December 2016 by Matthew Locke

December 2016

cONTENTS

mUSIC 16 WISH LIST 21 CURRENT EVENTS 34 MOVIES 10 2

BEHIND THE SCENES LETTER FROM THE EDITORS:

GRAPHIC EDITOR: Daniel Carroll

Our journalism has been hard at work much like Santa and his Elves! We made this Christmas article for your enjoyment, and we hope that all is well for you and your families! From wish-lists, field trips, and holiday celebrations from all over the world we hope that you see that this magical time of year also takes a lot of work to prepare for! I think as the editor of this paper that no matter the stress you may be having from finals week, to holiday hustle and bustle can be fixed by reading along to The Pulse Christmas Issue. Thank you in advance for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read our articles! We LOVE feedback from our readers, and your feedback is how we change, and make things better, so please send us emails with your thoughts, and concerns! sthorpe@s.rs-wolves.com

EDITOR: Sammantha Thorpe WRITERS:

Sammantha Thorpe Tyler Herzan Kayla Buckner Jacob Yano Brendan Durham Kyndall Porter Kayley Harrison Amanda Pryor Katelin Pritchard

therzan@s.rs-wolves.com

SPONSORS: Matthew Locke Nathan Harmon

DECEMBER

sunday

monday

Baseball off-season 3:30 - 5

Yearbook Club Pictures ! Boys Basketball vs. Aurora 6-8 Girls Basketball @ Aurora 6-8 4-8 @ RSHS Scholar Bowl Tour

Girls Basketball game 6 - 8 vs. Forsyth

tuesday

Girls Basketball @ Cassville NHS Meeting

Band Winter Concert

Girls Basketball vs. Crane

CHRISTMAS

wednesday

thursday

friday

saturday

3 wrestling match @ Bolivar Reeds/Kimberling Parade

Practice ACT

project grad meeting

wrestling @ Hillcrest

HS winter concert ASVAB Test boys B-Ball game @ Lebanon

Miracle on Wolflane 1-3 @ RSHS

Girls Basketball @ Marionveille 6-8

Girls Basketball

Wrestling Tournament

Wrestling Tournament 6-10 @ Buffalo

Boys Basketball @ Mt Vernon

FINALS

girls B-Ball game at HS

ACT 7:30-1

Winter Break

ADVICE

Student Hacks

Baking is a must for the holidays and there always happens to be something that you missed in the recipes, so here are some easy ways to fix the your problems

By: Kyndall Porter

1. Love making cupcakes but don’t have time to make your own icing, four minutes before your cupcakes are supposed to be taken out of the oven take them out and place a jumbo marshmallow on top and place them back into the over. When the time is up pull the cupcakes out and take the back of a spoon and smoosh down the marshmallow covering the top of the cupcakes allowing you to add whatever ever else onto your marshmallow icing

As the holidays start to roll around there are so many hack and easy shortcuts for gift and giving. Many ways to easy up the stress of the Christmas holiday is to wrap presents in advanced and keep them in a safe place so that you don’t have to worry about someone seeing the things you bought and finding out their gift. An easy gift for the holiday is money, but you can’t just put in into a box and call it good. So, there are some easy hacks on how to make the easy gift of money look presentable. 1. We all have eaten at McDonald’s in our lifetime so, they next time you stop to grab a bite to eat keep your fry container to fold up money and place inside, you can sole keep the bag to put other gifts in. You can always add some ribbon or a bow to add some festivity to the present. 2. With all the sweets and treats the Christmas time brings there are always wrappers that seem so inconvenient but taking those wrappers and folding the money to fit inside them is always a good way to keep things organized and in place and it still doesn’t look like you just threw some money together last minute

2. The hassle of making desserts for company is always a stress, but here is a way to make good cookies the day before, put your cookies into a freezer bag with a piece of bread and the moisture of the bread will keep the cookies soft and edible as they sit overnight for the next day

3. Another idea is a money tree, all you heart is money doesn’t grow on trees but in this case it does indeed. What you would need is a small empty jar that you can put Easter grass into, also a Popsicle stick or straw to place down inside of it to stick up. You take the money and fold them making them shrink in size and taking twisty ties you wrap it around the money holding it in place. To add to the look you can place a star and ribbon on the tree also

3. Have extra ice cream in your freezer that really has no use, well taking 2 cups of ice cream, ½ cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of sugar (with any extra add ins, such as cookie pieces, nuts or dried coconut. All work well) Pour the mixture into a small loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 to 45 minutes. When all said and done you will have a pound cake- like bread with only 3 ingredients

ADVICE

Freshman Advice

“Take your grades seriously now, because your GPAs will change. And don’t forget to take pride in your work.” ~Mr. Drane

By: Kayley Harrison Hello Freshman, and welcome back to your advice article! Hopefully you found your last column for computer shortcuts to be helpful. Lately I’ve noticed that teachers pay a lot of attention to the seniors in particular, which is understandable considering they’re going to graduate at the end of this year. However, I feel that more of the senior class would be on track and taking their school work seriously if they had been taught as freshman how important it is for us to take our education seriously. Which is why for this month’s article I’ve decided that it would be best to inform you all of severity of the situation. If you don’t do well in high school you’ll have a harder time getting into college. If you do get into college it’ll only get harder from there, and if you don’t want to take my word for it, take it from the people you know who have already gone through that whole process, and know what needs to be done for you to be successful. That’s right; your teachers.

` “Find something that you will use to set yourself apart from the other students. Not athletically, but academically.” ~Mr. Asbill

“Don’t take for granted what the teachers and the upperclassmen may tell you. They know what they’re talking about and what needs to get done.” ~Ms. Kurtis. “Don’t fall behind, you’re going to need these courses for your required credits. You need these credits for graduation. And if you can’t get these required credits, you’ll have to retake them, or even be held back a year to get yourself back on track.” ~Ms. Lewis

“Four years goes by extremely fast and you don’t wanna look back on the first year and regret your mistakes, you wanna look back and be proud of yourself.” ~Mrs. Harrell “Stay diligent, do your work, remain focused on the task at hand.” ~Mr. Rantz

“Consider yourself a young adult, because you’re going to be required to take on more responsibilities. You say you want to be treated with respect, but you have to earn it. You’re not a little kid anymore, it’s time to try to conduct yourself in a more mature and productive way. It’s time to start taking yourself, as well as your education seriously.” ~Mr. Rollins

“Get your work turned in, don’t be like my senior classes.” ~Mrs. Kondro “I would tell freshman to be quiet, and listen to what goes on around you. Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean that you need to necessarily share it. As freshman, you want to be seen and not heard. However, if someone asks for your opinion, give it. But until you’ve experienced a little bit more of high school, you don’t want to try to draw negative attention to yourself. So observing, learning, and paying attention to what goes on around you is a definitely wise.” ~Mr. Locke

“Learn the secret to each teacher you have, learn what you can and can’t do in each class.” ~Mr. Harmon

“Do your work and study diligently.” ~Mr. Davis

STAFF OPINION

How Countries Celebrate Christmas Around the World By: Jacob Yano Around the world christmas comes and goes each year and each country celebrates using their tradition and such. From the United States to Zimbabwe, each country has a different tradition that they use to celebrate Christmas! Some countries have very similar traditions to what we use but some places celebrate Christmas on January 7th! Tradition is a huge thing to most people and I think learning about other places traditions is a great way to learn about them!

