The Prowl. December 14, 2018

Transcription

1 The Prowl December 14, 2018 FHS Hallway Decoration Competition against each other to see who can have the best, most elaborate door decorations. The teachers have had their Christmas is upon us here at FHS and the teachers students working non-stop to make their no-holdsare celebrating at full swing. There is so much Christmas barred decorations the best they can be. spirit they have decided to hold a little competition. The teachers of the front and back hallways are competing

2 That s Christmas to Me By Matthew Giffin Christmas was fast approaching, and everyone was in a bustle, as was usual for this time of year. Black Friday had come and gone, but stores were still packed with customers in the month of December; the frigid temperatures deterred no one from Christmas shopping. But Jesse was not one of those people: He had come back to town to spend the holidays with his family and was, at that moment, watching It s a Wonderful Life with his younger siblings in the living room. He very much enjoyed visiting his family, as he did not get to see them as often as he used to, what with his new job out of state. Anyway, his parents were among the herd of deal-dashers, freezing half to death in below freezing temperatures, buying gifts for each other and their children. Among these must-haves were the newest iphone, which boasts a slightly better camera resolution, the latest Call of Duty video game (which is really just a copyand-paste of the last one), and several gift cards to Starbucks. They drove and drove, jumping from store to store, being pushed out of many of them to the limited space. They had spent most of their day on this futile pursuit - all for naught. The pair arrived home blanketed in a sheet of snow, wearing long faces, surrounded by an air of defeat. Jesse and his siblings heard the door creak open, followed by a gust of wind entering the house. Their parents squeaking steps echoed into the living room, and Jesse and his siblings rushed to meet them. So, Jesse said, seeing their lowly state, how d it go? They gave him a look that said it all. Their mother said to the little ones, We just wanted to get what you wanted for Christmas. We couldn t even get into some of the stores their father said. Oh, guys Jesse said, You do understand that Christmas isn t all about the presents, right? We know, but we don t want you and the kiddos to be unhappy, his father replied. Dad, Christmas is about love- you and Mom taught me that. Whether or not we get the gifts we want isn t the difference between a good or bad Christmas. We love you so much. You raised us and took care of us, and nothing will change that fact. At this point, one of Jesse s siblings, 8-year-old Johnny, stepped forward and hugged his mother and father s legs. He started to feel his body and his heart warm. Their parents smiled a smile brighter than the stars that shone that night. They together embraced each other in love and appreciation and assurance in each other. The rest of the night was spent in the living room, the whole family present, drinking hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies. Top 10 Gifts This Christmas Season By: Ella Townsend 1. Apple watch series 4: starting from $ Chromebook computer: starting from $ IPhone XR: costs between $749- $ Red Dead Redemption 2: costs $ Virtual Reality Headset: costs between $75 to $ Nike Tennis Shoes: costs between $50 to $ Nintendo Switch: costs $ Beats Headphones: costs between $ to $ Google Home: costs $ Google Pixel 3 phone: costs between $799 to $999

