Entertainment

"The Marvels Summary"

March 17, 2023

By: Kaylee Chan

Marvel and many other film companies are coming out with new movies. However, this week, I will be focusing on The Marvels from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU. This movie is based on Carol Danvers, a character from Marvel Comics, who has extraordinary powers as Captain Marvel. It comes out on November 10 of this year, and fans are anticipating it as much as we are when the fourth movie of High School Musical was announced.

The Marvels is a continuation of Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel. It features Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau. These three characters have amazing powers, but every time they use them, they switch places. In this exciting movie, Danvers, Khan, and Rambeau team up to find out why they keep switching places. The actors and actresses starring in this movie are Brie Larson, Park Seo-joon, Imam Vellani, Lashana Lynch, Teyonah Parris, Tessa Thompson, Zawe Ashton, Tony McCarthy, Samuel L. Jackson, Mohan Kapoor, Zenobia Shroff, and Saagar Shaikh. Some other people in the cast are McKenna Grace, Gemma Chan, Jude Law, Colin Ford, Ben Mendelsohn, Shamier Anderson, and Annette Bening

Personally, I think The Marvels will be very interesting not just because of its plot, although that is the main reason, but because Captain Marvel itself was interesting. Normally, the continuations of Marvel movies are pretty good, so I anticipate that this one will be, too. I am really excited for this movie to come out even though it comes out so late in the year, and I hope that after reading this, you will be too!

"What Does it Mean to be a “Shadow Student”?"

January 27, 2023
By: Sydney Abrams

Perhaps once during your school year, your teacher might have told you that a student is coming. They may stay until recess, half the day, or even until dismissal. However, this may be one of the most exciting days for you and your class! With this new person coming into your classroom, you get to interact with them and possibly make a new friend.
A shadow student is a person from another school that’s usually in the same grade as you. The reason for why they came to your school for a day might differ, but one thing is the same across all of these students: they are looking for a new school to go to. Whenever we get (a) shadow student(s) at St. Anne, it is expected of all the students to treat this new shadow with respect and kindness. Depending on the grade and teacher, the shadow may do different activities during the day: They might go with other students to their classes and observe the lessons they’re learning. The teacher(s) of those subjects and classes might give them different activities similar to the ones their students are learning. However, to get to know the shadow students a little, your teachers might organize a fun game between them and other students, or ask them to introduce themselves. Although this can be very awkward, it’s good to see other kids your age who aren’t in your class. If you treat them with respect and care, they might end up transferring to the school. Recently, many people have gotten the news that St. Thomas the Apostle will be closing down. With this news, it is expected that many students will transfer next year to St. Anne. We had many shadows a few days ago who came to check out the school, and it was an exciting opportunity. The parish is hoping to see new faces next year in the school community, and we all welcome them with hospitality.

"National Pretzel Day"

April 21, 2023

By: Anna Wald

National Pretzel Day is on April 26. This holiday celebrates all pretzels, no matter what size or shape they are. Did you know that pretzels are believed to be one of the oldest snacks in the world? The first time that the making of pretzels was recorded was 610 AD, in Southern France. The people who first started making pretzels were Catholic Monks who baked thin strips of dough into shapes that looked like the shape of a child’s arms folded in prayer or just folded. Although France made them first, Germany is the one who got all the credit, because they actually started hundreds of pretzel bakeries. The first pretzel that was baked in the US was in the year 1850. Before people made machines that would shape the pretzels, expert pretzel shapers could shape a pretzel in 8-10 seconds.

How can you celebrate National Pretzel Day? Well first, you might want to make or buy some pretzels to eat. If you love chocolate, you might want to eat chocolate covered pretzels. You could also bring some to school and share it with your friends! The person who started National Pretzel Day is not really certain, but in 2003 Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell announced that April 26 will become known as National Pretzel Day.

Here are some fun facts that you might like about pretzels:

The average Pennsylvanian eats about twelve times as many pretzels as the average of the nation.
About 80% of pretzels made in the US are made in Pennsylvania.
In Pennsylvania, during the year 1993, founded a privately run “Pretzel Museum.”

I hope that you enjoyed learning a bit about the history and just about Pretzel Day. Also, I hope you liked the three fun facts about pretzels. Have a brewtiful day!!!!! No bun intended!