The United States are country we all know and love, and a place where we know plenty of Christmas traditions. This is the one most of us will know about so I’ll just start. In the US families will decorate the outside the house and in the house with christmas lights and little santas and such. They’ll also decorate by putting up a tree and decorating the tree with ornaments, christmas lights, tinsel, and on top a star or angel. They also hang stockings on the fireplace or somewhere on the wall so santa can put little goodies in them. On Christmas Eve a lot of things happen for families, they will have a huge family dinner including; turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, noodles, pies, and so much more! It’s like a second thanksgiving! That night the children put milk and cookies out for Santa then, go to sleep waiting on Santa to come down the chimney to put gifts under the tree for christmas morning. The kids will wake up then open the presents and play with them and then the family will usually just hang out that day with the family or go to church that day for christmas day service. Germany a country who brings ties to American Christmas traditions in that they celebrate very similar with all the big decorations and big christmas dinner! They put up a big tree and decorate it just like in the US and they hang stockings and decorate the outside of their house. They have the huge family Christmas dinner and eat about the same stuff as in America but some difference by incorporating german foods, like sausages, red cabbage, and potato dumplings!Though they have

this in common, in Germany they open all of their presents on Christmas Eve with their family. At midnight of Christmas Eve they all go to their church and have a huge mass and sing songs and have a good time at their church and praising what the real meaning of Christmas means to them. Germans celebrate Advent which is whenever you celebrate and remember christmas for the 24 days leading up to it, the common way to do this is where you get a calendar and below each day is a little piece of chocolate so you can remember each day and why you celebrate christmas and all that. Zimbabwe, a country in Africa celebrate Christmas pretty similarly to the US also but with one big change, their day revolves around christmas day. They set up a christmas tree like the ones that are in America but that’s about all that’s the same in terms of decorating. They’ll put that tree in the main room and then hang ivy draped at the top of the room to decorate. The presents come very early in the morning and then the children will open them so that they can bring them to the Christmas service to show them off to the other kids. After the service everyone will host parties at their house and people will go house to house exchanging gifts, eating food, and having a good time with friends and families. The food is usually chicken and rice, chicken is very sparse in Zimbabwe, so people will only eat it on Christmas! People will put on their nicest clothes (most people only get new clothes on christmas) so they can show off and look good for the parties. People will also put stereos outside their house and blare music ranging from christmas music to popular pop songs. So in Zimbabwe, Christmas is just one big celebration.

ENTERTAINMENT Russia, which has probably one of the most different Christmas celebration that I’ve ever seen. First off, they don’t celebrate Christmas on December 25th, they celebrate on January 7th. The reason for the huge date change is due to Russian Orthodox church, which still use the old ‘Julian’ calendar, which makes December 25th is on the 7th of January. Advent for Russians start on November 28th to January 6th, so that means their advent is 40 days long! On December 6th, the family will come together and have Christmas dinner, which is known as Holly dinner, the traditional meal would have no meat at it because of Christmas fast, so they’ll have a dish called Kutya, which is wheat and other grains with honey and fruit. At Holly dinner you have to have 12 dishes for the 12 apostles. After dinner, people go out carolling and spreading Christmas cheer to all! Though you may be asking what about presents and decorating, well they don’t usually do that for Christmas they wait till New Years for decorating and presents, which is on January 14th! That night Father Frost and the Snow Maid will come

and traditional foods for us, they use Korean dishes, a famous Korean dessert is Christmas Cake which is a sponge cake with cream on it! Santa will bring them presents on Christmas Eve, so they can open them on Christmas Day. On Christmas day people will go to a Christmas service because they have such a huge amount of Christians there! Korea is a very similar place to the United States in their Christmas traditions! Each year people around the world celebrate christmas using their traditions. United States, Germany, Zimbabwe, Russia, and Korea each place have a different tradition and unique to them that they use to celebrate Christmas. These traditions make them who they are and their beliefs and how different they could be from country to country. Tradition is a huge thing to most people and I think learning about other places traditions is a great way to learn about them!

In Korea, Christmas feels a little different than it might here. Stores will have huge decorations and trees and such but it doesn’t feel like actual Christmas spirit because it’s modernized. In the tree’s they’ll have screens in them and the trees are usually are the small kind. Some stores will have Santa in them but he is known as Santa Grandfather and he’ll be dressed in red and blue! Families usually don’t decorate except for maybe a tree and usually it’s smaller than usual due to space constraints. Though they don’t celebrate, around Christmas time, people will carol everywhere because it’s a huge tradition in Korea! They actually get Christmas day off because it’s a public holiday but they don’t get a winter break like we do. Giving presents are big thing in Korea also, but traditionally they like to just give money to others. Christmas Eve families will have a dinner but they won’t use turkey

ENTERTAINMENT

Movies

on Christmas Eve. The movie is really funny and heartwarming and is a fantastic movie to sit down and watch with the family with some hot chocolate.

By: Jacob Yano

Christmas time is a magical time to many and Christmas movies are the things that definitely get me into the Christmas spirit! Everyone loves Christmas, so it’s the perfect time to bring some cheer to you and to others through films. So I’ll share with you the top 5 movies that can get me into the Christmas spirit, one way or another!

Number 3. A Christmas Story The absolute classic on this list, A Christmas Story. The film was made way back in 1983 and I’m sure that most teachers this was a movie they watched every year for Christmas! Though the movie is old for sure but it is a fantastic movie and has held up really well over the 33 years since its release. The movie follows the wintry exploits of youngster Ralphie Parker from; his run in with bullies to the time he shoots his eye out with a Red Ryder BB Gun. The movie is an absolute great film and a classic for sure and I think everyone should have to see it around Christmas because it will for sure get you into the giving season!

Number 5. Krampus The first film is a little different than everything else on the list but I really enjoy it as an alternative Christmas movie. Forewarning the film is a little scary for a Christmas movie but it isn’t super scary like a Halloween movie. The movie starts with a family coming together during Christmas to celebrate the holiday like any normal family and everything seems as fine as holidays with the family can be. Then after a fateful Christmas eve the weather gets worse and worse and then all of a sudden a loud bang like something is on the roof happens. Then you get to meet the devil santa himself, Krampus. Krampus isn’t like a normal evil villain in a movie. Krampus is other-worldly and the movie makes it known. He is faster than anything i’ve ever seen and he can leap farther than at least 3 football fields, and he has giant sharp claws like a lion but even bigger. You really don’t want to be on his naughty list. The movie is really great if you are sick of regular old Christmas films or if you want a little scare for Christmas!

Number 2. Polar Express

The only film on here that is animated which could come to a shock because a lot of great Christmas films are animated or claymated but this is my personal favorite, The Polar Express. The movie is just such a childhood film for me, I can remember back in 1st grade watching it in the gym with a blanket and hot chocolate. That’s one of the best memories from the childhood because it was just such a great thing to do, be around friends and watch an amazing animation.Outside of that, the movie is beyond its time in animation and it looks absolutely beautiful. The story is wonderful too following the kids on their adventure to the North Pole and eventually to santa and his elves.

