Seasonal Stories
Short pieces relating to recent/upcoming community and cultural events
Short pieces relating to recent/upcoming community and cultural events
While Christmas has its carols, Halloween has its spooky songs, and even the Fourth of July has anthems, Thanksgiving—arguably one of the most universally celebrated American holidays—seems to have been left off the playlist. Though there might be some Thanksgiving songs if you search them up on Google, let’s be real here, no one has heard of any of them. The only Thanksgiving song I know is from Cocomelon, and I don’t think anyone wants to play that during family dinner. This raises an interesting question: Why does a major holiday have so few songs?
To begin with, Thanksgiving focuses mainly on sharing a meal with family, which doesn’t easily translate into catchy music. Holidays like Christmas and New Year’s involve public celebrations, caroling, and parties, giving artists more inspiring themes to write about. Since Thanksgiving is mostly about eating and talking at home, it doesn’t naturally lead to songs that appeal to a wide audience.
Furthermore, Christmas dominates the holiday season, especially in music. According to Isha Nair, “Christmas is a worldwide holiday — wherever you go, there are always people celebrating this day of both religious and joyous value. Thanksgiving, though, is a day once born out of history that has come to be a more interpretative holiday over time.” Stores and radio stations begin playing Christmas songs long before Thanksgiving arrives because they are extremely profitable and popular. Since Christmas music takes over the spotlight so early, there is little room or motivation for Thanksgiving songs to grow.
In addition, Thanksgiving’s history includes complicated and sensitive relationships between colonists and Native Americans. Because musicians risk controversy if they oversimplify or misrepresent the history, many choose to avoid the topic altogether. This makes artists less likely to create songs directly tied to the holiday.
Another reason is that Thanksgiving lacks marketable holiday symbols that inspire music. Characters like Santa, Cupid, or the Easter Bunny create excitement and fantasy that musicians can turn into lyrics. Thanksgiving’s symbols — like turkeys and food — don’t create the same emotional or magical themes, so they do not encourage musical creativity.
Finally, songs about gratitude already exist, just not under the label of “Thanksgiving songs.” Many popular songs celebrate thankfulness and family year-round, so artists don’t associate them with a single holiday in November. Because these songs aren’t tied directly to Thanksgiving, the holiday remains musically overshadowed.
Autumn McNulty
The Animal Welfare Club (AWC) kicked off the season with a bake sale for both humans and animals! On November 19th during lunch, this event was an amazing chance to snag some homemade treats made by our peers, support a good cause, and spoil your dog.
Students in both the high school and Satz whipped up everything from classic chocolate cookies and brownies to specially-made dog-friendly snacks that were safe and vet-approved. All of these baked goods were bagged so they’re easy to take home. Prices ranged from $1-$5!
All proceeds will go directly to the Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue, helping animals in need find some safe and loving homes! Whether you or your dog craves something sweet or you’d like to provide to a good cause, this bake sale was the perfect opportunity. The Animal Welfare Club raised nearly $130 through this endeavor. Thanks to all who supported this worthwhile cause!
Image Credits: tornadoughalli.com
Aira Jain and Aryan Jariwala
Diwali (duh-vaa-lee), also known as the Festival of Light, is a widely celebrated holiday throughout Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism, and the holiday can be traced back to Ancient India about 2,500 years ago. It marks the day that Prince Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshman return to Ayodhya, a city in India, after a 14-year exile and end the war against the demon king Ravana. During their exile in the forest, Ravana kidnapped Sita; however, with the help of the monkey-god Hanuman, Rama and Lakshman defeat Ravana and save Sita.
Diwali usually lasts five days and is celebrated in October or November, depending on the lunar calendar. The holiday is filled with traditions, colorful decorations, and joyful gatherings. Many people light oil lamps and fireworks to guide Prince Rama home and to symbolize the triumph of light and righteousness. Followers also exchange sweets and gifts. Many girls also put Mehndi (Henna) on their hands.
A fun activity that people enjoy - you could try it too - is creating rangoli art. Rangoli is an art where intricate patterns are made on a flat surface. It could be made using materials such as rice flour, colored sand, and rose petals. You can get the sand from the Michaels in Holmdel or on Amazon.
Also, students are off on October 20th for Diwali.
The next wave of innovation isn’t coming — it’s already here, and it’s being led by new minds. Take a look at various profiles of teen developers who are making groundbreaking innovations in the modern world!