3 Christmas Around the World By Jenna Dean Christmas is celebrated in many different ways across the globe. A Pagan tradition in Whales called Mari Lwyd is a celebration where the Welsh bring a horse or recreation of a horse to a bar or pub where they sing verses and insult each other in rhymes. The horse is usually made of a horse skull and white sheets. The Philippines celebrates Christmas with the Giant Lantern Festival, where people compete to build elaborate lanterns. When the tradition first came about, the lanterns were made of Japanese origami paper and were about half a meter in diameter. Now they are made of a variety of materials and clock at about six meters in diameters. The lanterns are lit with glowing bulbs that sparkle in kaleidoscope patterns. Each year, the Swedish build the Gavle Goat, or Yule Goat, to celebrate the holiday. The Swedish build a 13 meter tall ram in the Gavle s castle square for Advent. Recently, a new tradition has emerged in which they try to burn the Gavle Goat down. It has been successfully burned down 29 times since In Iceland, the 13 days before Christmas are reserved for Yuletide where the Yule Lads come to visit. Yule Lads are mischievous dwarvish men who come and leave candy and toys in the good children s shoes, and rotting potatoes in the bad children s shoes. Instead of ornaments and tinsel, Ukrainians decorate their houses and trees with spider webs for Christmas. Legend has it a poor woman couldn t afford to decorate her Christmas tree, so the spiders took pity on her and spun beautiful webs all across the Christmas tree for her children to find the next morning. Top 20 Christmas Songs of 2018 By Amerial Page This Christmas, just like any other, is filled with holiday songs! ITunes provided a list of the top 100 most listened to songs of Christmas in the USA, and these are the top Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney 19. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - NSYNC 18. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Mariah Carey 17. Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry 16. Santa Tell Me - Ariana Grande 15. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano 14. You re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch - Thurl Ravenscroft 13. It s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas - Michael Buble 12. What Christmas Means to Me - John Legend (feat. Stevie Wonder) 11. Christmas Canon - Trans-Siberian Orchestra 10. It s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams 9. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Gayle Peevey 8. Rockin Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee 7. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms 6. A New York Christmas - Rob Thomas 5. Underneath the Tree - Kelly Clarkson 4. Christmas / Sarajevo 12/24 (Instrumental) - Trans- Siberian Orchestra 3. Last Christmas (Single Version) - Wham! 2. Mary, Did You Know? - Pentatonix 1. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

4 The History Of Christmas By Matthew Giffin Christmas is a holiday that has changed drastically over several centuries of human history. It is most commonly thought of today as a celebration of the birth of Jesus, but no such celebration is ever mentioned in the Bible. The holiday was actually apart of an effort by the Roman Catholic Church in the 4th century to convert the surrounding pagans to the church, explaining why we celebrate it on December 25th, a day that once coincided with festival days for Saturn, Roman god of agriculture, and Mithra, Persian god of light. As a matter of fact, most, if not all, modern Christmas traditions are not inherently Christian in origin. The festival of Saturn in particular is where our tradition of giving gifts came from, though it was reinterpreted by the Church to be tied to the three wise men from Luke 2. Christmas trees are part of a tradition of holidays involving evergreen plants that has lasted for millennia, being apart of Roman, Egyptian, Celtic, and Norse traditions, though Germany is credited with being the home of the first real Christmas tree. As this wide variety of tradition indicates, Christmas is by no means only American, being celebrated in over 160 countries. This by no means that Christmas cannot be a Christian holiday, as some would claim. If the everchanging history of the holiday proves anything, it is the exact opposite: Christmas can really be anything one wants it to be. But it should also be a time to remember the important things in life- the things that redeem us, that save us, that give us abundant life. Merry Christmas! Winter Holidays By Seth Moyers Christmas is the most recognized holiday in the world due to all of the stories and beliefs that make Christmas what it is today. We are all very familiar with the beliefs of and traditions of Christmas; however, there are many other holidays that substitute Christmas in their beliefs. Kwanzaa, which means "First Fruits," is based on ancient African harvest festivals and celebrates ideals such as family life and unity. During this spiritual holiday, celebrated from December 26 to January 1, millions of African Americans dress in special clothes, decorate their homes with fruits and vegetables, and light a candle holder called a kinara. Hanukkah is the belief in the Jewish religion where for eight days each November or December, Jews light a special candle holder called a menorah. They do it to remember an ancient miracle in which one day's worth of oil burned for eight days in their temple. In Ecuador, families dress a straw man in old clothes on December 31. The straw man represents the old year. The family members make a will for the straw man that lists all of their faults. At midnight, they burn the straw man, in hopes that their faults will disappear with him. Many religions and countries have traditions and holidays they celebrate around this time of year. They may sound strange at first glance, but these traditions are as normal to them as celebrating Christmas is to us. The Prowl

5 Merry Christmas from all of us at The Prowl! Journalists: Winter Holidays - Seth Moyers That s Christmas to Me - Matthew Giffin The History of Christmas - Matthew Giffin Top 20 Christmas Songs of Amerial Page Christmas Around the World - Jenna Dean Top 10 Gifts This Christmas Season - Ella Townsend Editors: Pictures - Hannah Giffin Articles and Composition - Sara Clark