Number 4. Santa Claus Everyone has had to have seen this film at least once in their life, Tim Allen’s Santa Claus. The movie is a classic to me being made in 1994 which is well before anyone in the school except the teachers of course. The movie has Tim Allen play the character of Scott Calvin and he is in divorced relationship and a rocky one with his son. Then after a fateful night, he starts gaining a beard and a little bit of a gut. He shakes it off but sooner than he knows it, he is face to face with an elf from Santa’s Workshop. Then he soon meets Santa and starts to fill in for the fatman and deliver the presents

ENTERTAINMENT The movie is impactful that their is a ride in Branson called the Polar Express which is very similar to the movie where you have to have pajamas and your golden ticket. So this Christmas watch the movie then, go hop on the one in Branson! If that doesn’t get you into the mood, I don’t know what will. I mean except for number 1 on the list! Number 1. Elf And number 1 on the list is of course, Elf. This is probably the best Christmas film ever made. It combines Christmas, humor, and family perfectly and I just love watching it all year round especially Christmas time! If you haven’t seen the film before it’s about Buddy the elf, who is actually a human that was raised in the North Pole with other elves and he wants to find out who his real parents are so he goes to New York City to meet them. Keep in mind that he has done nothing else in his life but be around other elves and their standard day to day life which, you guessed it, is a lot different than a regular person’s. So he does not fit in at all but luckily he gets a job at a department store Christmas workshop which he fits in their perfectly except he doesn’t understand the difference between real santa and the stores santa. He goes on tons of adventures in New York City and gets into tons of trouble while there until Christmas Eve when he finds his old pal, Old St. Nick crashed in New York. He then goes and helps Santa deliver that night after fixing the sleigh for him. The movie is really hilarious and will for sure make you laugh out loud the entire movie. The movie also has a great heartwarming effect in it since he rekindles his relationship with his dad that he hasn’t known his entire life! Plus he scores a girl! The movie is the absolute perfect Christmas movie and I recommend it to everyone to watch to get you into the Christmas spirit! Christmas time is a magical time to many and Christmas movies are the thing that can get me into that Christmas spirit! Everyone lose Christmas, so why not get into that Christmas Spirit by watching one these movies that I have listed here. I know Elf will for sure do it for you but if you want something else there’s options here! Watch one or all but they will for sure get you into that Christmas spirit because no one wants a Scrooge around Christmas!

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Spotlight

theme for his teacher but her reaction is like his. He fantasizes about what it would be like to be Red Ryder and catch the bad guys. The Fifth book is The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. One Christmas Eve many years ago, a boy lies in bed, listening hard for the bells of Santa’s sleigh, which he has been told by a friend, do not exist. Later that night he hears not bells but a very different sound. He looks out his window and is astounded to see a steam engine parked in front of his house! The conductor invites him to board the Polar Express, a train filled with children on their way to the North Pole. The train takes the children to the center of the city, where Santa and the elves have gathered for the giving of the first gift of Christmas. The boy is chosen to receive this first gift. Knowing that he can choose anything in the world, he decides on a simple gift: one silver bell from Santa’s sleigh. Santa cuts a bell from a reindeer’s harness and the delighted boy slips it into his bathrobe pocket as the clock strikes midnight and the reindeer pull the sleigh into the sky. When the children return to the train, the boy realizes the bell has fallen through a hole in his pocket. Heartbroken, he is returned to his home. In the morning, his little sister finds one small box with the boy’s name on it among the presents. Inside is the silver bell! The boy and his sister are enchanted by its beautiful sound, but their parents cannot hear it. The boy continues to believe in the spirit of Christmas and is able to hear the sweet ringing of the bell even as an adult. The Sixth is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This Story definitely gave a second look on life! A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his numbing house on a frigid Christmas Eve and is visited by four ghosts. The first is the ghost of his old business partner Jacob Marley. Marley warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three more spirits that night: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. The Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases from the curmudgeon’s earlier years. The Ghost of Christmas Present, a majestic giant clad in a green fur robe, takes Scrooge through London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year.

By: Kayla Buckner For Christmas I love reading more than just one book so I decided to do a list of many different books that I love to crawl up on the couch with hot cocoa and read! These books below are not only a part of my childhood but are a huge part of me. The first book and my personal alltime favorite is How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr.Suess! The Grinch is a bitter, grouchy, cave-dwelling green monster with a heart “two sizes too small” that lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep high mountain just north of the town of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his unloved, but loyal dog, Max. The Second Book would be Frosty the Snowman by Diane Muldrow. Everyone’s favorite snowman with a magic hat, a button nose, and eyes made out of coal comes to life on Christmas every year. Based on the beloved 1969 television special, this Little Golden Book retells the whole magical story of Frosty the Snowman for boys and girls The Third book is Rodolph the Red nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May. The story tells the experiences of Rudolph, a young reindeer buck who has a surprising brilliant red nose. Taunted and avoided by his peers because of his nose, Rudolph figures out how to substantiate himself one Christmas Eve after Santa Claus sees Rudolph’s nose and approaches Rudolph to lead his sleigh for the night. Rudolph agrees, and is at long last treated better by his fellow reindeer for his courage.

The Fourth is A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd. Much like most of these books I don’t just read them every year but I watch the movie to! Christmas is approaching and 9 year-old Ralphie wants only one thing: a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun. When he mentions it at the dinner table, his mother’s immediate reaction is that he’ll put his eye out. He then decides on a perfect

ENTERTAINMENT The Ghost of Christmas Yet to come leads Scrooge through a sequence of mysterious scenes relating to an unnamed man’s recent death. Overwhelmed with joy by the chance to redeem himself and grateful that he has been returned to Christmas Day, Scrooge rushes out onto the street hoping to share his newfound Christmas spirit. The Seventh book would be Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien. Every December, an envelope from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange, spidery handwriting and a beautiful color drawing. The letters told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how there were wars with a troublesome horde of goblins. Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, adding yet more humor to the stories. No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness of Tolkien’s Father Christmas Letters. The Eighth is The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Marie Stahlbaum’s favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls.

The Ninth book is A visit From St.Nicholas also known as T’was the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore. This is not nesscarly a Book. This is a short little, lovely poem about Santa Clause paying a visit to children on Christmas. Last but not least the Tenth book, A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. The narrator, Buddy, looks back on a particularly beautiful Christmas he spent with his much older cousin. The two spend four days baking fruit cakes, and then get a little drunk on leftover whiskey. The next day, they chop down a Christmas tree and make each other kites. They don’t know it yet, but this will be the last Christmas they spend together.

ENTERTAINMENT

TV Shows By: Kayla Buckner The Christmas special has long served many different television shows as a way of allowing them to take their own spin on the holiday, a way for the writers to continue to tell the story of their characters and allow them to grow while still getting a little festive. Though some holiday episodes are fluffy and sweet while others focus on the melancholy undertones that can plague us during this time of year, each television show on this list has managed to tackle the season in its own special way. So grab some eggnog and fire up the TV. It’s time to celebrate the holidays with some old friends! Friends “The one with the Holiday Armadillo”

The Simpsons “Simpsons roasting on an open fire” (Season 1, Episode 1) When Homer doesn’t get his Christmas bonus, he takes on a second job as a department store Santa. In the end, he takes his measly earnings to the dog track with his son Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and bets it all on a dog named Santa’s Little Helper, certain he has to win. (Spoiler: He doesn’t.) Scrubs “My Own personal Jesus”

(Season 7, Episode 10) Ross decides to teach his son Ben about Hanukkah instead of celebrating Christmas one year, he realizes Ben will miss his visit from Santa and tries to rent a costume two days before Christmas. All the store has is an armadillo suit, but Ross throws it on anyway and dubs himself the Holiday Armadillo, Santa’s “part Jewish friend.” Orange is the New Black “Can’t fix crazy”

(Season 1, Episode 11) J.D. is already jaded about Christmas, and working at Scared Heart Hospital around the holiday doesn’t help. But his best friend Chris Turk still manages to keep the spirit strong, that is until he works the night shift on Christmas Eve. Bones “The Santa in the Slush”

(Season 1, Episode 13)

(Season 3, Episode 9)

Piper realizes that she’s isolated herself from everyone she cares about and begins to wonder if she is even deserving of the love of another person. While that’s sure to totally get you into the holiday spirit, the episode really cranks up during the Christmas pageant directed by and starring the inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary.

