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When Good-natured Trash Talk Hits Home

MVHS Staff
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When Good-natured Trash Talk Hits Home

By: Nicole Burns

Photo Credits: 1 Million Cups

Mission Viejo High School has earned the right to be proud, but when does it go too far?

     Being a student at Mission Viejo High, it is rare to go the whole four years without attending any form of a sporting event. Whether it’s the football games or one of the many star sports MVHS covets, Mission is without a doubt an athlete’s school. 

     Since MVHS is stellar in multiple sports including football, soccer, basketball, track and field, and many, many more, the student body is used to acting confident in the crowd. The games for any successful sport are nowhere near quiet, often heading towards deafening more often than not. 

    However, when it comes to the MVHS student section, pride and entitlement will rear their ugly head in the bullying chants and rude comments. 

     The first time Mission Viejo students showed this ugly side of them and actually got reprimanded for it was early in the first semester, way back in football season. Santa Margarita High School, a Catholic school, was losing a game against the diablos and our student section thought it would be a good idea to start chanting “God can’t help you.” To a Catholic school.

     Now, this could have been an innocent mistake, lost in the heat of the game. Mr. Zides told everyone to knock it off so they did, but it didn’t end with football season. 

     At a basketball game on January 6th, 2020, MVHS played Trabuco Hills High School. On this basketball team, there was a certain player that was not as skinny as the other players and was getting more out of breath. Instead of cheering for the Diablos, groups of students in the stands took to chanting “we have chocolate” and “want some water?” 

     The targeting is where it becomes too much. It goes from sportsmanship to outright cruelty and bullying. Mission students have become so entitled they forget where the game starts and where the game ends. The inferno has turned ugly with pride as they boo the opposite team constantly, chant cruel things, and much worse. 

    When Sydney Wilks, a senior at MVHS, was asked if she saw entitlement in the sports crowds she says, “Just because we are undefeated, doesn’t mean we have to be high and mighty about it. That’s why all of the other schools in the area hate us because we have such a bad attitude about winning.”

     Mission needs to realize that yes, as Diablos, we can be proud, but there is a point where it gets to be too far. Although the devil is in our name, we don’t have to torture the other teams. There is a difference between biting back at schoolyard taunts to seeking out players and screaming at them from the stands. 

     MVHS needs an entitlement check and a lesson in sportsmanship before we head into next year’s football season. Hopefully, the class of ‘24 brings some kindness into our student section. 

Balancing a Job and High School

MVHS Staff
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Balancing a Job and High School

Eja Fromm
Staff Writer

School is already stressful and complex enough, but imagine dealing with a job as well. 

Photo creds: https://www.moneyandbills.com/high-school-job/

     A good majority of high school students balance having a job and school everyday. According to a study led by the University of Michigan, 1 in 4 high school students that are 16 or older in America have a job. 

     It isn’t an easy task time managing going to work, and still finding time for homework, projects, family, friends, and extracurricular activities. It’s a lot to deal with for teenagers with enough responsibilities to manage already in everyday life. 

     There are many pros, however, of having a job at an early age such as gaining communication skills, developing a work ethic, and learning important values that will help later in life. Students also develop an appreciation of money and learn to not take it for granted. 

     Some high school students get jobs that include some of their hobbies. For example, over the Summer, Power Aquatics hires former or current athletes that were a part of their program to teach kids how to swim or how to play water polo. This way, high school students enjoy what they’re doing because they feel more connected to the job as they already have experience and fully understand what they are teaching. 

     Almost every job that high school students can do involve working with other people and dealing with customers. Working in restaurants can be difficult as sophomore Sage Mccorgary stated, “At work customers treat me lesser than others because they are older than me.” She works at Riptide Sushi.

     Pleasing customers can be a challenge as Emily Hendries who works at Starbucks mentioned, “Customers are often picky and don’t actually know what they want, but the customer is ‘always right’ and you have to make them happy even when they’re wrong.”

      Junior, Maddie Schwartz, has a very busy life as she is in IB, is on the varsity water polo team, and works for Cal Elite Swim School. 

     Schwartz works for the experience and mentioned how she enjoys, “how fulfilling it is to complete everything and be accredited for my accomplishments.”

     She loves teaching kids how to swim but also feels stressed with the little time she has to study and time to spend with family and friends, “Though I find school and work very enjoyable, everyone needs some type of relaxation and time for themselves.” 

