Breanna Huynh 
Feature Editor 

A look inside Key Club at Mission Viejo High School.

     The cheers and voices of thousands thundered through the stadium as students all over California gathered together to celebrate their annual Fall Rally South to kick off the new school year. 

     The Fall Rally is held by the CNH (California-Nevada-Hawaii) District where each division (which for our school is Division 4 South) can show off their spirit and passion for service as well as raising money for the Pediatric Trauma Program. 

     The Pediatric Trauma Program (PTP) is Mission’s Key Club primary charity who aims to prevent and improve the outcomes of children who have experienced traumatic events. While most proceeds of money raised by Key Club will go to the PTP, they have donated to other organizations such as UNICEF, South County Outreach Food Bank, and Toys for Tots. 

     Throughout the year, they do various projects and activities including food drives, bottle drives, collecting clothes, and being able to participate in the annual Rose Parade where members were able to help set up and create floats that would be featured on television. 

     While Key Club hosts a plethora of events, Stephanie Tran, a senior and president of Key Club, says that her favorite event is one that has not been formally announced or implemented yet. 

     “One of the goals of the CNH District is to raise awareness for mental health, so Key Club plans to initate a mental health awareness week before students have to take their finals or other exams such as AP or IB exams,” Tran responds. 

     She adds that the club will be “making individual encouraging cards to cheer on students, put up posters with positive affirmations, and supply students with activities for mindfulness.” 

     As one can see, Key Club is a student-led service club that aims to give back to the community as well as getting in some community service hours. It’s a global organization that focuses on leadership skills, character building, compassion, and inclusiveness which Tran states has been going good so far this term. 

     With distance learning taking place last year, it was hard for many clubs to recruit members and to keep their club alive and running.

     Key Club, despite being one of the oldest service clubs at the school, were not excluded from this dilemma and while they faced issues such as club membership, “membership and participation has vastly improved since we’ve transitioned to in-person school. It’s been a lot more fun and engaging since being back in-person” Tran gladly comments. 

     However, Tran isn’t the only person to feel this way. A senior and long-time member of the club, Grace Schultz, remarks that one of favorite things about being a part of the club was that “I have always really enjoyed giving back through volunteer work and Key Club gives so many awesome opportunities to do that. I also love that all the members have this in common, so there’s really great camaraderie.” 

     While it’s still early on in the school year, things are looking bright for Key Club in terms of the service opportunities and events that are going to be happening. If you’re interested in joining, you can find Key Club on Tuesdays at lunch in the Little Theater and can text @mvkey2022 to join the remind for updates and more information. 

Megan LeBoff
Staff Writer

Having trouble studying? Don’t even know where to start? Here are 6 tips that are proven to help get you through finals.

     As finals are starting to roll around, studying is more important than ever. But studying isn’t as simple as it may sound. So to avoid burnouts and study effectively, here are some tips that are proven to help you succeed.

Plan

     The planning stage is incredibly important. Map out what it is you need to study and arrange them from your easiest subjects to your hardest. That way, you can spend more time with the harder subjects, and a little less time on the easier subjects. Time management is the key to studying, so planning how you will spend your time is surprisingly helpful.

Put your phone away

      None of us want to, but the truth is our phones are incredibly distracting. What starts as checking a text, can easily turn into 3 hours scrolling through TikTok. So make sure to distance yourself from your phone. 

     In fact, one thing you can do is record a time-lapse of yourself studying. This effectively makes you keep your distance from your phone, but also, being on camera is an interesting way of holding yourself accountable.

Rest

     Although many of us will be pulling some all-nighters cramming last minute for a test, this could actually be doing more harm than good. Getting enough sleep is crucial for memory function, so when you are deprived of sleep, your brain has trouble remembering facts and information. So try to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night, and your brain will be ready to perform at its best.

Choose a good place to study

     The place you choose to work can easily affect how you study. For example, try not to study in a messy workspace. Being in a messy area can be both distracting and overwhelming. Seeing a lot going on in one space can unconsciously trigger your brain to be overwhelmed, and while studying, this is the last thing you need to worry about. On the other hand, you don’t want a place so relaxing you end up just falling asleep. So choose a good in-between, like a cleaned-off desk, or a table at a coffee shop.

Be careful with what music you listen to

     For some, music is a useful tool to help retain information, but for others, music is incredibly distracting. A general rule of thumb is to listen to instrumental music, as lyrics can easily distract you from your work; I recommend Lofi Girl on YouTube. But everyone’s mind works differently, so find what works best for you, and run with it.

Find a study group

     Study groups are incredibly useful in many facets. For starters, they are great at holding you accountable. If you are supposed to meet up with a group of friends to study, it is much harder to blow off than if you were studying alone. Additionally, studying in a group can help you focus. When everyone in a group is studying, the atmosphere of the room itself becomes focused, making it easier to concentrate. Finally, working with a group creates an amazing support system. If you are confused about a subject, chances are your group can help you. Additionally, teaching others is proven to help you understand the material better. There is power in numbers, so use this to your advantage when studying.

     Finals can be stressful, but with the right steps, anyone can succeed. Happy studying!

Brooklyn Baggett
Co-Editor in Chief

An insider view into Mission Viejo High School’s award winning FFA Chapter, which is  led by dedicated teachers Ms. Shook.