"The Holiday of Holi"

March 17, 2023

By: Sophia Tanaka

Do you like colorful things and holidays? Do you like to get messy? Well, this holiday is for you! Holi, also known as the festival of colors, is the holiday where Hindus celebrate the coming of spring and the ending of winter. It also celebrates the love between Radha and Krishna, who are two gods. To celebrate, kids throw colorful powder to celebrate spring and colors. Adults would also spread the solution onto themselves. Many attend festivals and events on this day and have parties. Before entering some parties, they would make their guests’ colorful before entering the party and eating the tasty treats. This event takes place in Nepal, India, and other places where there are Hindus.

The holiday is like a time to forgive and forget each other's sins and evil doing. This is like doing reconciliation. The god, Krishna, loved the god, Radha. The problem was that Radha was fair-toned, while Krishna was darker-toned. Krishna’s mother was tired of him being shy so she told Radha to color his face any color she wanted. Them playing with the colored dust is now marked as Holi.

Another story tells the victory between good and evil. Hiranyakashipu was a selfish and evil king who couldn’t be killed inside/outside, day/night, hand weapons/projectiles and more. He also had a son who worshiped someone else which his father made and faced punishments that didn’t affect him. His aunt then tried to burn him but she was burned instead. After the avatar, Vishnu turned into Narasimha which was a human lion. Narasimha then killed Hiranyakashipu at dawn, in a doorway, on his lap, and with his lion claws. There are more stories relating to this holiday as well that many people read during holi but those were some of the main ones. Overall, Holi is a holiday that celebrates the coming of spring/good and the ending of winter/evil. It also celebrates the festival of colors.

"The Pineapple on Pizza Debate"

March 28, 2023

By: Tia Seeto

Since it was Pi Day a couple weeks ago, let’s talk about pizza; another consumption item in the round food world.

As many of you know, pineapple either belongs on pizza or doesn’t. But why the fuss? Pineapple on pizza is either hated or loved throughout the world. Fun fact: only one out of ten people consider Hawaiian pizza as their favorite. Some people enjoy their pizza sweet and savory, others prefer to keep it traditionally savory. Even though I love pineapple on pizza, I will try my best to make this article as unbiased as I can. To do that, I will gather the opinions from both sides of this controversy.

First side: anti-pineapple-on-pizza. Based on the opinions that I have gathered, people who dislike having pineapple on pizza say that it makes the delicacy overly sweet, and that it should just stay savory. Sometimes, the pineapple may come out as too acidic for the tongue, making it less favorable for one’s taste buds. One person from my poll reported that the explosion of sweetness and savoriness, along with other possible toppings, is too much to handle, and that pizza should be more simple than that. That person had also said that the pineapple negatively affects the pizza’s texture and taste. One person even said that pineapple shouldn’t be on pizza because it’s a fruit (I’ll get to that in the next paragraph). In summary, for this side of the argument, people who dislike Hawaiian pizza don’t enjoy their pizza to be sweet and savory.

On the other hand, people who do enjoy Hawaiian pizza say that they enjoy the sweet-savory explosion of flavor, as if it’s a party in their mouth. I personally enjoy how the sweetness touches up the pizza, making Hawaiian pizza unique compared to its counterparts. Another person answered that the addition of pineapple as a topping makes the pizza’s texture enjoyable. Referring back to the opinion saying that pineapple shouldn’t be on pizza because it’s a fruit, well, research says that tomato is technically a fruit, botanically. Meaning that tomatoes grow out of the flower and have seeds, whereas in the culinary arts industry, vegetable is used as a savory vegetable. So that would explain the confusion. But still, tomatoes are still a fruit, so Hawaiian pizza would still have fruit on it even without the pineapple toppings. Overall, people who enjoy Hawaiian pizza take pleasure in its savory-sweet flavor and uniqueness compared to other pizzas.

All in all, this is just based on opinions. Everyone is different from each other and enjoys separate things. Hawaiian pizza may be good, or bad, but this matter is not worth starting a war over. Looking on the bright side, if you are going out to eat all-you-can-eat pizza, you could bring a friend to eat some Hawaiian pizza while you eat the rest of the many options of pizzas.

Fun fact: Hawaiian pizza, despite its deceitful name, did not originate from the island nation Hawaii. It instead was created by a Greek immigrant in Canada in 1962. The man who started this grand controversial topic of pizza is Sam Panopoulos. So make sure to thank in your prayers either for him creating the wonderful Hawaiian pizza for everyone, or for everyone else who enjoys it.