      Although having a job does bring more stress and can cause a distraction from education, it builds character and is possible with good time management. It can also bring life long friends and new opportunities. 

     Having a job also builds having independance and lets teenagers explore future career interests. For example, there are summer jobs and internships that students can volunteer at to explore an interest they have in a possible future career.

     According to ziprecruiter.com, the best jobs for high school students include being a barista, lifeguard, tutor, waiter/waitress, and food delivery driver. These are all very possible jobs to find in Southern California as there are so many opportunities. 

     Most high school students are making minimum wage. The minimum wage in California is twelve dollars per hour. 

     All in all, having a job can increase stress and take away a lot of time from everyday life, but it can also be a great and fulfilling experience as well. 

Dating Diablos: Michael Murg’s Fiery Date

MVHS Staff
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Dating Diablos: Michael Murg’s Fiery Date

Michael Murg
Staff Writer

I, Michael Murg was put on a Blind date, in attempt to perhaps find love just in time for Valentine’s day, however plans never workout exactly how envisioned, and it’s most certainly fair to apply that to this blind date.

The beginning of a perfect date
Photo credits: Danielle Babineau

     If you know me the slightest bit well, you know I’m single. In fact, I’ve been single for so long that when my journalism class wanted to do an article for valentines day and make one of us go on a blind date, I hopped on that train faster than you could say “lonely.” 

     It took some time for this article’s “producer”, Ethan Haque, to find me a date. Many people said no to the idea, which certainly didn’t make me feel great, but Ethan, with the assistance of fellow classmates, Danielle Babineau and Jaden Muller, finally found me a date. I was completely oblivious to who this secret person was. 

     The date was set for 6:30 PM on Friday night at the Haque household. A luxurious dinner would be served by my “personal chef”, Ethan Haque, which I thought would be a good look for my date. Danielle Babineau and Jaden Muller would be the servers for the evening, delivering, bussing, and refilling. 

     So the date was planned, I got home from Lacrosse practice, spiffied up, dressed up in slacks, a white collared shirt, and a formal jacket. I thought this would be a good touch to look nice for my date, “’Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man”-ZZ Top.

     So there I was, sitting in the Ethan Haques dining room, blindfolded, awaiting my unknown guest. However, this is where the first mistake happened- not from me however. Ethan walked through his sliding glass door and said, “Guys, Gabbi’s almost here…” I could hear the slap of Ethan’s hand covering his mouth as he had just given away the first name of the secret person, “Gabbi”. Not to mention Danielle and Jaden yelling at him for doing the one thing he shouldn’t have. 

     However, the surprise was not completely lost for me. This because, I know of two Gabbis’, so it turned into a fifty-fifty chance of which one it would be. The coin flip chance was answered, when my date arrived, and I was unblindfolded to see none other than Gabbi Hoopes, a senior at Mission Viejo high School.

     I knew Gabbi before this night, for we have known of each other since elementary school and so on, however we had never talked much through all this time. 

     All first dates have some amount of awkwardness to them. Forced smiles, hug or no hug, maybe starting a conversation, however, the awkwardness for this date only lasted for about a minute. Perhaps it was because I had a list of questions for her, as if she was being interviewed for the paper (which she kind of was), but once I got my first question, “what’s your favorite movie”, and she answered, “I really like the Grand Budapest Hotel.”

     From there I never had to refer back to my list, conversation flowed like milk does from the carton. We talked about future aspirations, Mexican restaurants in Utah, assuming political views based off of appearance, and so much more. 

     Ethan prepared a starter of Hummus, Pita chips, and strawberries, which although looked delightful, neither of us cared for hummus and the appetizer went to waste. But there is something important in agreeing to dislike food. At that point Gabbi and I had something in common; we didn’t like hummus. A bond was forming. 

    After, the main course was served. Mastro’s could not have served a better looking steak, with a sweet potato, regular potato, and asparagus, drizzled with butter sauce. The steak tasted even better than it looked, cooked to perfection, great taste, and those nice little grill marks that seal the deal.

     Although things were going well, they were about to go up in flames; literally. Gabbi and I were talking and eating, when a multitude of screams and yells erupted from the kitchen. Gabbi and I looked at each other and decided to inspect what was going on. 