     Established in 1966, Mission Viejo High School is the home to one of the only agricultural farms on a high school campus in Orange County. 

     Not only does the farm provide hands-on learning experiences for high school students who can take a variety of agricultural classes for science credits, students are also encouraged to take part in Mission Viejo’s FFA (Future Farmers of America) chapter. 

     FFA is a national organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, which is made up of approximately 735,038 members across the United States. 

     Not only can students participate in a variety of leadership and speaking competitions, many enjoy raising animals and/or plants on their school’s farm. 

     An agricultural program cannot succeed without teachers who have a passion for both agriculture and their students. 

     Ms. Shook and Ms. Adams are perfect examples of teachers and advisors who are committed to helping their students get the most out of their experience in agriculture sciences and FFA.

     From day one, Ms. Shook has always had roots in agriculture. “My high school agriculture teachers inspired me to start teaching. I wanted to be a farmer, but my teachers told me that I could teach at a school with land since my family didn’t have any land,” she remarked.

     After gaining an interest in teaching, Ms. Shook began teaching in 2009, and started teaching at MVHS in 2011. Over the course of her career, she noted that her favorite memory is going to the Orange County fair with the livestock students for competitions.

     This goes hand in hand with her teaching philosophy, which is, as she puts it, “Learn by doing. Anytime we can get out of the classroom and learn things hands-on is better for us, better for them, and better for everyone.”

     Likewise, she mentioned that, “The farm is like a lab to work on outside. My goal was to work in a city area where not many kids know about agriculture.”

     Ms. Shook’s main hope for her students is to participate in class and really try to learn the material, which is especially important in agriculture sciences. 

     While she doesn’t expect her students to become farmers, she expects them to at least be knowledgeable and be able to talk about what they learned in class and out on the farm.

     From steer to pigs, there are a variety of animals on Mission Viejo’s farm, which are taken care of by both the teachers and students. 

     Ms. Shook commented that her favorite animal on the farm is the chickens, because she used to have chickens and she enjoys playing with them. She is also enthusiastic about the greenhouse, of which she states, “… has been my favorite thing for the past two years.”

    When she is not teaching or out on the farm, Ms. Shook can be seen camping, or offroading in sand and desert places. Oftentimes, she is with her dogs, Ellie, a cattle dog cross, and Roxie, a dachshund.

     Our agriculture teachers are who make both our school and our farm blossom, and it is easy to see that they are dedicated to instilling the same passion that they have for the farm in their students.

Sarah Quiroga
Staff Writer

     It is that time of year, December, the time where people throw out their pumpkins and turkeys to make room for a tree that most city folk didn’t even grow themselves. Now is the time for gathering with relatives and friends, taking a moment to relish the community and family, and it really is a sweet moment for families. Now the meal comes and all the kids tear into that food like they haven’t eaten in months. 

     To prepare for the onslaught of relatives and friends, here is a dessert recipe from Jennifer Appel on how to make berries and cream tartlets. 

      After dancing like a little lad, get the following ingredients: water, heavy whipping cream, vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix, sugar cookie bar dough, all purpose flour, and mixed berries.

      Of course don’t be an idiot right off the bat and remember to preheat the oven to a reasonable 325. Break the cookie dough and roll it into balls as best as the pathetic lumps can be. The recipe calls for a “tartlet pan” so looking it up was simply an action in the course of things. I don’t see why a cupcake pan wouldn’t be sufficient, but I guess if the Reese’s peanut butter cup is the ideal look for this then who am I to say? 

     ”Lightly coat the dough with flour and roll on lightly floured surface to about 1/8-inch thick (wide enough to fit 4-inch tartlet pan),” and again, exercise that free will and decide whether berries and cream flavored Reese’s cups is what would be best for the guests. Grease whatever pan or tray that was deemed fit for the job and reform the dough balls for the second time by pushing the dough “into the grooves of the pan” if you want to get groovy, sorry for the dad joke it was too good of an opportunity, “and flatten the bottom with a disc or drinking glass. Place tartlet pans on a baking sheet.”

     Time for some character development in culinary h-e-double hockey sticks for some poor pastries. For the clueless ones in the back I’m referring to the oven that’s been heating up. Torture the dough for 14 to 16 minutes then take it out to cool down for 15 to 20 minutes. Rollercoaster of temperatures for the, hopefully, golden brown dessert but that’s not the end of the makeover. 

     While the cookies are cooling or even during the baking process, ”beat water, 1/2 cup cream and pudding mix in a small mixer bowl on low for 1 minute or until thoroughly mixed. Refrigerate for 5 minutes. Beat remaining 1/2 cup cream in another small mixer bowl on high until soft peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into pudding mixture until well incorporated.”

     Remove the wanna-be Reese’s pieces carefully to make sure all that effort didn’t go to waste. Put the pudding mixture in the cookie plates and fill to satisfaction. Place a handful of berries on top and try to hold some self restraint and not eat all of the toppings in one go. Now exercise some more free will and refrigerate for later or dig in immediately. 

     Now with one dessert I’ve given my advice and I leave everything else up to the preparer. Celebrate with your family or friends if you have either and remember that Christmas celebrates house trespass. See you next year,… or not. *Cue Cardi B laughter*