Deck the Halls of Sacred Heart

As you enter through the back volunteer entrance of the Sacred Heart Community Service Center, you hear a faint sound. You don’t know where it’s coming from, so you decide to walk through the hallways. As you make your way towards the main foyer, the sound gets louder and louder and you start to recognize the catchy tune.

Once you arrive, there’s a crowd of men, women and children surrounding thirty girls wearing vibrant red Santa hats and familiar blue plaid skirts. These Presentation students and teachers are all smiling, laughing and singing in unison to “Feliz Navidad” while the crowd sings along and claps to the beat.

This year, Presentation’s Community Involvement Club hosted their second-annual Christmas Caroling event at Sacred Heart. Their mission was to kick off the holiday season by singing Christmas songs to the clients of Sacred Heart and making festive crafts with the children in the Homework Club.

“Whenever we go to Sacred Heart we always try to underscore their three main values: dignity, compassion and respect,” says one of C.I.’s club moderators, Mrs. Foley. “This event is a little more fun because it’s going to be working with kids. We try to encourage the students who are participating to pay attention, listen, get to know the kids and to see what interesting conversations can come out of that.”

On the way to the event, many of the C.I. participants were anxious and excited to sing their hearts out to the clients being served. They couldn’t wait as they quickly put on their Santa hats, reindeer antlers and elf hats.
“I’m really excited to sing and spread joy and Christmas cheer for all to hear,” said freshman Nicole Freitas, who was one of many first-time participants in this event. There were also new faces at Sacred Heart, such as junior Katy Chiswell, who said, “This is my first time here and I don’t know what to really expect. But I’m really looking forward to it.”

As the students arrived, they lined up side-by-side and started caroling to “Jingle Bells”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the “Twelve Days of Christmas” outside of the main lobby. At the same time, some of the students handed out baked goods to the crowd. Everyone in the audience was smiling, singing and seemed to enjoy the musical entertainment while waiting in line.

Soon after, the Pres students collaborated with the kids in the Homework Club and helped make fun activities with them. Some of the crafts included making a reindeer using an outline of one’s foot and hands, a holiday wreath, a star and a personal Christmas card. The students were able to bond with the children by motivating them to be creative, talk with them on a one-to-one level and build new friendships.

“You just learn how to communicate with kids well and get to know them, because it’s a different experience from just helping people without knowing who they are,” said senior Natalie Royle. “But when you’re here at Sacred Heart, you really get to know the kids’ personalities and it’s a great experience.”

Participation in this event was much higher for this second year. “The turn-out was really great and a lot more people attended than last year,” said junior Ariana Cvitanic, a CI officer who helped organize the event. “During the activities, the girls seemed to enjoy themselves more than the little kids. It was also a great time singing because the more people we had, the louder we were and it seemed to make a big difference in lighting up the mood in the room. It was really cool seeing the people in line clapping and cheering with us.”

At the end of the event, C.I. was able to donate their time, effort and vocal chords to the community and truly give back during this season of giving.

Pumpkins, Ghosts and…. Jingle Bells?

December 25: A date engraved in our minds throughout our entire lives. Christmas day is a festive day, a time for celebration with the people we love; however our society today seems to have transformed it into a business venture, rather than the time of love and hope it is supposed to symbolize. Many stores and franchises use Christmas to their advantage. Even though Christmas is on December 25, it seems that every year the Christmas decorations start appearing in stores earlier and earlier. I mean, I haven’t even started thinking about what I am going to be for Halloween, let alone started writing my Christmas list! So why in the world am I seeing Christmas decorations in almost every retail store in early October!

One week stores are stocked with pencils and binders for the back-to- school shopping, and the next week blow-up Santas crowd the aisles. I plan to start my Christmas shopping the day after our last final, so why are stores filling their shelves with everything from candy canes to stockings? Is this really necessary?

Costco brought out the tinsel and decorations on September 1, exactly three months and twenty-four days BEFORE Christmas. My family doesn’t start the Christmas celebration until December 1 and laugh at other people who hang up their lights the day after Thanksgiving!