     “The pie is on fire!”, screamed Jaden Muller. Ethan haque with oven mitts was running out the slide glass door, to allow the smoke to escape the kitchen, and proceeding to grab the dog bowl to put the fire out. As this was happening all so very fast, Jaden and Danielle informed us that they had everything under control and that we should continue to dine in the next room.

     So we tried to do just that, however it was fairly hard to concentrate on eachother, while yells of fear, fury, and  accusations were being echoed across the Haque household from the kitchen. 

     If one thing is for sure, I certainly will not be hiring them as waitresses from here on out, and I would say the same for Mr. Haque, but the steak was too good to take such actions.

     In my opinion, the rest of the date went well, our conversation flowed from “racist family members”, to “favorite classical composer”, and we were able to agree and respectfully disagree on some areas too.

      Dinner commenced, we hung out for a little bit, but eventually said our goodbyes for the evening. After the first date’s goodbyes both members respectively can either feel distaste for the time they spent together or know there is perhaps potential for a relationship, or somewhere in between. 

     I think it’s fair to say I didn’t feel bad one bit after I closed the door, and actually felt refreshed from the night’s events. 

     Days after the date, Gabbi was asked what her favorite part of the date was, she said, “When we talked about movies and stuff.” And when asked if she would go out again she answered, “Possibly”. (At this point ‘possibly’ is pretty good news for me)

      So, was this the date that would change my life forever? Well, probably not, but perhaps the next one may be. I felt this date served my soul well, in that it gave me a good time with a member of the opposite gender, which frankly had been missing for some time. 

Stupid Apathetic Test

MVHS Staff
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Stupid Apathetic Test

Madison Burnam
Staff Writer

The real reasoning of the SAT and more about its cursed existence.  

      “Hey, when are you taking the SAT?” It’s the question juniors fear and for a good and soon to be explained reason. The SAT has been under fire lately and I for one will stroke the flames.  

     When thinking of the value of the SAT, one must consider, ‘what do they get from this test?’ The answer is; negative five.  

     I preach this message because I know the pain the SAT brings. I was forced to spend my summer not on a shining warm beach with rolling waves; but cooped up in a dark, hot, and bleak test-taking room of a preparatory organization for ‘improving’ on the SAT. I can sadly say that I have taken practice Scholastic Aptitude Tests over twenty times. So take my word when I say there is nothing but pain in that booklet you bought for 50 dollars.  

     The SAT feeds off of the societal pressure to get into college and acts as a pseudo gatekeeper to get into colleges, even though it is an inaccurate measure of one’s knowledge. An individual’s ability to learn new skills shouldn’t be dictated by a test that grades largely off of memory instead of comprehension. The extent of the SAT’s required comprehension is that you know how to plug in variables to a formula and remember oddly specific rules.  

     That’s not the only problem the SAT instigates. The SAT also creates this hostile brawl among students for the perfect 1600. This dangerous mentality of competition only increases student test anxiety and fear that they won’t be good enough, especially compared to their peers. 

     This mentality can be found in almost any junior waiting to take the test, most juniors like Ben Nguyen with sentiments like “I can truthfully say that the darkest time in my life has been around the SAT, making me contemplate about my place and value in the world and how it, if I should, belong in it.”  

     Though students aren’t the only ones applying pressure the parents of many students are often a pushing force for academics in general. This pushing force the constant expectancy of a perfect score from parents is slowly destroying the very confidence of their children.  

     Though when one really looks at the SAT, it’s not only our self-esteem and hopes that are destroyed but also our piggy banks. The SAT costs around 50 dollars without the essay and around 65 dollars with the essay. Further backing this idea that we must pay for an opportunity to prove ourselves even though our merits should already be reflected in our transcripts and even in all the volunteer services we do.   

     Not to forget that it is predicted that someone will only reach their target score after an average of four times. Which adds up to a total of 200 dollars at least.  

     The SAT merely reiterates your knowledge of the past six years of schooling, because looking at your grades and transcripts is apparently not as reliable as taking the SAT. I am all for remembering important information throughout the years but it is downright dirty to get a low SAT score just because you forgot the unit circle.  

     Not only is the SAT destroying the emotional state and the piggy banks of its test-takers but also their chances. Now let me explain, the SAT promises to grade students equally without discrimination this is all and fine until companies begin to pop up taking advantage of this; prep schools that have an intimate relationship with the Collegeboard.  