Brennan and Booth investigate the death of a Santa as Bones tries to give her father the Christmas he’s always dreamed of, and Booth comes to terms with not spending the holiday with Parker.

ENTERTAINMENT CSI “The Lost Reindeer”

Supernatural “A Very Supernatural Christmas”

(Season 3, Episode 8) Sam and Dean follow the trail of an Anti-Claus when victims are apparently pulled up the chimney never to be seen again. After a lead goes nowhere, the Winchesters learn the Anti-Claus in in fact a pair of old pagan gods who have assimilated into society and have found a new way of getting their yearly sacrifices. A flashback to Christmas Eve 1991 reveals how Sam found out for the first time what their father really did and where Dean got his gold amulet.

( Season 14, Episode 11) When a man is found murdered at an elaborate holiday party complete with real snow and live reindeer, the CSI team is brought in to investigate. New Girl “Santa”

Hart of Dixie “Blue Christmas”

(Season 2, Episode 11) The gang tries to attend a lot of Christmas parties. Cece talks to Schmidt about becoming just friends again. Jess tries to avoid Sam; he tells her he wants to get back together. Nick has trouble adjusting to his adventurous girlfriend.

(Season 2, Episode 10) Zoe almost ruined Christmas Eve for the town, but the heart of the show was Wade and his father, who was the town’s Santa. Wade was upset that Zoe looked to his father to “fix” Christmas. He thought his dad was nothing more than a drunk. But in Christmas spirit, they reconciled with a hug.

SpongeBob SquarePants “Christmas Who?” (Season 2, Episode 8) Nobody in Bikini Bottom has ever heard of Christmas or Santa Clause until Sandy lets them in on this surface tradition. SpongeBob wants to bring Christmas to Bikini Bottom this year and his enthusiasm is infectious. Everyone gets into the spirit, waiting for Santa to arrive on the big day. Everyone except Squidward, who has scoffed at SpongeBob the whole while. When Santa is a no show on Christmas morning, everyone blames SpongeBob for getting their hopes up. But in a surprise ending, Squidward uncharacteristically saves the day and Christmas ends up coming after all.

ENTERTAINMENT

Music

4. I’ll be Home for Christmas, 2016 with 63,296 views 5. Mary did you know, 2014 with 85,666,173 views 6. Silent night, 2014 with 16,546,960 views 7. Hallelujah, 2016 with 70,354,746 views 8. The first noel, 2015 with 10,064,099 views 9. Joy to the world, 2015 with 17,362,349 views 10. That’s Christmas to me , 2014 with 19,593,914 views

By: Kyndall Porter What a wonderful time of year, so say starts too early. As soon as the Halloween celebrations end the sweet sounds of Christmas carols began. This month being December and all the good songs we all get stuck in our head, there is one group that has made it far with not only singing Christmas but the way they sing these songs. Pentatonix an acapella group out of Austin Teas made up of 5 vocalists Avi Kaplan, Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Mitch Grassi. Starting in 2011 has hit is big. “that people really loved our Christmas stuff and that also gives us creative leeway to do thing arrangement-wise that we would not normally do throughout the year.” Says Kevin when asked about acapella and Christmas. The group has struck it big time when singing “Mary did you know” and “Little drummer boy” with 175,760,800 views between just those two songs alone. The group has made it farther than they ever could have realized with 2016 being named a “Pentaionix Christmas”

Pentatonix don’t just cover Christmas though, they have covered many other songs that would sound familiar. The group goes back all the way to 3 of them being schoolmates and getting the first hit after covering Beyoncé and Lady Gaga’s “telephone.” Then adding the last 2 members they signed up for the SingOffs, with the performance of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” they took the winning title. From then they have released “Starship” by Nicki Minaj, “Somebody that I used to know” by Gotye, “Can’t hold us” by Macklemore and Rylan Lewis. “I need your love” by Calvin Harris, and “problem” by Ariana Grande.

Music spotlight: Here are some other Christmas songs they have sang and released 1. O come, All Ye Faithful released in 2016 with 56,558 views 2. God rest Y Merry Gentlemen , 2016 with 7,798,497 views 3. White Christmas, 2016 with 34,846,867 views

MONTH IN RSHS

SPORTS

Sports

ment. Congratulations to Connor and good luck to the rest of the wrestling team this season! At the Hillcrest meet, the wolves beat both Springfield Catholic and Hillcrest 54-12 and 39-28, respectively. In the Carl Junction tournament, a trio of wolves placed. Connor Shafer and Tate Johnson both placed 3rd in their division and Bowen Gade placed 4th.

By: Brendan Durham Boys Basketball-The boys basketball team started the season off in the Forsyth Tournament with a tough loss to Hollister by a score of 55-51. They bounced back with two straight wins, one against School of the Ozarks and the other against Mountain Home, to take fifth in the Forsyth tournament. Their first home game was against Aurora and they won big 57-48. The Wolves faced of against a tough, Lebanon squad. The Wolves were down 12 at one point, but came back to go up 2 in the third quarter. They ended up losing 60-51. They played solid, and if some turnovers could have been reduced, the ending result might have been different. Crane came into town on December 13th and they sure didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enjoy the 30 minute trip back home because they held the L. The final score was 60-52, a Wolves win. The Wolves jumped out to a 21-6 lead, but the Pirates came back and forced the Wolves hand, a bit. The Wolves played well and now have a record of 5-2.

Clubs Bass Club By: Kyndall Porter Finishing up their winter season will a overall good turn out, the team enters offseason. It wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be long before March of 2017 hits and the spring season will begin. Starting off their spring season will be the Teen Angler Series. The team got the opportunity to talk to JP sell, Semi Pro Angler, and President of the Tenn Angler Association. Talking to the team about their upcoming season and spring fishing techniques. Bass Club has been lucky to have G3 Boats, Lebanon, m0-Aaeon waterman donate pull over jackets and hats for the team in November. With all the hard work that has been put in the team is looking for a local sponsorship. Sponsors will be represented on the 2017 team jerseys. If you have any interest in a sponsorship, you can contact Heather Mitchem

Girls Basketball- Just like the boys, the girls started their season off with a loss against Cassville in their tournament, the Blue Eye tournament. They also bounced back with two straight wins, one against Exeter and the second coming against Marionville, to take fifth in the tournament. Their first home game of the season was an intense nailbiter, but the Lady Wolves came out with the win on a Shelby Strailey buzzer beater to beat Forsyth 56-54. With the win the ladies already eclipsed their win total from all of last season. The ladies played Galena at home and rolled to a 50-30 victory to reach the 4 win mark early on in the season. The Lady Wolves were routed by Cassville 50-20, a tough loss, but still hold a record of 4-3.

