All posts by Wendy Vo

Local, School Life

Hmong New Year @ Highland

The jingling sound as they proudly walk around downtown St. Paul in their traditional clothes would bring nostalgia of the winter holiday season. However, the origins of the sound is not from sleigh bells, but from the clashing of the silver coins that mothers sew on the traditional Hmong clothes, with a black sweater over the crisp white collar shirts.

Every year in Minnesota, people of the Hmong community form a gathering at the RiverCentre, in Downtown Saint Paul, during a three day weekend, displaying their cultural heritage, selling food, whose smell would strike ourselves insane, playing simple games, and watching various performances. People standing in parallel rows would happily play a game of ball tossing with the person across, or casually walk around taking pictures after reuniting with old friends and family. Performances include both modern and traditional dances, and features several famous Hmong singers. Other programs would include both a man and women pageant, and dance group competitions. These are one of the few events during the year where we can experience the vibrant cultures of ethnic minorities.

The Highland Park Asian Culture Club (ACC) will also be hosting their own celebration to represent the Hmong population in our school. The performance will take place on November 25, 2015 in the auditorium during sixth period. “This year we are focusing on showing talents, because during the actual Hmong New Year celebrations, there’s always a compilation of multiple Hmong talents,” said Quincy Yangh. 

The program will feature a singing performance, instrumental dance, and two traditional dance routines. Folk music will be blasting from the speakers, as the dancer’s are hands actively gesturing to the beat of the music and hips will be constantly moving side to side rhythmically. All are unified in their traditional vibrant clothes. 

This year, they will also hold a fashion show of all the different traditional clothes of the Hmong culture. Be sure to beg your teachers to reserve a spot for this program because this will definitely be something phenomenal that you will not want to miss!

ACC was previously advised by Highland’s Chinese instructor, but this year the role has been transferred to AVID teacher, Ms.McGraw. Meetings are held once a week on Wednesdays after school from 2:15- 4:00. This year they are proud to announce that Quincy Yangh is the president of ACC. All are welcome to join, even if you are not of Asian descent, just as long you have some interest in learning more and experiencing the Asian culture.

To those who don’t know about the Asian Culture Club, no, Asian Culture Club does not just spend time during meetings eating ramen! Among some of the other activities organized by ACC includes the Chinese New Year celebration, Asian Night (performances held towards the end of the year), and fundraisers during Valentine’s Day and Homecoming. The majority of the time, spent during meetings, is reserved to prep for big events such as the upcoming Hmong New Year performance. Otherwise, time will be spent developing ideas to produce interactive activities to promote the significance of maintaining Asian Cultures. There are also special occasions where they will hold potlucks and game days to celebrate their successes and hard work. 

Interested or considering joining ACC? You are more than welcome to drop by after school on any Wednesday to be a participate in the fun!   

Entertainment, Movies/TV/Theaters

Halloween horror movies

Halloween is usually a time when people like to be scared. Here is a list of some movies that could fit the bill not just around Halloween, but any time you feel like you might need a chill.

Horror Movie Classics

  1. Halloween (1978) – The unstoppable murderer behind the pale white mask and black jumpsuit is killing everyone in his path on his way to get his hands on Jamie. While all of the adults in town are gone, Michael Myer is out hunting for teenagers who don’t believe he is just a Halloween myth. Mr.Loomis is the only one out searching for Myer, in desperation to end him once in for all, but all of the time that Myer has been captured and supposedly killed, he would always resurrects himself.
  2. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – A teenagers realize that the clawed hand man with the red and green stripe shirt and the burnt griming face revealed under the brown hat is stalking teenagers down in their dreams, Eventually their goals is to never fall asleep in order to save themselves from their destined fates. Main character Tina realizes that some of her friends also experience the approach of ”Freddy” after they doze off in their dreams and goes on the pursuit to kill them. After finding out that Freddy has been killing all of her friends in their sleep, Tina is scared to fall asleep again and stays awake for seven days to figure out the mysteries of Freddy Kruger. This is based the nursery rhyme, “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you.” There are a total of nine films for this series, not including the latest one from 2010, which basically sums up the series into one film, and yet has a way better plot and tension compared to the older versions.
  3. The Exorcist (1973) – Based on an actual event, a little girl, Regan, is possessed by Pazuzu, a demon who had been defeated several years ago and has returned to seek revenge. After playing with a Ouija board, Regan begins to act strange, everything from consistently shaking, chanting in strange noises, and acting in violent manners physically and verbally, and eventually resulting in a murder. After medical treatment fails, her mother turns to a priest for help, and from there he tries to destroy the Pazuzu once and for all.