     These SAT prep programs destroy the SAT’s hopes of grading fairly and without discrimination because now the SAT has created jobs and companies that not only give the methods for studying for the SAT but only to those who can pay for it.  

     Thus creating a huge discrimination line where the richer get the opportunity to attend college and have countless possibilities but the poor can’t improve their situation for a test they are taking for the first and only time because they can’t afford to take it at a leisure of four times to get their ‘ideal’ score.  

     Also if you haven’t noticed by this point, the SAT is run by the Collegeboard; the same corporation that runs the AP tests. Which if you could recall their payment dues were moved up to the beginning of the year. The reasoning for such an odd action is the Collegeboard’s greed for the green dollar. The earlier they move up payment dues the less time students have to second guess if this test is really for them.  

     The SAT doesn’t care about you, that much is obvious. The SAT cares about its continued existence, it wasn’t made for the type of individuality that we all have, it wasn’t made to accurately represent our growth, it wasn’t made to represent the journey we have taken to get to this point. The SAT wasn’t made for students, it was made for those who can only boast that they will believe 180 minutes of basic level questions can change their lives and those are no longer students they are merely slaves to this system.  

 

Future School Schedule Changes

MVHS Staff
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By: Grace Schultz

Photo xcredits: Freepix

More sleep or more hastel

     As of recently, in early October, a bill was passed in California to push back school start times in middle schools and high schools to no earlier than 8:30 am. Of course, immediate opposition and support rang out from people of all ages. For parents, one of the biggest discretions is how to get their kids to school on time while also complying with their work schedule.

    Although the bill was just passed, there is a three year period in place for the changes to be planned and implemented by the beginning of 2022-23. The benefits that this simple change could bring are numerous, but the main goal is allowing for more sleep. 

 This bill could be a big step forward to students getting better sleep, but it is also up to the students to show that they will use the extra time wisely. Rather than sitting on your phone for an extra hour at night, at least keep your regular bed time.

     An unfortunate downside for students is the possible later dismissal time, which would in turn affect the end times of sports practices and other extracurricular activities. For some, this negative effect discounts the entirety of the later start times because the students would get to bed even later, cancelling out the extra time in the morning.

      For this to not cancel out the benefits of the extra hour we would get in the morning, it may mean that we have to sacrifice something in return or work to plan ways to change things. Making change takes time and effort and everyone must work together to find the best solutions so as to procure the best possible outcome.

    Studies done by the CDC show that “students should get the proper amount of sleep at night to help stay focused, improve concentration, and improve academic performance”. A national survey conducted in 2015 showed that “about 7 out of 10 students (72.7%) in highschool did not get enough sleep on school nights and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends “8-10 hours” per day. 

      School start times have not always been as early as they are today and in fact only became this way about 40 years ago. As of the late 1900’s, school’s began making their start times earlier when little was known about sleep cycles, to save money, or better align the hours with after school schedules. 

      That change from over forty years ago continues to be detrimental to students sleep habits and in school focus today. The shift to earlier hours proves the capability for collective change and shows that adjusting to later hours is not impossible.

     Differences in opinion on this new bill and its effectiveness will follow it to and long past the date of official enactment, but this will not change the inevitable. Depending on when Mission admin plan to implement this schedule change, many of the students currently attending MVHS or very few will be affected.

      By the school year of 2022-23, you may no longer hear the phrase “I’m tired” anymore.

How to Survive Black Friday

MVHS Staff
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How to Survive Black Friday

Lydia Curry
Staff Writer

Because we’d all LOVE to know

Photocredit to revinate.com

It’s finally that time of year! You spend your entire week talking about how grateful you are for your things and your family then once Friday rolls around, you’re like FRICK all of that, I want a brand new TV!

We’re all guilty of greed. It’s human nature, however the trick to greed is to survive it and here’s how.

First of all, check your credit card. Make sure you’re not spending money you don’t have and budget! Let’s say you want a new pair of shoes, some shirts, a new bag and a brand new shiny computer. 

What would it cost you normally? Now, cut that in half. 