Wrestling- The Wolves wrestling team has had a rough start to the season, but nobody works harder than the wrestlers from intense practices to trying to make weight. Junior wrestler, Connor Shafer, took 3rd place in the Bolivar tourna20

STUDENT LIFE

Wish Lists

Mr. Rollins- World Peace

By: Brendan Durham

Collin Briley- A signed sweater by Bill Cosby

Many children, even high schoolers, make a Christmas wish list. They enjoy the yearly ritual of making a list of the certain gifts they want for Christmas and sending their lists to Santa. There are some items on lists that are the norm for the most part, but there are some interesting and unique ones, as well. Making Christmas lists is always a fun activity, and for those who still participate, let’s see those lists!

Blake Gronvold- I want the exact crab legs that Jameis Winston stole from a supermarket in Florida. Josh Dejarnette- I want a big, long, black flashlight and El Chapo’s autograph Troy Froeshle- A signed button up by Boris Spassky Madison Bauer- Clothes

Garrett Miller- I want a FitBit for Christmas. I also want the Kool-Aid man to follow me everywhere, jump through the walls, and say “Ohhhhh Yeahhh!!!”.

Tyan Burnett- A soft pillow, stylish sunglasses, a purse, clothes, a kitty and I would name her Ms. Kitty, and a shotgun. Joel Gertson- External hard drive for my Go-Pro videos.

J.P. Gardner- New exhaust and stereo for my truck, a pair of boots, clothes, a new bow, more fishing poles, my two front teeth because I chipped one, and another rifle.

Dakota Cousins- Money Trevor Letterman- A phone and a watch

Parker Maloney-I want an autographed video game controller by Lee Young Ho

Connor Wiest- Subs for my truck Lauren Brown- A puppy

Colton Essick- A new paintball gun and a nice pingpong paddle

Noah Briley- A camera

Cole Watson- A new baseball glove

Connor Shafer- I have no idea

Britain Dover- A Donald Trump mask signed by Donald Trump Grant Clark- A ping pong table Ross McMurdo- New tires for my truck

STUDENT LIFE

Kwanzaa

rican value and tradition. The heritage symbol is to reaffirm and reinforce the African commitment to tradition and history. Decorations are an item that goes along with traditions, from African baskets, cloth patterns, art objects, and harvest symbols.

By:Kyndall Porter Kwanzaa: a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 all the way through January 1. This holiday really captures the culture and heritage traditions. Started in 1966 this holiday was creating to show the well-being of family and community. Just like any other holiday there are symbols that are placed that all represent something to us. Kwanzaa has claimed many symbols to represent their holiday. The Mishumaa Saba (The Seven Candles) these are the symbolic of the Nguzo Saba, the seven principles, the matrix and minimum set of values which the African people are to live by. The Kikombe cha Umoja( The Unity Cup) being presented as the foundation principle and practice of unity which makes all things work. Zawadi (the Gifts) this is the symbol of the labor and love of parents and the commitments they have made and kept by the children. Bendera (The Flag) the colors of the Kwanzaa flag are the colors that organize the people; black, red, and green. The black representing the people, the red standing for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggles.

Celebrating Kwanzaa comes with some responsibility- First you should go with a profound respect for its values, symbols and practices and do nothing to violate its integrity, beauty and expansive meaning. Secondly, you should not mix the Kwanzaa holiday or and of its symbols, values, or practice with any other culture because this would be violating the principles of Kujichagulia. Thirdly, choose the best and most beautiful items to celebrate Kwanzaa. This means taking time to plan and select the most beautiful objects of art, colorful African cloth, fresh fruits and vegetables. The seven principles have a huge part in the Kwanzaa holiday. Each meaning something different they are put into play in everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives. 1. Unity- to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race. 2. Self-determination- to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves. 3. Collective work and responsibility- to build and maintain our community together and make our brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems our problems and to solve them together. 4. Cooperative Economics- to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together. 5. Purpose- to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. 6. Creativity- to do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial that we inherited it. 7. Faith- to believe with all our hearts in purpose, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle. Kwanzaa is celebrated by over 28 billion people around the world and is highly enjoyed for many years. The tradition continues as the years go on.

Gifts and colors and decorations play a big role in this holiday. The gifts are usually given to children, but much always include a book and a heritage symbol. The book is to emphasize the Af22

STUDENT LIFE

Band and Chior

All semester, the high school band has been rehearsing and working hard at auditioning for the District Honor Choir and All State Band, as well as the parades and concerts near the end of the year. Seven Reeds Spring Band students auditioned in all state band such as Julia Johnson, Robert Offit, Robert Hunt, Abbie Holt, Mickey Curtis, Abbie Garrett and Cheryl Dronett. Even though none of them got into all state choir, there are ten students who auditioned and got into district honor band. The seniors were McKenna Curtis, Abbie Garrett and Robbert Hunt. The juniors are Cheryl Dronett, Julia Johnson and Codi Michel. Sophomores that got into district honor band were Abbie Holt, Mary Reichenbach and Hannah Black. There was only one freshman that auditioned and got into district honor band and that was Robbert Offit. All Students who auditioned did a great job at performing and working hard.

By: Katelin Pritchard Christmas is a wonderful season to play Christmas music, celebrate and rejoice. Christmas time is one of Reeds Spring School District’s favorite holidays. The Reeds Spring High School and Middle School bands especially love the Christmas time. This time of the year, the Reeds Spring School District has an annual christmas show at the end of the first semester to end the year up. They also have the parades and little shows at the end of the year. There are many parades the Band goes into and works hard for as like the Veterans flag lighting November 5th of 2016, the annual Christmas Parade, December 19th in Kimberling City Missouri, Saturday December 3rd there are two parades, one in Reeds Spring and one in Kimberling City and on Sunday December 4th is in Branson, Missouri. The Reeds Spring also has an annual Christmas concert that is joyful to everyone attending. The Christmas concert joins with the Reeds Spring choirs and the bands. The Concert is hosted on December 19th at 7 pm in the Gymnasium at Reeds Spring High School with middle school bands up to the high school bands. Holiday music as well as combined music from all of the bands together. The Concert itself will last about three hours, and some awards will be done as well. There will be a drawing for a christmas gingerbread house and different tickets and other surprises as well. It’s a concert you can’t ever miss.

STUDENT LIFE

Hanukkah

• Or Kugel, which is a casserole which is commonly made with noodles, eggs, or potatoes.

By: Kayley Harrison

It’s around that time of year again! Time to get out your menorah, your dreidel, and your Torah because Hanukkah is right around the corner!

History:

The Basics:

And so to honor their ancestors, people practicing Judaism celebrate Hanukkah every year by remembering those who had fought for their religious freedoms. Hanukkah, meaning the Festival of Lights, is celebrated by people of the Jewish faith to remember when their people had risen up and revolted against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Before the revolt, the people of Jerusalem were forced to renounce their faith and to instead worship the Greek Gods. Several years later, their oppressors went into Jerusalem and massacred thousands of people; then they dishonored their temple by building a statue of Zeus. Finally, the people of Jerusalem had reached their limit. Being led by a priest by the name of Mattathias, and five of his sons, the Jews began to revolt against their tyrant, Antiochus. After the revolt, the people of Jerusalem were free from the Greek-Syrians, and free to practice Judaism again. They tore down the statue of Zeus, and rededicated the temple to God. And from their revolt, the people who fought were given the nickname Maccabee, meaning “the Hammer”.