 The main question is, why? Why do people need to buy Christmas decorations three months in advance? I doubt that all the stores are going to sell out of blow-up Santas and Christmas light, so why stock shelves with them three months in advance?

Is America the only country to do this? Do Spain, France or China start the Christmas celebration three months early? No, this honor is reserved solely for the United States. In Barcelona, the decorations don’t appear until early December when the Christmas Market appears. Here, customers can shop for handmade gifts, nativity scenes and traditional gifts. This market represents the beginning of Christmas in the city of Barcelona.

With Christmas decorations appearing so early, we have lost that sense of Christmas being a magical and special time. The children of Barcelona know when the Christmas celebration begins because the market represents that time of year. Last time I checked, Christmas didn’t start in October.

The Nutcracker is a Christmas classic that many grow up watching. In the story, Clara, a young German girl, and her brother Fritz are not able to see the Christmas tree decorated until Christmas morning. They are dying of suspense and cannot wait to see the tree all-light up and decorated. They have been waiting all year for this day. This tradition creates the magic of Christmas. The suspense, the surprises, and the idea of seeing the tree light up all work to create that special Christmas feeling. But when we start the festivities three months in advance, Christmas loses its special feeling and becomes just another excuse for good food and presents. The suspense and excitement is lost.

Unlike other nations, America starts Christmas earlier and earlier each year, and it is hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it is still ninety degrees outside. It is extremely hard to grasp why stores are pulling out reindeer and stocking stuffers three months early when most people haven’t even planned their Halloween costumes. So now the question is, will you be one of the shoppers first in line for a blow-up Santa? Or will you be like me, rushing around on Christmas Eve trying to get your tinsel for the tree?

Comfy in the Cold

Along with the cold temperatures of winter comes a new wave of fashion in one specific department – pajamas! This season, Pres girls want to be comfortable, but still look cute. After all, there are some Saturdays and Sundays when we tend to stay in our sleepwear throughout most of the day.

A ubiquitous favorite, flannel pajamas return every year because they are simple and easy to wear. Because of the many prints that they come in, they are also very stylish. The loose shirt with a collarand spacious pants make flannel pajamas very comfortable (and perfect for eating lots of cookies).

Silk pajamas, although not very common among teenagers, are a great option for sleepwear. They may be a bit costly, but are worth it for their softness and sophisticated look. Look classy even while you sleep!

Pajamas that allow diversity and creativity are the mix n’ match t-shirts with flannel bottoms. Especially since it is getting colder each night into winter, longer sleeves are becoming necessary. Print shirts or plain with a simple design pair well with patterned flannel pj bottoms.

No more bare feet in the evening anymore because it’s time to break out our feet’s best friends. One thing all Pres girls love – slippers – are back on the scene. Sweater slippers were last year’s favorites but they came back as stylish feet warmers again this year. Animal prints, especially zebra and cheetah, are very popular, but also more and more actual animal shaped slippers are becoming popular, too.

Along with our pajamas and slippers, there’s nothing like an over sized sweater and hot cup of cocoa that will make us more in the mood for the cold winter ahead. Baggy knit sweaters, that would be seen as old-fashioned and ugly are now back in style. They can be thrown over any outfit, but are specifically perfect for comfy nights at home.

For many Pres students, winter is their favorite time of year. Good memories are made sitting around in pajamas and drinking hot cocoa while watching a Christmas movie with the family. There’s nothing like the feel of warmth of pajamas and slippers to remind us that the wonderful holiday season is back.

Quality flannel, silk and mix-n-match pajamas can be found at Victoria’s Secret. Their Dreamer Flannel Pajama is $49.50. Also, Gap and Target carry a variety of cute reasonably priced pajamas. Adorable slippers and sweaters can be found at Urban Outfitters. Their bird moccasins, which are come in reindeer and squirrel, are $24.

Santa Claus is (not) Coming to Town?

Christmas Day 2004 was the worst day of my life. Yes, one would expect that Christmas would be the most exciting day in an eleven-year-old’s existence, but for me, the day marked the moment I found out that Santa Claus was not real.

My older cousins had expressed doubt, telling the younger kids like myself that our parents are the ones who put the presents under the tree. Refusing to believe them, I crafted a brilliant plan to prove them all wrong.