Be Tough. Sounds easy enough, but it’s quite difficult. I would recommend practicing with Mission’s football team so that you can push through crowds of people to get to that one shirt that suddenly costs fifty cents so you figure why not? 🙂

Be Prepared for ANYTHING. Don’t think you’re the only one reading this article and trying to read up on how to be the very best Black Friday shopper. You need to be ready to push, shove, kick, punch, throw, vomit, whatever is needed so you can get your stuff. 

Be prepared to be sued for attacking somebody on Black Friday and be prepared to sue someone for punching you. Get that bag, sis!

Payment Method. Whatever you do, DO NOT be the person trying to use their Apple pay to pay for their stuff. Bring cash or that little piece of plastic! 

Somebody will hurt you and if you see someone using Apple pay, shove them and buy their stuff and then buy your stuff too. You snooze, you lose!

Stake Your Claim. Choose the stores you want to hit first. If you’re going to the mall, you could probably hit like three stores maybe… but if you are going to Walmart, you are buying stuff that is ONLY in Walmart. You are barely going to leave that place alive.

Have Fun. That’s all it is at the end of the day. We all want to pay less money for a bunch of stuff and you are contributing to society by buying stuff. You are a good person and a good Samaritan. Keep it up. 

And most importantly, good luck. 😉

 

Pumpkin Spice more like Pumpkin Gross

MVHS Staff
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Pumpkin Spice more like Pumpkin Gross

By: Lydia Curry

*gag noises*

Photo credits to: Dishing JH

It’s finally the end of Fall and so now I can finally bash on all you nasty people who enjoy pumpkin spice and all flavors, really. 

Let me just start off by saying that I enjoy fall flavors, I really do, but come on. You use the same spices to flavor literally everything. 

Fall spices consist of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, pumpkin spice (which I don’t even know what that really is, like what does that even mean?), cloves and like tumeric I guess?

And they are ALL DISGUSTING AND OVERRATED. 

Now, I love cinnamon. It’s used all year round in like French toast and stuff, but seriously? You use it flavor your apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, like the list goes on.

You have to taste this flavor for like three months and it bleeds into December a little bit and that’s not okay! Like, doesn’t anybody get tired of smelling this stuff??

Next we have allspice and I don’t know what that means, so I’ll provide the google answer: “Allspice is a spice made from the dried berries of a plant known as Pimenta dioica, which is a member of the myrtle family. The flavor of allspice brings to mind cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper.”

What??? You mean to tell me that allspice is just all the other fall flavors and pepper put together into one fun little mix.  It’s lazy and it’s disgusting and it’s your fault it even exists in the first place.

I shouldn’t have even started with allspice, like… that just proves my point! These flavors are just overused and they aren’t that good. 

My point, the point to this article, is that these flavors are gross. This is not fine cuisine. This is just laziness. Lazy!

And guess what? The fall time is all about cuddling up and being lazy and that’s bad and it’s just communism!

So therefore, fall flavors are communism. So stop using them. 

 

The Rich Get Richer and the Environment gets Poorer

MVHS Staff
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The Rich Get Richer and the Environment gets Poorer

Megan LeBoff
Staff Writer

Photo credits to : LaReserva

     How the wealthy class is destroying the environment

   When you think of a rich person, what do you see? A mansion? Their own private jet? Well, what many people don’t think about, is that with a bigger bank account comes a bigger carbon footprint.

     Members of the wealthy class notoriously have a lot of things and travel often. With all the stuff they have and all the times they travel, many fossil fuels are burned and many greenhouse gasses are emitted.

      Oxfam released a study that found the richest 10 percent of people produce half of the planet’s individual-consumption-based fossil fuel emissions, while the poorest 50 percent – about 3.5 billion people –  contribute only 10 percent. 

     Climate change is a huge inequality, costing the world’s most vulnerable communities much more than the wealthy class. In fact, while climate change seems like a problem for the future, many people are currently suffering from the effects.

     Several of the world’s poorest people live in equatorial regions with high average temperatures. This means that a small increase in temperature can be dramatic and lead to tougher impacts, according to a study in the Geophysical Research Letter in 2018. In the meantime, the wealthy population of the world is continuing to raise the temperatures with their private jets and fancy cars, making the situation worse.

     While the wealthy class is the main contributor to climate change, they are maybe the best chance we have at reversing it.

     To start, they can fund projects and research that need money in order to do any good. This research is desperately needed if we are to save our planet. 