Horrors for the Pros

  1. The Ring (2002) – I would recommend that you rent out the video form of this movie to get the best out of experiencing the plot. The movie will begin with the flashing static screen and then black out. A couple seconds later it is replaced with flashing images of random settings, only to which you will comprehend after finishing the movie. The overall plot is about a mother who receives a threatening phone call, quietly whispering “seven days”, hence meaning she will only have seven more days to live. Everyone who watches this video will experience the same phases, such as a bloody nose, then choking out a wire attached to an old electrode. The main character attempts to uncover the mystery of this little girl cursing the video and becomes determined to change her fate.
  2. Insidious (2011) – A married couple and their children move into a their new home. One of the sons, Dalton, seeks to find out the origins of the sounds in the attic and caught sight of a shadowy figure and eventually falls into a coma. Strange events begin to arise in the new home as voices are being heard over the baby monitor, seeing ghostly figures, and the parent would figure out that their home is being occupied by supernatural activities. The Lamberts must come to face the demon and rescue their possessed son.
  3. Carrie (2013) – This movie is a new remake of the 1974 version of the horror movie, Carrie. The movie depicts the life of a teenage girl who obtains telekinesis but her shyness had isolated her from other students. After being bullied during an event in the shower room, the girl who tensed her was soon suspended and banned from attending prom. On the day of prom, Carrie became homecoming queen, but had pig blood poured all over her as this was her bully’s way of seeking revenge. Carrie being humiliated and embarrassed unleashes her telekinetic abilities and goes on a rampage.

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International Horror Movie Reviews

  1. Shutter (2004) – This is a Thai horror that even had an American remake of this. The girl who he had unintentionally humiliated in the past comes back as a ghost to haunt him and his friends. He had taken a picture of her being abused and taken advantaged of, and the photograph eventually spread throughout the school population.
  2. Shomba Coming Soon (2008) – This is also another Thai horror film, which I will admit, is the most terrifying movie I have ever watched. An elderly woman had been killed during a filming of a movie after acting the scene of her being hanged. The women possesses the film and anyone who watches this movie in theaters becomes the victim of her vengeance.
  3. Death Bell (2008) – A class of 20 Korean elite high school students are being attacked while in class preparing for college entrance exams. Later they come to realize that a student has been kidnapped and was displayed on a TV screen, being trapped in a tank with water pouring in. Given a limited amount of time, the only way to save her is to solve a posed questions, and failure to do so would result in the student’s death. The process would continue as more students are mysteriously being taken away one by one until two students and two teachers are left to uncover the situation.

New Horror Movies you should check out this weekend (2015)

  1. The Visit
  2. The Insidious: Chapter 3
  3. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Entertainment

Halloween Trick-or-Tricking

Little witches zooming by, mini ghost floating among the streets, other weird people disguising themselves in the most strangest costumes like whoopee cushions and ketchup and mustard. Guess what? It’s almost Halloween. And do you know what that means? TRICK-OR-TREATING TIME!!! This is one of the most exciting time of the year where children will be dressed in various costumes, going from door to door begging for some candy. The goal of Halloween is to gather the most possible amount of candy during that single night and indulge ourselves with our well deserved sweets (And most likely get sugar high right before bed and sick the next morning).

Even though we are currently high school students and that it may seem a bit lame for us to be the ones trick or tricking, you still might have to take your younger siblings or neighbors trick or tricking, therefore you should take the initiative to take them to the best places to get the best and abundant amount of candies.

Here are a few places where you should definitely visit during Halloween:

PALACE AVENUE

On Palace Avenue, you will find front yards transformed into haunting graveyards, covered in cobwebs and mist of fog along with eerie background music as you walk towards their door, bringing you a chill up your spine. A giant spider supposedly had climbed up on the roof of a residents house, but don’t worry, it’s just a plastic inflatable spider. Traditional orange yellow glowing pumpkins with carved out images of spooky monsters, goblins, and cats are embellished all over their homes. Even if you don’t have any intentions to retrieve some candy, at least take a moment to enjoy the view and appreciate their devotion and much time invested into celebrating Halloween.

SUMMIT AVENUE

During your late night trip, you MUST head on over to Summit Avenue at least once. Residents there will treat you will giant candy bars such as jumbo size Snickers, Three Musketeers,  and so much more! They have always been known for their generous handouts and also the same nice decoration found on Palace Avenue so don’t be discourage to come here to trick or trick.

CHIPOTLE

Every year on Halloween, Chipotle will be there ready to hand out free burritos to anyone who arrives to their restaurant in their Halloween costumes. It’s even said that they will still give you one even if you don’t chose to participate in the Halloween spirit. This is only considered to be a good deal if you actually enjoy eating food served at Chipotle. Either way, who doesn’t like free stuff?

Tips for a safe adventure:

  • Please, please don’t dress completely in black attire. No one is going to be able to see you when you try to blend in wit the night. According to USA Today, 115 pedestrians were killed on Halloween days throughout a 21 year period between 1990 and 2010.
  • Stranger danger: Don’t even consider talking to strangers when you’re alone….all by yourself. Actually, make sure to tag someone along with you, for it’s always best to not go anywhere all alone at night. It would also be quite lonely to go trick go tricking by yourself. Remember, the more the merrier!
  • Only eat candy that has not been opened. Who knows how they might have contaminate them, or what they even put in them, or the negative intentions of creepy people who want to harm innocent individuals like you.
  • As high school student, we should be the ones to watch over younger children and set a good example for them. Some older kids may attempt to bully them and steal their massive buckets of candy, so we suggest you be the better person and stuck up for those poor little kids. See something, do something.
  • Be safe Highland!!
School Life

Showing Highland Spirit

Near the end of September, trees have already begun to change into varied hues of red, orange, and yellow. Speaking of red, remember seeing the sea of red during pep fest? Fall is the season of high school homecomings, corination, and senior class elections, but this is also the opportunity for students to show their school spirit.

