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A universal pleasure:
Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa may draw different crowds, but they all gather around a dinner table. Food has the ability to make us feel comfortable and nostalgic. Holiday dishes often are rooted in individual cultures and family memories. For the juniors interviewed, the recipes they make during the holidays reconnect them to their cultural and familial traditions.

Annelisa Crabtree’s Christmas Vanille Kipferin
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Their winter concert had not even passed, but the Statesmen Singers were getting plenty of showtime through gigs in the community. The holidays are a concert season for the Statesmen Singers, who performed at five caroling gigs around the area in addition to this year’s pyramid winter concert.

“For the Statesmen Singers, the whole season is their performance and the concert to them is another gig,” choral director Keri Staley said. “Each performance that they do in the community is an opportunity.”

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The Gay-Straight Alliance club is attempting to become a large, active and positive force within Marshall, after a year of relative dormancy.

Currently, the club is attempting to garner publicity for pro-tolerance activities such as their sponsoring of classrooms as “Hate-Free Zones.”

An anti-bullying campaign of sorts, these zones are marked by large colorful signs and symbolize areas in which students can work or socialize without the fear of harassment.

A number of teachers have agreed to sponsor these zones by putting posters in their classrooms.

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Gymnastics has a core group of returning athletes, but it also has new talent joining the team with varying amounts of gymnastics experience.

The “group has a lot of talent and depth stemming from their individual participation in the sport in the past at both the competitive and noncompetitive levels,” coach Sue Walton said.

“The first meet went well and helped the girls work out all their jitters,” Walton added. “We scored our highest team score [107.9] since I’ve been coaching, but have the potential to score much higher.”

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Group 4 has experienced a dramatic increase in participants, having grown from 174 members in 2010 to 234 participants this year.

This increase made it difficult for some groups to collaborate on topics and come to agreements on what steps to take next, resulting in groups having to start over in some cases.

“We tried to use Google Docs to share our research, although some people did not use [it], making it hard to compare data,” junior Becca Toser said.

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1. Skyrim

This is by far the best game of 2011. Its huge open world map and extensive character customization make it a great role playing experience. The gameplay is fun and smooth, thanks to the simple and fluid controls that easily let you switch between your assortment of weapons and spells. The high replay value, engaging story and intriguing gameplay easily place it in the top of the list.

2. Batman: Arkham City

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The internet is sometimes considered the freest place to express oneself. Well not anymore. There are two bills that are being discussed in Congress called Protect IP Act and Stop Online Piracy Act, and their aim is to allow Media Corporations to directly interact with websites and take down any content that they feel is breaking their copyright. The Protect IP Act and Stop Piracy Act are an excuse for corporations to start a full monopoly over all the media.

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The varsity wrestling team won their first tournament of the winter season against Richmond area and local schools on Dec. 3 and went on to place tenth out of 32 in the annual NOVA Classic tournament on Dec. 9.

The team also won 49-21 and 47-24 against Lee and Edison high schools respectively on Dec. 14 in scrimmage matches. Junior Robert Gonzales said “we should have placed higher as a team” at the NOVA Classic tournament but “we had three weight classes where nobody wrestled.”

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Africa. The South China Sea. Australia. Geosystems and government teacher Bob Bowdey has not only been all over the world, but has also captured some of the world’s most beautiful and terrifying animals with his camera at the ready.

Having 25 years of experience under his belt, Bowdey performs his hobby as a wildlife photographer during summers when he and his wife travel to wildlife utopias around the world.

He has a unique story to tell with each trip.

In one of his recent trips to Africa, Bowdey came across a male lion sleeping in his camping spot.

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With members coming and going with the release of each album, The Roots has drawn from a diverse pool of musical talent. As a result, founding members Black Thought and Quest Love have been able to appeal to people across the musical spectrum. Their latest album, Undun continues this trend as it combines instrumentals ranging from classic to electronic and vocals ranging from soul to rap. This diversity combines to form an incredible album, worthy of The Roots’ prestige.

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