This year, on December 24th, while little Christian children all around the world will be attending church and preparing for Santa Claus to visit, little Jewish children will be making candles for their menorahs, decorating their houses in traditional Hanukkah colors (blue, silver, and white), making four sided spinning tops out of clay called dreidels, cooking, and reading from their holy book called the Torah. At the end of each night, for eight nights, they’ll light one candle, starting at the far right candle. Every candle that is lit represents one night of Hanukkah. Common Foods: Nowadays for Hanukkah, most of the foods that are prepared are either deep fried, chocolatey, potato-ey, and/ or just delicious but not so healthy homemade foods that’ll make your mouth water. For instance:

And so to honor their ancestors, people practicing Judaism celebrate Hanukkah every year by remembering those who had fought for their religious freedoms.

• Latkes, which are basically just potato pancakes that can be served with sour cream, ketchup, any kind of jelly, or even applesauce! • As for chocolate, it can vary from doughnuts, to cake, and gelt (which is a chocolate coin wrapped in a metallic decorative foil), or even hot chocolate made from leftover gilt!

STUDENT LIFE

Sugar Leaf Cafe

What time of year would you consider to be the busiest?

By: Kayley Harrison 2800 W 76 Country Blvd, Branson, MO 65616

The spring and summer are definitely the busiest times of year for us. Tourists and families are coming in on busses from all over the state to explore Branson. And often times, they’ll meet up here before going out on the town.

While our group was waltzing through the Grand Village, we happened upon a little café; tucked away in the far corner of the village, next to the fountain, and the giant rocking chair. It’s called the Sugar Leaf Café. The second that you step inside, you instantly feel warm, cozy, so at home. The air smells like cinnamon, chocolate, coffee, and all of the other amazing baked goods they have to offer. Like their hot cocoa, wide assortments of cookies, swiss-rolls, and of course it wouldn’t be a café without their many themed and flavored coffee drinks. Todd Jansen and Lori Jansen are the owners and managers of the Sugar Leaf Café. I asked Todd if he could spare a moment to answer a few of my questions. He was very busy, but he agreed to take a bit of time to help me develop this article. And this is what we came up with.

What time of year is usually the slowest? Usually throughout January and February is the slowest time, since the holidays are over, and people are heading back home. I know this article is a little was a little short, but unfortunately Mr. Jansen was very busy and he only had time for a very limited amount of questions. Regardless, I believe that he was very descriptive in his answers, and they’ve hopefully piqued your interest enough for you to want to give them a try!

What item on your menu do you tend to make the most of around this time of year? How much of this item do you make on a daily basis? Sugar Leaf Café bakes about two to three thousand cookies daily during the holiday season. What are the best-selling items on your menu during the holidays? We tend to sell more cakes, cookies, and swiss rolls around this time of year. Then of course, we also sell a lot of our Glacier Hot Chocolate, and our holiday Snowflake Cookies.

FOOD

Recipe

Ingredients:

Reindeer Crack

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted 1 large egg 1 cup light brown sugar, packed 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste 18 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped 1/2 cup M&M’s (For best )

By: Kayla Buckner Are you looking for something new to make for the holidays this year? Then boy, oh boy, do I have something for you! This is really simple to make and so fun for the little ones! All you will need is: • 3 cups salted pretzels • 2 cups original bugles • 2 cups original Fritos • 1 cup Honey Nut Chex Cereal • 1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts • 2 11oz Bags of the Holiday M&Ms (the red and green ones) • 2 11oz Bags of Ghirardelli Classic White Chips •

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside. 2. To a large, microwave-safe bowl add the butter and heat to melt, about 1 minute on high power. 3.Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it. Add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk until smooth. 4.Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.

How to make them:

5. Add the Oreos and stir to combine. •

First, you will need to add the Salted Pretzels, Bugles, Fritos, Honey Nut Chex Cereal, Honey Roasted Peanuts, and the bags of m&m’s into a Big Bowl and mix well. Please note that I highly recommend the biggest bowl you have.

•

Next, Melt the white chocolate chip and pour a small about over the mixture of things you have just added and gently mix with your hands. Keeping do this until you have run out if chocolate and everything in your bowl is covered.

•

Finally, once everything inside the bowl is covered dump the bowl out onto a cookie sheet or a tray of the sort and let sit to harden. Once it has hardened serve and enjoy!

6. Add the M&M’s and stir to combine. 7. Turn the batter out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula and pushing it into the corners. Tip - Strategically place a few Oreos and M&M’s on top for visual appeal. 8. Bake for about 18 to 21 minutes, or until top is set in center and done; don’t overbake. Bars firm up as they cool. A toothpick test is a bit tricky because there aren’t many bare batches, but if you hit a patch of just dough, the toothpick should come out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Place pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 90 minutes before slicing and serving. Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Loaded M&M Oreo By: Jacob Yano The best thing around christmas has to be presents, snow, and all the holiday treats. So why not make some Loaded M&M Oreo Cookie Holidays Bars! They will for sure be delicious! This recipe is easy, quick, and super easy to always remember.

FOOD

Eggnog Cake

By: Tyler Herzan 6.

I bet you’ve never had a desert where eggnog rests inside the beautiful fluffy insides of the rich cake! No desert says you’re ready for christmas like one that contains christmas’s drink itself, the beautiful white cake not only 7. looks amazing but will taste even better. Here’s the things you need to make it;

Ingredients: 8.

- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature - 1 1/4 cups white sugar - 3 eggs, room temperature - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - 1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel - 2 cups all-purpose flour - 2 teaspoons baking powder - 1 teaspoon salt - 1 cup prepared eggnog (or see notes for recipe) - 2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey

Frosting: -1/4 cup all-purpose flour -1/4 teaspoon salt -1 1/2 cups prepared eggnog (or see notes for recipe) -1 cup butter, room temperature -1 1/2 cups white sugar -1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract -1/4 teaspoon rum-flavored extract

cake layers). Cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting on a wire rack to cool completely To make frosting, combine 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Gradually whisk in 1 1/2 cups eggnog, whisking until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. When mixture boils, cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool completely to room temperature. Beat 1 cup butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in cooled eggnog mixture, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, rum extract, and 1/8 teaspoon grated lemon peel. Beat on high speed until mixture is fully incorporated and frosting is fluffy. Our journalism has been hard at work much like Santa and his Elves! We made this Christmas article for your enjoyment, and we hope that all is well for you and your families! From wish-lists, field trips, and holiday celebrations from all over the world we hope that you see that this magical time of year also takes a lot of work to prepare for! I think as the editor of this paper that no matter the stress you may be having from finals week, to holiday hustle and bustle can be fixed by reading along to The Pulse Christmas Issue. Thank you in advance for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read our articles! We LOVE feedback from our readers, and your feedback is how we change, and make things better, so please send us emails with your thoughts, and concerns!

Now that you know what you needs the eight easy steps to making it is the best part, because most things can’t bring you any closer than baking with your family and helping out contributing to the christmas dinner with your loved ones.