Highland had been reserving Friday of the spirit week for the class color day, up until 2013-14 school year when they changed it to red out. As you all know, red and white are our school colors, therefore it is perfect way to be true to our school. The purpose of this is to create the sense of community and unification of our student body, instead of the typical division of class bodies to encourage rivalry.

This year’s Homecoming week began on the third week of September. The following were the themes for this year’s spirit week: pajama day, tie dye day, wacky hair, class colors, and red out day.

We recently created a survey revolving around the theme of homecoming spirit days, sharing it through Twitter, Facebook, and text messages. As of Friday September 25, 2015, about 83% of the 59 students who took the survey had said that they did not like this year’s spirit theme days. However, 63% of the surveyors admitted that they stilled participated in the spirit week events despite not liking the spirit days.

Why don’t people like these spirit days? Several people complained that student council continues to repeat the same themes every year and should think more creatively. Many commented on how much they despised the wacky hair day. Below are some of responses received:

“The spirit days would be way more interesting and things that even the annoying people that occupy this school would actually want to participate in.”

“Teenagers thrive on incentive, give them something worth being embarrassed over.”

“Things that are a little easier to wear…..crazy hair day is not something that’s fun and easy for me to do….nobody does it really because it takes too much effort and is too uncomfortable.”

Themes that students suggested for the future:

  • Togo Tuesday
  • USA
  • Disney
  • Throwback
  • Hawaiian/ Tourist
  • Jersey
  • Cultural dress
  • Cartoon
  • Superhero
  • Camo

While most people continue to rant about how much they hated the spirit days or what theme day they should have, a few people have provided helpful feedback to add more activities to spirit week. Such advice included things like, giving out awards for the individual who portrays the best outfit for that particular spirit day, or play music during passing time. 

What do you think about spirit week? Feel free to take this survey and provide your insights on the themes!

Survey Link

Advice/How To

Get organized with CORNELL NOTES!!!

“Organize, don’t agonize.” -Nancy Pelosi.

As high school students, we need to take notes in class everyday, especially in math, science, and history. I find myself so confused when looking back at notes to study for exams, hunting through a mass of information using the typical bullet point format for notes. That is why I would recommend every single student to make use of Cornell notes! This style of note taking makes it easier to organize and distinguish certain information from one another under a single topic. Just take a peek at the left hand column and you would be able to identify the topic you’re searching for. Not only does the spacing makes your notes look clean, but it can also be personalized to your own liking.

Cornell notes are very efficient, so why aren’t more people wanting to use it? Well, it could be the fact that some people are too lazy to make two simple lines on their piece of paper, or possibly traumatized by teachers forcing them to

take notes this way. All that you would really need to draw is one horizontal line on the first line of the paper to separate the notes from the main title, and then a vertical line about 2 inches from the left side of the paper. To make it more interesting, you could also try creating dotted lines, curvy swirls, or funky waves to separate out the sections. This left section of the paper is used to list different smaller headings related to the main topic. When taking notes on a story, I would often times just label the headings based the name of chapters, or the headings they have already provided for you.

Try playing around with different fonts, or use a wide range of colored pens to differentiate between the headings. Nothing could ever go wrong with being so colorful! According to FastCompany.com, color coding your notes can make you a more efficient thinker. Not only does it help you map out your mind, but it also stimulates your inner creativity. Colors will make your notes come alive, compared to looking at monotonous granite text and scribbles on the infinite bright blue lines. However, you should not go overboard with this, for these will be notes so you can study, and not become distracted by your extreme art expressions

Here is how you should take Cornell notes:

  1. First of all, it is most important to always write your name and date on the upper right hand corner, just in case your paper rips out of your notebook and you lose it.
  2. Using either a college ruled lined paper or plain white paper, draw a vertical line down the paper, about two inches wide from the left edge of the paper. You could carry around a ruler to do this, but it would work either way using any sort of straight edge too.
  3. Next make labels by writing the title on the first line of the paper, making sure it is written in a larger font compared to your regular handwriting to distinguish between notes and titles.
  4. On the left column section, write the different headings appropriate to the key concept to what you are taking notes on.
  5. On the large right hand section, take brief notes corresponding to the appropriate heading. Try paraphrasing important information in your own words, based on the way you best understand things. **Remember, these are your own notes you will use to study for tests and quizzes, so make sure you know what you’re writing. This sections is also available for tiny sketches and drawings related to your topic (hence, another opportunity to unleash your beautiful artistic skills!)
  6. After you completely finish writing your last bullet point, draw a line underneath it and label this bottom section “SUMMARY”. Write down the main ideas of what you have learned about the topic and includes some questions you still have for the teacher.