Start holiday shopping 2010

by Andrea Farrington

Thanksgiving is the start of the Christmas shopping season.

The ten most popular gifts of the season are: Apple iPod Touch-newest generation, Apple iPad, Xbox Kinect Console, Playstation Move, Amazon Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Halo Reach, Samsung 40 inch LCD HDTV, Call of Duty: Black Ops, ASUS Thin Laptop and the Motorola Android Cell Phone.

Some tips for successful holiday purchases are:

1. Start your sale searching on Thanksgiving Day or sooner.

2. Figure out what you want to buy, which stores have the best sales and what time they open.

3. List stores by opening time from early to late.

4. Know where your items are in the store.

5. Be respectful of other shoppers.

6. It is busy at the food court so bring a snack! (The bathroom is also packed so plan ahead.)

7. Do not forget about stores that do not advertise. They will have deals too!

8. Have fun!

Thanks to early online information regarding times and products, shopping now happens earlier in the season.

A popular Black Friday website indicated post-Thanksgiving shopping increased 13.3 percent between 2008 and 2009 and spending rose 3.6 percent in the same period. 

According to predictions, as the percent of holiday shoppers increase the number of dollars spent per shopper will decrease.

Elementary Principal Darin and President of the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) Marinda DeJong are thankful to receive a check from the leadership class for $2,065.44 from the proceeds from Friday's Night of Fright and Fun. The money will go to the PAC fund to benefit the elementary students, such as  new playground equipment, Donuts with Dads and Mornings with Moms.

Students' knowledge of Thanksgiving

by Calli Zimmerman

If asked the following questions, would you be able to answer? 

What boat did the pilgrims come to America on? What is the name of the area where they landed? What year was the first Thanksgiving? 

A survey with those questions was held in the study hall for students who weren’t busy. 

Twenty-four students took the time to complete the survey and surprisingly only eight answered all three questions correctly. 

Twenty-three students had the Mayflower correct, while 21 had Plymouth Rock right and only 10 had 1621 correct. 

Out of the 21 who answered Plymouth Rock correctly, only 12 spelled it right. 

This is interesting because many people say that kids do not care, and they do not listen in class. Well, out of the 24 students, all of them had at least 2 questions right. 

Some interesting answers returned were the date 100 BC and Pilgrims Rock as the area. 

Summing up Thanksgiving activities

by Alexa Wheaton & 

Niamh Lyons  

Study hall students were asked to participate in a Thanksgiving Day survey. 

We were curious to find out the different family traditions. Turns out, 54 percent of students go out of town, 8 percent eat four or more Thanksgiving dinners and 20 percent travel to their grandparent's homes to eat those  big dinners, watch the football games and play card games. 

What did you do on Thanksgiving?

It's all about the food

by Morgan Sanders 

Thanksgiving is a time when families come together with the one thing everyone can agree on, food.  Every year, Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November. 

People surround themselves with their loved ones, families and friends. Everyone joins together to finish the food. 

The most popular foods now are turkey, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, stuffing, corn, rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie and pecan pie. 

The first Thanksgiving was thought to have lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squash, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs and goat cheese. 

Of course, there are those weird foods. Some not so traditional Thanksgiving foods are frog legs, grits, giblet gravy, duck instead of turkey and fried quail. 

Americans eat 535 million pounds of turkey each Thanksgiving and 91 percent of people eat turkey that day. The average American eats 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving; that’s more than double the recommended daily! Forty million green bean casseroles are made for this holiday and 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed. Over a year, Americans eat an average of 16 to 18 pounds of turkey. 

How much did you eat this Thanksgiving? 

Drama surge continues at MHS

Improvisation practice began last week as coaches Derek Bates and Liesl Roorda work with students Niall Lyons, Matt Armstrong and Zach Gibson. (Alyssa Lyddon photo)

by Alexa Wheaton & 

Niamh Lyons

Eighty-eight students began preparing for the upcoming Speech & Drama season.

Tryouts were held Nov. 3 for grades 10-12 to determine what groups would best fit each student. Freshmen are not required to try out.

Coaches Liesl Roorda and Derek Bates were impressed with the number of students trying out and their enthusiasm. Roorda and Bates created twelve different groups and began practicing for large group district competition on Jan. 22 held at Montezuma High School. 

Casts are: Group Improvisation: Calli Zimmerman, Matt Armstrong, Zach Gibson, Niall Lyons, Olivia Tribby and Alex Peck.

Radio/TV Team: Maddi Dawley, Jered Engelking, Konner Klein, Carly Steele, Halley Ogan, Mariah Hirsch, Brynna Steele and Macy Taylor.

Musical Theatre Team: Cassie Corbin, Natalie Wheeler, Zimmerman, Kendra Cranston, Bridgette Moore and Alyssa Lyddon.

Short Film Team: Shena Bryan, Moore, Brittany Bryan, Rachel Ranfeld, Coleton Tompkins and Alexis Ferguson.

Ensemble 1: Bryan Stanford, Spencer Roorda and Courtney Latcham. Ensemble 2: Hope Kriegel, Alexa Wheaton, Katy McKee, Kaylin Hansen, Tyler Swenson and Taylor.

Ensemble 3: Natalie Kirton, Ranfeld and Peck.

Readers Theatre: McKee, Wheaton, Tribby, Teona Sutfin, Dawley, Cranston, Destiny Romberg, Engelking, Katie Benson, Sage Comstock, Arly LeBahn and Corbin.

Freshman: Radio Broadcasting: Logan VeVerka, Tyler Foubert, Tiffany Heishman, Colleen Johnston and Lex Jack.

Ensemble: Kane Barker, Mike Duggan and Julie Audas.

Choral Reading: Elijah Bryan, Becky Kopp, Katelyn Gregory, Paige Snook, Abbi Nelson, Shannon Robison, Cody Rhodes, Colleen Johnston, Lex Jack, Courtney Petersen, Matt Duggan, Connor Sirovy, Kaylee White and Karah Hansen. 

Family support leaves students feeling thankful

by Teona Sutfin

During the Thanksgiving holiday, some families like to share what they are thankful for with one another. When several students were asked what they are thankful for this year, many different answers were given, ranging everywhere from food, electricity and giraffes. 

“I am thankful for my wonderful friends and family that I can celebrate with this year,” said junior Kendra Cranston.

Eighth grade student Steven Kopp said, “I’m most thankful for getting to spend Thanksgiving break with my friends and family.”

Some unique answers received were cheese, the weather, giraffes, dogs and sunshine. A few of the seniors surveyed said laughter, support, the pursuit of happiness and the opportunity to succeed.

Senior Olivia Tribby said, ”I’m thankful for change and the strength of the people in my life who endure it.”

“I’m thankful for food, as well as family, money and electricity,” Trevor Moyer, 8^th grade, commented.

Family was the most popular answer given, as 86 percent of students surveyed answered with family.

“I am thankful for all of my friends and family who always have my back and waking up every morning to continue on my journey in life,” said freshman Monika Fetzer.