Directions: Now that everything has turned out just the way you wanted it to i assume, you and your family get to just eat away at the beautiful Eggnog cake you’ve all helped to make and create and after the first time tasting it you’ll probably end up making another one anyway after that, enjoy.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. 2. Beat 1/2 cup butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add eggs, one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon lemon peel, mixing well. 3. Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Pour flour mixture into the batter alternately with 1 cup eggnog, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in bourbon. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. 4. Bake in preheated oven until cake springs back when touched lightly with a fingertip or a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes (test both

FEATURE

Christmas Show

“A triumph of what you want to experience on christmas time. “ - Shirley Hughes Hughes Brothers Theatre is located on 3425 W 76 Country Blvd, Branson, MO 65616 Local number is - 417.334.0076

By: Katelin Pritchard The Hughes Brothers is a giant family who love to spread joy, laughter, excitement filled with song and dance.Where 50 amazing singers, dancers, and musicians combine their talent for this wonderful show. There are five brothers who all have their own families, every child, and every parent joins in the show and together they all make a wonderful story. The Hughes Brothers and family transport you to a Christmas wonderland filled with the season’s best vocal harmonies, exciting dances, inspiring instrumentals, and of course, the enchantment and light-hearted humor that everyone loves about the Hughes Brothers Show. Along with all the festive surprises and treasured family traditions, Santa is in a new light when he explains the symbols of Christmas in the most moving Christmas presentation you’ve ever witnessed. The Hughes Brothers have been awarded seven times for the best christmas show. Branson alone has a wide variety of shows and attractions.

Movies Around Christmas By: Kyndall Porter As the holidays come around there are so many traditions that people take up and participate in every year. Watching movies on Christmas eve and Christmas day have become a new traditions that over 2,000 plus people enjoy. With July 4th, Valentine’s Day, and Thanksgiving, Christmas is the biggest day dedicated to watching movies. We visited Branson Meadows Cinema to see how they participate in the holiday festivities. Being built in 1999-2000s there hasn’t always been a tradition for the holidays, “We used to close on Christmas eve” Being bought out in 2009 By IMAX movie theater the Christmas traditions started to fall in place. We stopped to talk to the employees about the excitement inside of the business. Matt who has worked there for 5 years has had his fair share of Christmas celebrations in the theater. “It is a little stressful, but you can’t let customers know.” Having worked many days leading up to Christmas there is a lot of preparation that goes into keeping things good for the customers. We asked Matt how the attitude of people change around the season and he then told us about a story saying “The hobbit has just came out and the theater was jammed, having already 2 lines open for the people a third line needed to be opened. Knowing there was a lot of time people were waiting there was one customer who wasn’t excited about movies lines, getting upset with the employees and leaving the store to later come back to the work-place to give the two employees he earlier got upset with gift cards and an apology.

Symbols of Christmas are the Tree and the Candy Cane. The Tree stands for Eternal Life, the leaves never change color, only this tree lives forever. The Bells represent the bells of the churches every churches. The gifts represent the bread (christ’s body) and the wine (christ blood), the gifts represent spreading joy to all on the day to remember Jesus. The Candy Cane represents the Shepherd’s staff. White represents the angels. Angels are pure like Christ, they are singing for the glory of God. Red represents the blood Jesus Christ shed for us. And last but not least, the color green stands for the growth in Christ.

FEATURE The atmosphere is what people make it” We also talked to Ben the manager who has been around for 6 years has worked on Christmas day since he could remember. With many days and nights at the theater people became Ben’s favorite part of the work place. “People make the theater.” He told us. Giving his input to the big holiday he told us Christmas was always really consistent and heavy. “We have to almost double our staff for both Christmas Eve and Day.” We asked Ben why he thinks watching movies has become such a craze, he told us “People are out of work and kids are out of school and 90% of business are closed, people just don’t want to stay home, so what else is better than relaxing and watching a movie with everyone.” As we continued to ask questions about the theater we found that the afternoon and midday are the most jammed time, and you usually see families, young adults, and teens that come to watch the films. We also found out that Hollywood always seems to push out more PG-13 and lower rated movies instead of rated R because of the audience that is usually out watching the movies. We asked Matt and Ben what it is like for them having to work on Christmas and how their families react, Ben responded to us with “we usually find a date other than Christmas to hold families Christmases and friends” Matt replied with “you zone it out and detach yourself from the holiday, you work around it” Movies have been a huge hit for the people, but there is also a lot of work and time that goes into making the holiday good for the rest of us. So as you continue your traditions or make new ones be sure to give thanks to those who need it.

Wood shop This shop in the Village was very split between seasons regardless of them carving huge Santa’s year round which surprisingly do get sold quite often, the original carving works in the store done by…. The wood carvers that took over the store after he passed make mold of their designs so they are copied instead of carving copies which would take way longer. The artists sometimes work together and collaborate during their work and use molds of each other work to combine them. Special orders from places like The Chateau and Top Of The Rock for decorations and ornaments ordered by the hundreds it is a very good store to visit whether you are looking for the littlest of carved Satna heads or Gargantuan Carvings of the man himself the seasonal store is great to learn about and awesome to observe.

Christmas Shops

Cafe Within the doors of this modest Cafe lays beautiful tables and chairs to sit and smell the great aroma of this kind of bakery setting which is very comfortable to be around your friends in. decorating in the christmas spirit as every other shop with beautiful lights Mrs. Claus walking past as you eat whether you’re sitting down with your friends or even a family lunch it is a fun little place to eat and just relax.

By: Tyler Herzan Kringles Christmas Shop With the very positive christmas atmosphere and thousands of decorations this store is well worth the visit, the people are very enthusiastic about their job and have a good time working year round. More people working at this shop were excited to talk to us about how things worked in the shop and how they were always rearranging the shop every couple of weeks. During christmas most of the foot traffic slows down when usually they have buses coming through and are quite busy for most seasons besides Christmas.

FEATURE

Christmas Destinations

Park, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine, and Target Field. Thomas was also hired by Warner Brothers to paint “Gone With the Wind” and other movies. He also painted many Disney paintings that interestingly contained barely visible characters that didn’t belong. Many of Thomas’ paintings had hidden items in them with special meanings such as his wife’s initials or his wedding date. This is extremely cool to think about and causes the audience to look closely to discover hidden meanings or characters. The gallery also possessed a painting by Thomas that had a sketch on the back of the painting.This sketch raises the price of the painting by $500.

By: Brendan Durham Peter Engler Designs Peter Engler Designs is a very exquisite woodcarving shop in Grand Village. They have been in Grand Village since the year 1997 and are soon to be sporting another location in downtown Branson, near the landing. The store is busiest from September to the beginning of December. Peter Engler Designs makes special ornaments for places around Branson such as the Chateau on the lake, Butterfly Palace, and also Kringle’s Christmas Shop which resides in Grand Village, as well. They also do reproductions in which a certain design is taken and remolded and reproduced. This is how many products are created off of the original design. Many spectacular wood carving designs are on display from over 150 artists from the area. Nobody’s work is advertised as much as the items carved by the man himself, Peter Engler. Peter carved from the time he was ten years old all the way until he reached the age of eighty. Peter was a master carve and he had a shop in downtown Reeds Spring for a while. His designs and creations are the foundation of the magnificent shop, Peter Engler Designs.