Naturally, I wrote him a letter. “Dear Santa, every one of my big cousins tells me you are not real. I know the truth. I want your help, Santa. If you are real, please leave one of your sleigh bells in this box I gave to you. Thank you so much Santa. Love, Tasha.”

The next morning I leapt out of my bed, sprinted downstairs, and opened the box expecting a large glistening sleigh bell to await my presence. There was no sleigh bell.

Although this experience will remain with me for the duration of my life, believing in Santa Claus for eleven years is something I will never forget. Having the anticipation of waking up each Christmas morning to Santa’s present was something that defined the holiday for me. Although I was devastated when I figured it out, I would have been crushed if my parents told me the truth earlier. 

Parents around the world, if you want to ruin your childrens’ holidays, tell them that Santa is imaginary at a young age. Sure, you may be sparing them lives of disillusionment, but the magic of Christmas just became ten times less magical.

If you have ever seen Miracle on 34^th Street, you will remember the little girl whose mother told her that Santa was not real. While the other little kids in her class went to visit Santa at Macy’s, Susan sat at home dreaming about a magical Christmas.

Like Susan, many girls at Pres wish they never found out the truth about Santa. Freshman Taylor Jaques said she overheard her mother turning down a friend’s offer for a play kitchen, saying she had given her children one the Christmas before. “When we got in the car, I told my mother that she was mistaken and that Santa got us the play kitchen,” she said. “I was in second grade.”  

Freshman Nicole Normandin was also horrified when she heard the truth. “My heart was broken! I thought my world came to an end,” she said.

Believing in Santa Claus is part of the holiday experience. As children, setting out cookies and milk on Christmas Eve may be the most exciting part of the holidays. Santa is the main event. The best way for a child to find out the truth is to figure it out as he or she grows up rather than being told by their parents at a young age. Shreeya Majmudar, freshman, said one child who knows the truth can ruin it for all the others.

“It was the day of our school Christmas party, and we began to talk about Santa and how we had ‘seen’ Santa the year before. Some mean kid said, ‘Santa’s not real, it is just your mommy and daddy!’ That kid just crushed about 20 other little kids’ beliefs. Everyone obviously has to find out sooner or later—I was just sad because I found out sooner.”

If you are reading this article and just found out that Santa is not real, I will personally come to your house and deliver a sleigh bell on Christmas Eve. Keep the spirit in the family, and always remember the joy of Santa Claus.

Parents, let your children set out warm cookies and decorative mugs filled to the brim with milk. Buy them carrots for Rudolph, and help them decorate letters written specifically for Santa. Let them go online to Norad, the official Santa tracker, and see how they watch with large eyes when Santa lands in San Francisco. Let them lie in bed listening intently for the sound of reindeers landing on the roof. Let them believe.

Cookies For Santa

This Christmas season when hosting your regular holiday party, why not try something new? A fun and sugary activity that appeals to all is that of a cookie swap. Ask all of your guests to bring a batch of cookies with them and have plastic bags labeled with their names on them. Then at the party, exchange cookies, which ends in all going home with an assortment of their favorite cookies to eat throughout the holiday season.

Gingerbread People
Makes 18

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2 teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
¾ cup unsulfured molasses
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
4 teaspoons powered egg whites (meringue powder)

1)            In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; beat in egg and molasses. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
2)            Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Working with one disk at a time, place dough on lightly floured parchment paper, and roll out to 1/8 inch thick, dusting lightly with flour as needed. Using paper, lift dough onto two baking sheet; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
3)            Remove paper and dough from baking sheets. Using a spatula, loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters, and brush off any excess flour. Transfer to baking sheets. (Gather scraps and re-roll.)
4)            For softer cookies, bake 8 to 10 minutes; for crunchier cookies back 11 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
5)            Make icing: In a large bowl, whisk together confectioner’s sugar, powdered egg whites, and ¼ cup water (if needed adjust consistency with confectioner’s sugar). Transfer icing to a pastry bag with a small tip, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and snip a small hole in one corner. Decorate cookies as desired!