(please note that ages may now be different, as they were recorded based on when these individuals developed their creations)
Siddarth Nandyala (Age 14)
Since his early childhood years, Nandyala has been pursuing his interests in technology, coding, and engineering. In 2022, he designed a functional prosthetic arm that costs surprisingly a low $150, as opposed to the typical pricy $30,000, as well as an armband that detects falls for elderly individuals with over 96% accuracy, which is higher than the Apple Watch. Nandyala’s most notable creation is Circadian AI, a smartphone app that detects early-stage heart disease within seconds. The rising freshman at the University of Texas in Dallas says, “The main focus and goal for me out of this was to essentially create a tool that is able to help a large amount of people just through non-invasive screening procedures. Every one life detected is one life saved.” Users must simply place the smartphone near their heart, where the app records the sound of the heartbeat, goes through various amplification algorithms, and sends it to the LLM (Large Language Model), which then writes an overall rundown of the user’s heart health, detecting any abnormalities.
Leeann Fan (Age 14)
Fan, a student residing in San Diego, won the top prize at the 3M Young Scientist Challenge with Finsen (named after Niels Finsen, a respected scientist who used UV rays to cure skin disorders) headphones, a device that not only allows users to immerse themselves in music but also incorporates blue light to reduce bacteria and prevent ear infections. The device also includes a USB camera to constantly analyze the wearer’s eardrums, ensuring that nothing unusual is occurring. The Finsen headphones use machine learning from Google’s Teachable Machine software, and Fan used 700 images of normal and infected eardrums to train the device and diagnose conditions. After nearly 200 tests, the fourteen-year-old discovered that blue light exposure for 45 minutes could reduce bacteria within the ear.
Neil Deshmukh (Age 16)
Deshmukh is a highly accomplished social entrepreneur dedicating his efforts to tackling issues that affect the world’s most disadvantaged communities. He is currently a graduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the founder and CEO of Plantum AI, and co-founder and CTO of Solar.
As a solution to reduce the use of pesticides and the occurrence of crop disease, Deshmukh developed Plantum AI for farmers in areas lacking various resources. When the user initiates the app, the AI instantly runs a diagnosis on a certain crop and then provides an overview of treatment options. What’s more, if one’s farm is in a remote area and lacks reception, they can still utilize Plantum AI, making it accessible to numerous individuals.
Cynthia Lam (Age 17)
Contaminated, unsafe water is consumed by millions of individuals who reside in remote regions without electricity and clean, drinkable fluids. To address this global issue, Cynthia Lam developed the H2Pro, a device that utilizes photocatalysis, a process that uses light to accelerate chemical reactions and purify water. The reaction results in the release of hydrogen, which Lam believes can be used to produce electricity for those in need.
To close off the series of profiles, these extraordinary apps and medical devices remind us that they are beyond clever innovations; they are bold answers to real-world problems in our modern society.
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Sources used:
https://patient-innovation.com/post/7615?language=zh-hans
https://www.neildeshmukh.com/plantumai
https://www.fastcompany.com/3034487/a-17-year-old-invented-this-smart-device-that-makes-clean-water-and-power-at-the-same-time
Neil Deshmukh uses PlantumAI to scan a diseased leaf
Leanne Fan holds the Finsen Headphones
Siddharth Nandyala showcases his prosthetic arm
Cynthia Lam with the H2Pro device
Unsure what to dress up as for halloween? Here are some individual ideas, along with groups of twos, threes, and fours!
ANNA LEO
1. Steps for diy-ing
This is a guide for choosing your halloween costumes + some methods for making the costume yourself.
Scroll through inspiration pictures
If you have social media, platforms like instagram and pinterest have pages of halloween costume ideas. You can also search in browsers (Google, Safari, etc.) for ideas as well. Down below are some website and costume options.
Purchase accessories or materials
To bring your look to life, buy creative pieces of apparel that connect with the costume your portraying. If you’re making your costume, write out a list of the materials necessary to create your vision.
Create the costume and try it on
To make your costume, some common building tools consist of sewing machines, glue, and face makeup. Once your look is complete, try the outfit on to ensure it’s to your liking; no one wants to try on their costume on THE DAY of Halloween to discover it doesn’t meet their expectations.
2. pictured ideas (singles, duos, trios, quartets)
Some recipes that will comfort your soul this autumn :)...the name of each food is below the picture and its corresponding recipe can be found under the same label as a subpage in the Features section!