There was also a signature from him on that painting as well which also raises the price of the painting by $500. Many of the paintings on display contained churches. These churches weren’t depicted with a parking lot or a driveway because Thomas believed that certain things should be painted how the should be rather than how they are. Many of his paintings, 75 to be exact, were planaires, meaning they were open area paintings. Thomas Kinkade conducted many works of art and many of them are on display at the Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery in Grand Village.

Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery Thomas Kinkade was a marvelous painter and many of his designs are featured in the Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery which is also located in Grand Village. There is a variety of paintings and their prices. The shop paintings are set up in a sort of pyramid in which the cheapest paintings are lower on the walls and the higher the painting, the more expensive. Thomas Kinkade was hired by Major League Baseball to paint 5 MLB fields. The fields he painted were AT&T

FEATURE

Kringles Christmas Shop By: Sammantha Thorpe Immediately as I walked into Kringles Christmas Store the Christmas Spirit was very prevalent. Their store is filled with trees, ornaments, and lights galore!In fact the entire village is decorated for the holiday season, which made such a difference. The different lights, and wreaths, and Christmas music playing. I had the amazing opportunity to speak with Ms. Kay who has worked at the Christmas store since they were sold from Silver Dollar City to their new owners who she loved so much! Ms. Kay has worked at Kringles since 2003 and loves her job. She said that no matter how busy they are she still has amazing bosses who take care of their workers, and care about their individual needs. Usually around the store The months of July, October, and November are their busiest of times. The first two weeks of December are also very busy times around the store. A little bit of background on Ms. Kay is that she taught at Sparta for twenty-four years, and she was a substitute for twelve. During her last three years of teaching she started working at Kringles part-time. Ms. Kay had a beautiful smile, and a very big personality. You could tell that she genuinely loved her job, and she loves the Christmas season. If you want to visit this establishment it is located in the Grand Village in Branson MO.

LIFESTYLE

Current Events Pokémon GO By: Jacob Yano

Pokémon GO. You know the game that was super popular in the summer for like a month. Well there has been some news lately about it and it was recently confirmed by Niantic, the company that makes the game, that generation 2 of Pokémon will be released in Pokémon GO soon. The CEO John Hanke has said “We will be releasing generation 2 of Pokémon will be released in Pokémon GO before the end of the year.” On December 12th they have released the latest update to the game and they have already added 7 new Generation 2 Pokémon that people know of yet; Togepi, Pichu, Igglybuff, Cleffa, Elekid, Magby, and Smoochum. They can be found in eggs ranging from 2k to 10k. So if you want some of the new Pokémon you better get to walking! The release date hasn’t been set into stone yet but they have less than 20 days before the 2nd generation will be released into the wild of Pokémon GO.

Texting and Driving By: Kyndall Porter

Is texting and driving more dangerous than driving drunk? The answer has become yes, in 2014, 3,179 people were killed and 431,000 were injured due to car accidents involving distracted drivers and the number is rising every year. Drunk driving claimed 9,967 lives in 2014 and was responsible for only 290,000 injuries. We have the instinct to take the couple of seconds to send a real quick message but studies have shown that taking your eyes off the road for more than 4.6 seconds can increase your chance of having a wreck by twenty-three percent. To put this into perspective, this would look like someone traveling 55 miles an hour for about the length of a football field. Test have been taken on how fast it takes texting drivers and drunk drivers to react

to hitting the break, the results were amazing, it taking .08 seconds for a drunk driver to react and .56 seconds for someone who was texting to hit the break. With the working of many experiments, people have seen that drivers who are texting seem to drift in and out of lanes more than someone who was high on marijuana. The driving rate is 35% worse for those who text and drive. As you are out on the roads keep in mind that texting and driving has become one of the main reasons for wrecks.

Cleveland Browns By: Brendan Durham

The Cleveland Browns are notorious for struggling in recent years. They have eclipsed the .500 mark only twice in the 2000’s. They were 9-7 in 2002 and 10-6 in 2007. The Browns are always won of the worst teams in the NFL, no matter the caliber players they have.They have arguably the best left tackle in the game, Joe Thomas, and have a 2015 pro bowl tight end, Gary Barnidge. They have an extreme athlete, Terrell Pryor playing wide receiver and he is having a great season, yet the Browns are still 0-14. It is mind boggling as to why the Cleveland Browns can’t seem to put things together, until you look at the quarterback position. The Browns have had a plethora of starting quarterbacks, 25 to be exact since 2000, and only one of them has made the Pro Bowl. They have struggled to find a mainstay at the position. Their starting quarterbacks since 2000: Tim Couch, Ty Detmer, Spergon Wynn, Doug Pederson, Kelly Holcomb, Luke McCown, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Len Dorsey, Bruce Gradkowski, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Colt McCoy, Thad Lewis, Brandon Weeden, Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel, Josh McCown, Connor Shaw, Cody Kessler, Robert Griffin III, and Austin Davis. The best performance they received was from Derek Anderson who made the Pro Bowl and led the Browns to a 10-6 record and the playoffs in 2007. The Browns have struggled mightily and are looking an 0-16 season right in the face. The only other team to go 0-16 was the 2008 Detroit Lions. Two games remain for the Browns. They face the Chargers and the Steelers in weeks 16 and 17. San Diego is a winnable game for the Browns, but it’s gonna be a fight. The Steelers always give the Browns a run for their money, so it looks as if the Chargers are the only hope the Browns have to avoid an 0-16 season.

LIFESTYLE Cleveland Browns

Winter Solstice

According to CNN News, many species are getting closer and closer to extinction. Giraffes, in particular, just recently saw a devastating decline in population. People have been calling this the “Silent extinction”, as we don’t really look at these types of animals to die off this quickly. The Giraffe is the earth’s tallest land mammal and gets a lot of popularity for being so. Research shows that 30% of Giraffes have been lost in the last 30 years. It’s evident that illegal hunting is playing a big role in the unfortunate falling numbers for this species. Poachers get praise and recognition for catch big game such as Giraffes, and use their bodies as a trophy or prize. Habitat loss also affects the Giraffes population, when we use their Grasslands for industrialization or cut down trees, which is what these gentle giants feed off of. With the declining slope continuing at this rate, we can expect to lose 2/3 of our wild Giraffes by 2020. There are ways you can support the Giraffes, and contribute to the fight on saving them. You can “adopt” a Giraffe, which symbolizes you taking on leadership for these species. You would pay a donation each month to a wildlife conservation group, which goes toward research on the Giraffes and what we need to do in order to preserve our wild life.

By: Amanda Pryor

By: Brendan Durham

The winter solstice is the astronomical occurrence marking the shortest day, and longest night of the year. It happens by the Earths tilt on its axis, and its orbit around the sun. The December solstice happens when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun, or when the South Pole is closest to the sun. In meteorology, winter in the northern hemisphere covers the time between December and February. The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is the gradual lengthening of nights, and shortening of days. In the northern Hemisphere this is the December solstice and in the southern Hemisphere it is called the June Solstice. In other cultures, the winter solstice is celebrated with different Holidays and customs. Some of these include Blue Christmas, Yalda in Iran, Shalako in Zuni, and Yule, the pagan celebration. Many of these groups find meaning and the need to recognize the longest night of the year. A lot of cultures tie their religion into the event, giving the occurrence more importance. In history, the people often thought astronomical events marked something special. Like, cycles mating season or the sowing of crops. The winter solstice is no exclusion. A lot of cultural mythologies and traditions derived from this during Neolithic times.