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cookies
About 20 cookies

Ingredients:
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
¾ cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1)   Put chocolates and butter in a medium metal bowl and set over a pan filled with 1 inch of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until melted, then remove from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in eggs and sugar, mixing until combined. Then whisk in flour, baking powder and salt. Chill dough, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.
2)   Let dough sit a room temperature 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop one tablespoon portions of dough and roll each into a ball. Use your palm to press dough balls into ¼ inch thick rounds. Put onto sheets one inch apart. Bake cookies until they no longer look wet on top, about 8 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.
3)    Make icing: In a bowl, mix 3 cups powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons milk, and ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract. Spread 1 heaping teaspoon peppermint icing onto the flat side of one cookie. Top with flat side of a second cookie to form a sandwich, pressing together to squeeze filling to the edge. Roll edge of cookie in crushed and sifted candy canes. Enjoy and be merry!

Christmas Gift Guide

It’s that time of year again where we are all scrambling to buy the perfect gift for all the wonderful people in our lives. The Voice is here to help ameliorate this stress by providing you with a gift guide! Here is a list of must-have gifts of 2010, specialized for the important people in your life.

Mom

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

Elton John and Leon Russell – The Union

Toy Story 3

Scrabble Flash

Therapeutic Slippers

Spa Day

Jewelry

Dad

John Grisham – The Confession

Stephen King – Full Dark, No Stars

Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown

The Pacific

eReaders: iPad

Friends

Nicholas Sparks – Safe Haven

Taylor Swift – Speak Now

Snuggie (new prints – skull and cross bones, peace sign, leopard, zebra and more)

Buckyballs

Fuzzy Socks and Candy Canes

Gift Cards to Urban Outfitters

Boyfriend

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Earbuds and Headphones

Scrapbook

Sister

Rihanna – Loud

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Video Game

Mickey, Spiderman, Princess, Sponge Bob or Ironman 6 game tub (includes checkers, tic-tac-toe, bingo, dominoes, and 2 card games)

Sillybandz

Brother

Ironman 2

Xbox 360 Kinect

Madden NFL 11

Apple iPod Touch

Chuck My Talking Truck

Tonka Ricochet

Divorced Families Means Holiday Chaos

Holidays with divorced parents are not easy. In my family, the holidays have an added twist with divorced grandparents on both sides creating a grand total of six grandparents. To say that my holidays are chaotic is surely an understatement.  Adding to that chaos, my family lives in both Vermont and California, and we have to travel all the way across the country to see them.

The holidays begin for my family a week before Christmas as my mom and I celebrate our own Christmas. This is because it is hard to haul my presents across the country, and the overweight bag only adds to the exorbitant price of airfare. Three days after our early Christmas, we begin to pack. This takes a lot more effort and time than it would normally because I have to pack for two different vacations and two different weather climates. Fuzzy socks, warm sweaters, and snow boots for Vermont and flip-flops, shorts, and tank tops for Florida. The hardest part is packing for two weeks is trying to fit it all in my suitcase along with all the presents I have for my family.

The next day my mom and I leave for Vermont on a red-eye.  When we arrive, our family is at the airport and ready to pick us up. The moment we arrive, the chaos begins, as our family begins to fight over us. They claim a right to us and we become their puppets: a dinner at this person’s house, a breakfast at another’s, and sleeping at someone else’s house.

Christmas in my family is filled with timetables and charts; it seems that we never have a moment just to sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate.  The chaos continues on Christmas Eve with church and a dinner at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Mike’s house filled to the brim with family members. That night I sleep over at their house in the bottom bunk of cousin’s bunk bed, so that I am able to celebrate Christmas morning with them.

Christmas breakfast is normally at my other uncle’s house and then Christmas dinner is at my Papa’s house and we go sledding on their hill. That afternoon we do a version of the Yankee Gift Exchange, where we buy a present and then draw numbers to pick another family member’s present.

The next day we eat lunch at my Grandma Jackie’s house because we are not able to spend time with one grandparent but not the other. That afternoon I leave to fly to Florida to meet my dad.

Florida is just as chaotic as Vermont filled with family fights over who gets to spend more time with us and we celebrate at least two more Christmases with each grandparent. The vacation that the holidays are supposed to be only turns into a chaotic disaster which is why my dad and I escape to Disney World.

