ensures that there will be at least 1-3 people working with the robots in order to ensure the robots are functioning properly.

Robots will not only be outside, but also in your own house. The revolutionary robot, Jibo, will read to you, take photos of you, and do anything else you com-mand it to do. If you ever feel alone, don’t be afraid to talk to Jibo, he’s just another “person” waiting to talk. He will be your companion whenever you ask him to be; there is no commitment whatsoever! Next time you’re shopping, don’t forget to grab your very own Jibo.

2015 was so last year! 2016 will bring endless pos-sibilities for you and your family.

2016—The Future is Here

The new heroes of the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Page 14 December 2015 December 2015 Page 15

By Raheyma Siddiqui

With an incom-ing surge of festivities comes an abundance of spare time to curl up under a pile of blan-kets and flip through a favorite read. How-ever, the excessiveness of “best books for…” lists can be daunting. The next time you spot the next holiday sale at a bookstore, be sure to check out these holi-day classics.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowl-ing: Seeing as 2015 marks sixteen years of the lightning bolt scar and

“The Boy Who Lived,” it seems fit-ting that one breaks out the series for another holi-day read. The Golden Trio and their c o n q u e s t s t h ro u g h o u t the years up until a revolu-tionary battle are bound to keep anyone entertained. B e s i d e s , hours of binge-reading

with a cup of hot chocolate is as close to magic as you’ll be getting.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: This novel will provide a blast from the past – a timeless clas-sic circulat-ing around the eccentric E l i z a b e t h Bennet, her dysfunctional family, and the preten-tious Fitzwil-liam Darcy. Don’t forget to read this Austen trademark with the famed YouTube series The Lizzie Ben-

net Diaries for modern twists and hours of laughs.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke: Re-member that mon-ster-sized book that occupied your middle school’s bookshelves, but everyone seemed enamored with it any-way? This book will break the boundar-ies of fiction – liter-ally – with characters escaping pages and wreaking havoc in the real world. The 560 pages will be easier to breeze through with-

out a seventh grade style book re-port looming overhead.

Books to Read This Winter Break

By Taylor Davis and Cole LaBruzzo

Instead of doing the typical review of the best holiday movies, we decided to emphasize a list of movies that were set during the holidays, but aren’t neces-sarily labeled “holiday movies” in a tra-ditional sense. Hence, what follows are the BEST “NON-HOLIDAY” HOLIDAY MOVIES!

Die Hard “Come out to the coast, we’ll get to-

gether, have a few laughs,” is the phrase that lures officer John McClane to Cali-fornia for the holidays…Thank goodness for this phrase because without it, we wouldn’t have Die Hard, one of the most beloved action movies of all time. John McClane plans to meet his estranged wife at her company Christmas party at the doomed Nakatomi Plaza. Unfortu-nately, terrorist thieves crash the party in search of 640 million in bearer bonds and John McClane is left to fight them off all by his lonesome. Yippee-ki-yay!

Harry Potter Harry Potter is one of the most well-

known book and movie series of all time. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are off on their own adventures, resulting in mul-tiple scenes in each movie that occurred during holidays, especially Harry getting the invisibility cloak as a Christmas gift.

GremlinsThere are three rules to caring for a

Gremlin: no bright light, don’t get him wet, and never feed him after midnight,

no matter how much he begs. The movie is about a father named Randall Pelt-zer trying to get his son Billy a very special Christmas present. He finds a furry creature called a Mogwai named Gizmo and is warned by the seller not to expose it to bright lights, get it wet, or feed it after midnight. Billy doesn’t follow the rules! Grem-lins emerge, causing mass Christmas hysteria. Pretty underrated scary film, so be warned.

Lethal Weapon The opening scene alone of this

film depicts the darkness of L.A. drugs, robbery and mayhem all to the tune of “Jingle Bell Rock.” Check out the ending of the film when the psy-chotic special-forces villain crashes his car into Sgt. Murtaugh’s house, running over the family’s tree and all their gifts. But sorry bad guys, no one is home.

Batman Returns Batman Returns was the second

movie in the Batman franchise di-rected by Tim Burton. Batman takes on The Penguin and Catwoman all with the backdrop of a snowy white Gotham Christmas. Be sure to check out the racy scene between Batman and Catwomen under the mistletoe! The movie aptly ends with Bruce Wayne and trusty Alfred exchanging Christmas wishes.

Non-Holiday Holiday MoviesBy Steve Arciniega

‘Tis the season to see what your future holds…with your De-cember Horoscope!

AriesAs Christmas rolls around,

Uranus comes to a retrograde, meaning that this is the best time to go back and clear up any issues you may have encountered the past month. Review your past head on and with confidence; life can only get better for you this month! In order to prepare for December, you must hunker down your en-ergy and focus on completing past assignments/making up past due work. With these obstacles out of the way, you can have more time to focus on the future. Because of the adventurous and energetic nature of this zodiac sign, your December spirit animal is the orca whale.