"April Fools Day"

March 31, 2023

By: Anna Wald

April Fools Day is on April 1st. Since the time that April Fools Day started, it has spread through many cultures around the world. People usually say “April Fools” so that the person who is getting pranked knows it’s just a prank. Nobody really knows when or where April Fools Day started. Since, certain jokes have been in the media, that ensures the long life of it.

Although nobody knows where April Fools Day started, historians do have a theory. They think that when France switched from the Julian calendar, or the Hindu calendar, to the Gregorian calendar, the one that we use now, some people didn’t know. So, they still celebrated the new year in the last week of March. However, April 1 actually became known as the day of jokes and hoaxes. Throughout the years, people have made many different jokes. For example, in 1957, a news channel said that people found a new crop that grew spaghetti. They even made and then showed footage of people harvesting spaghetti off of trees. In 1985, a newspaper writer made up an article that a rookie pitcher could pitch a fastball over 168 miles per hour.

I hope this helped you to understand a bit about April Fools Day. Here are some jokes that you might like:

Why don’t eggs tell each other jokes? Because they’d crack each other up.
Can February March? No, but April May.
Knock Knock? Who’s there? Wooden shoe. Wooden shoe who? Wooden shoe like to hear another April Fools Day joke?
Knock Knock? Who’s there? Boo. Boo hoo? Don’t cry, April Fools Day will be back next year.
I’d tell you this funny joke about April Fools Day, but it's pointless.
Knock Knock? Who’s there? Noah. Noah who? Noah April Fools Day joke you could share.

Have a fun time with these jokes and have a great APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!!!!!!!

" How Much is a 2 Dollar Bill Worth?"

March 14, 2023

By: Robert Leung

Not very many people know about the 2 dollar bill. This bill is not very common, and, when many people see it, they assume that it is fake. This bill started being made in March of 1862. The bill accounts for less than 0.001% of all money in circulation. The 2 dollar bill is not hard to find, but the older versions are. These bills could go for $1,000 if it is perfectly crisp. If you are able to find a 2 dollar bill, make sure to check the serial number and how old it is. The highest grade you can get on a piece of money is “Crisp Uncirculated.” A serial number that is a palindrome or a repeat typically go for a little more money. However, a bill with a star is extremely rare, as it means that it is a replacement bill. To get your money checked, it is best that you speak to an expert in paper money appraisal. Be careful when using these bills though, as you never know if someone knows that the bill is real. There have been many incidents where people or kids have tried to use the bill and have gotten the police called on them. One story that really stood out to me was one where a young girl tried paying for her lunch with one, and got the cops called on her. Well, if you have a stack of 2 dollar bills, you should really get checked out to see if you maybe have way more than just $2.

"National Panda Day"

March 28, 2023

National Panda Day

By: Sophia Fong

On Monday, March 16, 2023, National Panda Day occurred. Here are some facts that you might not know about these furry creatures. Did you know that a panda year is equivalent to three human years, just like dog years? Giant pandas can live up to 18 to 20 years, or 25 to 30 years while in captivity. The record for the world's oldest panda was named Xinxing. He lived up to be 38 years old in captivity. 38 panda years is equal to 115 human years. Another fact that you might not know is that pandas have a total of six fingers! The five fingers work as a human’s, but the “six thumb”' does not even have any moveable joints. Instead, it is used to shape the bamboo to be able to eat it easily. This might be a common fact, but all pandas do is really just eat and sleep. They have the living dream. Typical adult pandas will spend as long as a total of twelve hours eating a day. They also can eat up to eighty four pounds of bamboo in a day. I think that is totally crazy. And when they aren’t eating or looking for food, pandas will spend that time just simply sleeping. Now I wish I were a panda! Do you?

"What is National Crayon Day?"

March 31, 2023

By: Kira Tanaka

On March 31st, people around the world celebrate National Crayon Day. On this day we celebrate the creation of Crayons. Crayons are colorful drawing or writing tools that bring lots of joy. They can come in many different forms and colors. These colorful and joyful tools can help countless people and children draw and color their imagination. People usually consider these colorful tools as childhood appliances to use in activities. Despite this, adults and teenagers can still have a fun time expressing their feelings through coloring, drawing, and many more fun activities.