Craziness is part of life with divorced parents but a fully divorced family only amplifies that. Throughout the whole process, I have discovered that the best solution to divorced family holidays is patience. It works in every solution and everything always seems to work out.

Artist Profile: Jessica Lind

 

At Presentation, all of our lives are constantly a blur, full of one activity running into another as we speed through the weeks. Especially as finals approach, it seems like we all have a constant tick-tock resounding in our heads, a clock counting down until our finals are over and the winter holidays begin. Well, junior Jessica Lind has a rhythm beating through her head, too, but hers is a unique one, and it is that of the Nutcracker Ballet.

All of us are well-acquainted with this classic Christmas story; many of us have family traditions of seeing the ballet annually. Still, there is no doubt that Jessica Lind knows the intricacies of this ballet better than any other Presentation student, especially now that she has worked her way to the lead role of the Sugar Plum fairy, a hard-earned position. This is a true honor and accomplishment for Lind, who has been working diligently at dance since she was four-and-a-half.

Lind recognizes what an achievement this is and says she can see her hard work reflected in her dancing this part for the second year in a row. “When I was younger, that was role that everyone looked up to, and we actually used to have professional dancers come in to be that role,” she says. “Now that we have older dancers that can do it, it’s really cool to be able to do the part that a professional dancer was doing, knowing that it is the same choreography.”

Lind has come a long way from the pre-schooler who started dancing with the motivation of following in her older sister’s footsteps, or perhaps dance steps. Reflecting on the earlier years of her dancing, Lind recalls how she simply wanted to be doing what her sister Kristina was doing, but she maintains that this role model image of her sister has not tarnished with the years. Having a sister who dances has not only provided someone for Jessica to look up to, but Jessica has also found that she and her sister collaborate to improve each other’s dancing.

Before Kristina, who now dances professionally in San Francisco, left their dance school, she and Jessica had a unique relationship in dancing. “For three or four years we were in the same level at my studio because it only goes up to a certain level,” recalls Lind. “Sometimes she would give me corrections during class, and sometimes I would give her corrections during class. We didn’t always like it, but sometimes it was really helpful. Sometimes, when we’re in the same level, it’s a good thing because then we can watch each other.”

Along with advice and constructive criticism from her sister, Jessica has worked personally to perfect her dance in every aspect. Like with other sports and pursuits, Jessica recognizes the need for self-discipline, denoting this attribute as one of the most important things she has learned and taken away from her dancing. “In dance, you really need a lot of personal motivation and self-discipline, and it helps in school and regular life, too,” says Lind.

Lind also spoke of the involvement her entire family has in her dancing. She herself dedicates about two-and-a-half hours a day, five to six days a week to her dancing, but she understands the way in which her family member’s lives revolve around her dancing, too. “My family is definitely very involved in all of my and my sister’s dancing,” Lind says. “It takes up a lot of my time – I have normal classes five or six days a week, and, now that it’s Nutcracker time, I have a lot of rehearsals too, so it’s kind-of stressful – but my parents always drive me to practice. Especially my brother [is impacted by the dancing], he’s always in the car. They also volunteer a lot for our shows. My Dad always works backstage.”

Still, the Linds have found a way to craft their own tradition out of this stressful time of the year, putting their own spin on the classic custom of going to see the Nutcracker. As Lind puts it, “Some families go and see the Nutcracker for a tradition, but we’re always in the Nutcracker for our tradition. There was the last show that my sister was part of at our studio; my whole family was in it. It was me, my sister, my brother, and my dad, and my mom worked back stage. We were all on stage, and that was really fun.”

After so many years of hard work, including five-week-long summer programs in cities such as San Francisco and Boston, Lind expects dance to play a role in life after high school. Revealing that she was offered dance positions to stay year-round in San Francisco as early as the summer before her freshman year, Lind says that she now intends to be a professional dancer. Yet she is realistic about the unpredictable life of those on stage. “If it doesn’t work out, if nothing is offered to me, I won’t push it or try to do it,” she shrugs. “I’ll just figure it’s not meant to be and there’s something else I should be doing.”