TaurusComing into this month you

may become anxious but remem-ber to be patient. Whether wait-ing for important results or for certain days to pass, make sure to relax. As said before, “Good things come to those who wait.” This time, pa-tience is key to having the best month you have had all year. Due to the amount of patience this animal has, your spirit animal for December is the majestic snow leopard.

GeminiKeep your eyes and mind

open this month, Gemini. This December, opportunity is at your doorstep! You may feel a boost of assertiveness, vitality, personal initiative, and physical drive. With these gained strengths it is the perfect time to complete multiple tasks and get stuff done. Although this will be a busy month for you, come January time, a feeling of re-lief will wash over you. Because of its strong will and work ethic this December, your spirit animal is the winter wolf.

CancerDecember will seem to be just

another month to you, but come the last week of December, an im-portant event will affect your life. The moon enters your sign during this week. This December should be all about keeping your emotions in check. It is important to not be overly emotional, but to remember to be kind and loving. Your many nebulous emotions will clear up during late December, and you will know how to proceed with your sit-uation. Just remember to be strong and to keep in mind that time heals all wounds. Because of how loving they are towards other members of their species, the arctic fox is your spirit animal for December.

LeoAs December comes along, re-

member to be creative. Try picking up some new hobbies or even join some new clubs. The winter sol-stice marks the date where you will feel most like yourself. During this time, you will feel like you don’t have to put on a show for anyone. Just remember to be generous and warm towards others, and extreme

happiness will fol-low. Because of its curiosity, your spirit animal for the month of De-cember is the arctic ferret.

VirgoThis Decem-

ber is all about the money! During the next couple weeks, you will see a rise in several financial opportunities. Al-

though these opportunities may overwhelm you when they come, make sure to take advantage of them quickly as they won’t stay open to you forever. That being the case, remember that these stress-ful opportunities will result in im-mense financial gain. Due to the rarity of these opportunities and of this animal, the arctic hare is your spirit animal for the month of De-cember.

LibraThis December, Libra, is all

about family. Take some time this month to appreciate the car-ing family you have. Make sure to

spend time with your family and show them how much you appre-ciate their support. Not only will this come easy to you this month, but you will also benefit from these actions in the future. Your bonds with your family members will grow stronger this month. Due to the focus on family, your spirit ani-mal is one that spends all its time with its family, the penguin.

ScorpioThis December, Venus enters

your zodiac sign. Love and affec-tion are all that await you this month. Who knows: with the right decisions, you may just find your-self in a meaningful relationship for the holidays. Therefore, keep a lookout for people who might have

hidden feelings for you. They may be just what you were looking for. Because of the love and affection this animal delivers for one an-other, the polar bear is your spirit animal for the month of December.

SagittariusThis month is all about self-

fulfillment and achieving your goals. December is your time to advance yourself in life. Getting to the place you want to be in will never be any easier than it will be during this time. By working hard and being persistent, all of your yearly goals for 2015 will be accom-plished. By the end of the month, gear up for another busy year full of excitement and create new goals to set your eyes upon. By pursuing these actions, you will gain self-be-lief and be proud of yourself com-ing into the New Year. Because of this pride, your spirit animal for the month is the elk.

Capricorn

Since Saturn is not present during the coming month, this is your time to shine. Challenges won’t suddenly pop up to stress you. This December, you have

nothing to fear, so be ambitious for the next four weeks! Take the time to really grow as a person, but don’t forget to have fun. Don’t stress yourself out with all the de-tails. Ultimately, this December, your actions will set the tone for the next year, so make smart de-cisions! Because of your ability to be anything you want this month, your spirit animal for December is the snowman.

Aquarius

This month, Uranus is out of its shadow, and it’s your time to reflect on the year you have had. Make sure everything is in order so that you can advance forward in your life and bring about changes that will increase your happiness.

Just remember to be yourself; originality is important when you make your decisions this month! Due to the fact that organi-zation and patience will be crucial for you this month, your spirit animal is the snowy owl!

PiscesThis month will be filled with

excitement and joy! This month, happiness will naturally beam from you. Neptune, your ruler planet, is no longer in retrograde. Tough decisions will become easier, there-fore freeing up time for you to en-joy more of life. Even the everyday events will bring about happiness for you. It is important to be joyful, but remember to think about your actions. It is important to be logi-cal when confronting future events and decisions even if they seem easy to make. Because of your joy-fulness this month, your spirit ani-mal is the arctic seal.

MHS’ December Horoscopes and Spirit Animals

Top to bottom: Harry Potter, Lethal Weapon, and Batman Returns

Page 16 December 2015

Until next time...

12-4-2015

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