Crayons were originally called color sticks. They still had the same purpose of use, but they were not made out of wax. These crayons were made out of Charcoal and Oil. These crayons were less durable, didn’t ast for long, and were limited. Wax crayons were made around the beginning of the 1900s. When the first box of crayons were created they were immediately sold out! Over the years, Crayola has created over 237 billion crayons that have become more advanced. For example, there are scented ones, pastel ones, and many more varieties of colors to enjoy. Sadly, every year, on this day some crayon colors are removed from the crayon box to sell, so that people can enjoy new Crayons. Crayons have spread so much joy over the years that it deserves to be celebrated. You can celebrate this day by coloring, writing, and showing your artistic side with crayons! Crayons have helped countless people be creative and be full of joy.

"The History Behind Valentine’s Day"

February 3, 2023
By: Kira Tanaka

February 14th, 2023 is Valentine's Day! On this special day, we show affection and appreciation towards the people we love. But where did Valentines come from? Valentine’s Day originated in 1375 as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. Valentine’s Day is also referred to as Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine. Saint Valentine is the patron saint of beekeepers, since caring for bees is a big responsibility and requires a kind and gentle heart. He is also the patron saint of lovers, married people, young kids, and epilepsy, which is also known as seizure disorder.
Saint Valentine was a Roman priest who performed and did weddings secretly against the wishes of authorities in the 3rd century. Because it was forbidden for Christian faith at this time, he was imprisoned in the home of the noble. The person who held him captive had a daughter named Julie who was blind. Saint Valentine had fallen in love with Julie. Eventually, he healed the daughter, and she was finally able to read. While in prison, he also wrote love letters to people who needed it. This caused the whole household to convert to Christianity. Saint Valentine was persecuted because he refused to change his religion. He was known for his miracles and trust towards God. We can learn to appreciate our loved ones from St. Valentine’s story.

"The Origin of the Easter Bunny and How it is Celebrated Today"

April 1, 2023
By: Ian Shen

We all know what the Easter Bunny is. The Easter Bunny is an iconic part of the Easter celebration, but have you ever wondered where the Easter Bunny actually came from? Easter traditions have evolved over time, but some have been around for longer than we think. To Christians, Easter is a time to celebrate and rejoice over the resurrection of Jesus. Many of the current traditions here in the U.S. were not stated or celebrated in the Bible. The most prominent of today’s Easter symbols is the well known Easter Bunny. It is said that the Easter Bunny first appeared in America when German immigrants came and settled in Pennsylvania around the 1700s. They spread their tradition of an egg laying hare named the “Osterhase,” which was what the Easter Bunny was known as at the time. Children would make little nests for the hare to lay its eggs in. The decoration of eggs is also believed to date back to the 1300s. Eventually, this tradition spread throughout America and became what it is today.
Now that we have talked about the history of the Easter Bunny, we can learn about how we celebrate this tradition today. Currently, 79 percent of all Americans celebrate Easter, even though it is less popular than some other holidays. Easter gifts have been expanded to not only the traditional eggs, but include chocolate and other types of sweets. The original nest for the eggs of the Easter Bunny have been replaced by decorated baskets. Finally, children also leave out carrots for the rabbit so that it doesn’t get hungry from all of the hopping it has to do all day. These are all among the modern additions to the celebration of this early springtime holiday.

"Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3"

January 27, 2023

By: Kaylee Chan

Marvel is dropping many new movies this year. In my previous article, I talked about one of them. This week, I will be talking about another movie called Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3. This movie is coming out on May 5, 2023.

The movie is about how the Guardians, Starlord, Groot, Drax, and Nebula, go on a mission that, if failed, could destroy the Guardians once and for all. There are rumors that Zoe Saldana will be appearing in the movie as Gamora. This was later confirmed by Marvel Studios. Also, James Gunn, the director of the movie, confirmed that this movie will be the last in the franchise. Now, let's talk about some of the actors and actresses starring in this movie. The actors and actresses in this movie are Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Will Poulter, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Maria, Bakalova, Chukwudi Iwuji, Sylvester Stallone, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Hemsworth, John Cena, Ving Rhames, Michael Rosenbaum, Renaldo Faberlie, and Adelyn Spoon.

This movie seems very interesting. This is not just about the plot but it is about an end credits scene in Avengers: Endgame. Thor went with the Guardians, and I am quite curious to find out if he appears in the movie. The other thing I like about this movie is that the characters aren't all human, but, rather, most of them are supernatural. This makes it much more interesting to just learn about their traditions and what to do and what not to do. That makes all the difference.