For now, though, there’s the sugar plum fairy. And finals, of course.

 

ITS Christmas!

On Dec. 4, the International Thespian Society (ITS) and improvisational team Spontaneous Combustion put on a show to share some Christmas cheer with the Pres community. The two groups put on an entertaining night that filled the audience with laughs and warmed their hearts despite the low temperature.

ITS is a club at Pres dedicated to letting those who love theatre be themselves. Members earn points through participating in productions at school. The girls involved in ITS get chances to act in the wide array of shows put on throughout the year or to be technicians, commonly known as techies, who do everything from building sets to manning the spotlights. Members of ITS also get the chance to lend their skills to local theatres to broaden their theatrical talents.

Spontaneous Combustion is a small but dedicated group of Pres girls and Bell guys who compete in the Comedy Sportz high school league. The improvisational team was started in 2007 when Mrs. Garcia-Rodriguez joined the Presentation community. “I felt like the team would be a nice addition to the already outstanding theatre arts department,” says Rodriguez. Although many of the shows done here at Pres consist only of our team, Spontaneous Combustion also travels to other schools to challenge their Comedy Sportz teams. Comedy Sportz involves many fun games in which players must interact with and entertain their audience. As the name “improvisational” implies, everything the team does during games is completely spur-of-the-moment, so the members of Spontaneous Combustion must think quickly and not be afraid to act, well, spontaneously.

“ITS Christmas” began with Leigh High school’s J.C. Molina, sophomore, dressed as an elf and telling Christmas-themed jokes. Junior Tanya Padagonkar performed a series of monologues throughout the show in the form of journal entries. The entries detailed the trials and tribulations of a man trying to survive a rather snowy holiday season. Junior Christine Jones and Bell junior Austin MacPhee then treated the audience to a sweet version of “Baby It’s Cold outside”.

Although she was not in any of the skits this year, ITS Officer Nicki Affonso-McMorrow, senior, enjoys participating in the show in any way she can. “It’s very relaxed,” she said, “but we designed it to really get Pres into the Christmas spirit.” She and the other members of ITS work together to come up with skits that will get their audience laughing. ITS gets ideas for the show from online as well as from the minds of their ever-talented members. In the longest skit of the night, sophomores Emily Griffith and Morgan Locke played reporters who were bored with their jobs. To spice things up, the two decide to improvise the rest of the news. This skit pulled many laughs from the audience and gave them characters they could relate to.

Next up were Kathy Stephan, sophomore, and Bell freshman Chris Brady. They two recited a poem about the difficulties Santa Claus faces in an increasingly politically correct world. Some of his many road blocks included his elves going on strike and the challenge of buying gender neutral gifts. In the end, Santa resolves to give the best gift of all: peace on earth. Bell senior Aaron Griffith wrapped up the night with the song “If You Believe” from the movie The Polar Express. The inspiring tune was the perfect way to send off the audience with loads of holiday spirit

Spontaneous Combustion was up next, opening with a Beatles song and a small dance from each of the members. The group was split into two teams of four for the night, and the extra player, named the “Jokester” had the opportunity to compete in all the games. Team captains Amanda Camillo, sophomore, and Shelby DieBold, senior, helped to pump up their teams and the audience by building human pyramids. “I love the improv team because I get to let out all of my excess energy and be as crazy and random as I want,” said Camillo. “You get to come out of your shell because nobody judges you.”

The group started off with the game “What Are You Doing?”. In this game, a player from one team pantomimes a random action. When the opposing team’s player asks, “What are you doing?” they must say something completely different. The second player must then act out what the first player says, and the game continues on. The referee can knock a player out for many reasons, including hesitation and stuttering. This game is used as a warm-up, so no points were awarded at the end, but this didn’t stop our comedy sportz players from pulling out all the stops and splitting a few sides in the process.

Another crowd favorite was “The Dating Game.” In this game, the Jokester played the part of a dating show host, while three players were the bachelors and bachelorettes, whose personas were picked by the audience, vie for the fifth player’s affections. Team captain DieBold channeled her inner Betty Boop, junior Tanya Padagonkar acted as Tiger Woods, and freshman Isabelle Polito hoped to woo the lucky bachelor as Harry Potter. Bell freshman Chris Brady had the opportunity to ask his teammates four questions each to discover their identities. At the end of the game, the team was awarded one point for every correct guess.

Later in the evening, Camillo’s team played catch up with the game “Slide Show.” In this game, two players are looking at a slide show of their last family vacation. The lights start out dimmed, but when they come up again, the other two players and the Jokester were in creative poses, meant to be a picture. The narrators then faced the challenge of coming up with an explanation for the many imaginative and funny poses presented to them. This game kept the audience on their toes, but they were not the only ones left guessing. Jen Greenfield, senior, was one of players posing. “Improv is so fast paced and it’s all about audience interaction. Each time I play a game I know it’ll turn out differently,” she said. For this game, points are awarded for the number of laughs the players earn from their audience.

For their final game of the night, both teams faced off in the game of “Story.”  In this game, the players make up a story line by line. When the referee points to a player, they must continue where the last left off. This can get quite tricky because the referee can put players on the spot in the middle of sentences, leaving the second player the responsibility of making a grammatically correct sentence. This show’s story highlighted the adventures of a boy who went to the dentist and ended up having a rather odd dream due to sleeping gas. This game truly highlights the team’s ability to think quickly while still being funny. It was a great way to end the night, and after the final tally, Camillo’s team came out on top. DieBold and her crew didn’t seem too beat up about it, though. Like any good comedy sportz player, they knew that they would have the opportunity in the next game to make their crowd combust with laughter.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland (Inexpensively.)

Even though the economy is foul, you don’t have to be a Scrooge over this Christmas break. Here are some fun activities that will get you out of the house without costing you a fortune.

Try ice blocking. Ice blocking is a fun outdoor activity that requires minimal cost. When it has been raining for a while and the grass is muddy, grab some friends, old clothes and a large ice block. Find a grassy hill in a wide-open space, sit on the ice block and slide down! It is recommended to put padding or a towel on the ice block for more comfort. Ice blocking is a fun activity that both boys and girls enjoy. You can purchase an ice block at any grocery store like Lucky’s and try Meadows Park on Meridian and Camden for a good hill. The cost: $5-$10 for the ice block. Warning: you’ll get very muddy and stay away from busy streets.

Christmas in the Park is a fun alternative to the movies and completely inexpensive. You can go downtown and walk through the maze of decorations and Christmas trees. While down there you can grab some hot chocolate and enjoy the fake snow. Also, you can try out the ice skating rink. No worries if you don’t know how to skate because the rink is filled with novices holding on to the side. Ice-skating is open noon-midnight and a waiver is required. Go to http://www.sjdowntown.com/pdf/DTIceSkateWaiver.pdf to print out the ice-skating waiver. If you’re interested in a day trip, check out other cities like San Francisco for similar events. The cost: $1 for hot chocolate. $14 for ice-skating.

Take a Christmas light drive. Get a large car and drive around neighborhoods like Los Gatos or Willow Glen to look at all of the nicely decorated lawns. Many houses in these neighborhoods are elaborately decorated and may feature different nativity scenes. You might even park and walk down famous streets with well-light houses. Vasona Park is also a popular place to gawk at light-filled trees. The cost: half a tank of gas.

Go Christmas Caroling. Gather a group of friends together and surprise friends or neighbors with a Christmas carol. Boyfriends may not be as excited about this activity but you and your girlfriends can belt out some traditional Christmas tunes. This is a fun way to visit other friends and get out of the house. You can enjoy some hot chocolate and gaze at the neighborhood Christmas lights in the meantime. The cost: none.

At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk you can enjoy the Santa Cruz Train of Lights, which is a 60-minute light tour around the boardwalk in a train! Starting at Neptune’s Palace, the train tours downtown Santa Cruz to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus, Santa’s Kingdom, and listen to live entertainment. Price includes hot cider and the choice of one holiday activity: miniature golf, laser tag, or arcade games. For more information and to make advanced reservations go to http://www.roaringcamp.com/events.html. Cost: $22 for each ticket.

Also! If you’re up for a movie marathon, check out our article on the best movies to watch on the next page.

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