     For example, they can fund the cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a giant patch of garbage pulled together by different ocean currents. This monstrosity affects thousands of animals living in the ocean. To clean up this mess it would take roughly 390 million dollars. This is only 3.6 percent of Bill Gates’s net worth. If the cost of cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was split amongst multiple millionaires and billionaires, the patch would be taken care of very quickly.

    Another way the wealthy can help is by using their power. Rich people can not only fund research, but they can also have a political influence. If they tried, they could most likely change climate policies. And, they have a very good reason to. A recent Government report cautioned that postponing climate policies would cost the world’s leading companies $1.2 trillion throughout the next 15 years.

     Now not all of the wealthy class are selfish and unhelpful. For example, in 2015, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates donated $2 billion of his wealth to fund clean energy research and development. More recently, Elon Musk donated enough money to plant one million trees.

    Even if you’re not the wealthiest person, you can easily do your part in cleaning up our planet. In fact, the earth counts on volunteers to help with beach cleanups and environment protection. Also, the middle and lower class make up roughly 81 percent of the population. If we want to stop things like the Pacific Garbage Patch from growing, we need to stop feeding it. All you need to do is throw that plastic bottle in the recycling bin. If we all do little things like that, the earth will be cleaned up in no time.

 

MrBeast has come to the rescue

MVHS Staff
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By: Abby Burnam

How Influencers are doing their part for the environment

     YouTube star MrBeast has teamed up with the foundation called Team Trees, a nonprofit organization funded by fans and other people who want to help out. The organization is to plant trees around the world.

      Many other influencers including Pewdiepie, Jacksepticeye, and Jeffree Star have donated and are promoting this foundation to their own audience. Bigger people in the limelight are helping out as well such as Elon Musk, Susan Wojcicki, Marc Benioff, and Tobi Lutke. 

    These people have donated large amounts of money to show their support. Tobi Lutke has donated the most so far. He has donated $1,000,001 taking the top spot from Elon musk who donated $1 million flat.

     The goal of this project is to plant 20 million trees. As of right now, the community has raised over 15 million. How the site works is for every dollar donated one tree is planted. There have been over $15 million raised so 15 million trees will be planted.

      In Addition, $3 million was raised on the promotion video MrBeast made on YouTube.  In his promotional video MrBeast, his team and fans plated a little over 1,700 trees. Along with the other sponsors, Youtube is matching $1 million to every million donated from the fundraiser on YouTube.    

      With the YouTube donations and the site donations, the goal of 20 million donations is very close to being reached, but there is a deadline. The deadline is January 1st, 2020. MrBeast started supporting Team trees late October so it is safe to say people support MrBeast enough to help what he is passionate about.

     This all came about when MrBeast hit 20 million subscribers he would plant 20 million trees to celebrate the milestone. The process started in May of 2019 and was publicly launched on October 25, 2019. 

     MrBeast partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to make this possible. The Arbor Day Foundation is one of the longest and largest-running tree planting NGOs and they have the same 

     The donations go directly to the Arbor Day Foundation and the trees will be planted in a variety of forests throughout the world. There will be a variety of trees planted but will be a native species of trees to that area.

     You can donate to team trees by going to their website teamtrees.org. The options to donate are 5, 20, 50, 100 trees, or you can set your own amount. 

     Another way to help is buying the clothing that they are selling to promote the foundation. The hoodies run for $50 and the shirts are $25. Aside from the merch and the actual website you can donate from YouTube, Facebook, and Tiltify fundraiser.

     MrBeast is so influential that other YouTubers are trying to do the same kind of thing. MrBeast is taking a step in the right direction to raise awareness for deforestation and this also goes to show that influencers have the power to make a difference for good.

Vegan and Vegetarian Thanksgiving Alternatives

MVHS Staff
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By: Brooklyn Baggett

Stop missing out on your favorite Thanksgiving foods this year with the following alternatives that are tailored to vegetarians and vegans alike.

Photo credits to Oh my Veggies

     Thanksgiving is the one holiday known for the traditional gigantic family feast, which is awesome – if you eat meat and dairy. It is often hard for us vegetarians and vegans to have a good meal on this lovely holiday, so here are some ways that you can eat your favorite Thanksgiving foods this year.

     First of all, so many vegetarians and vegans miss out on turkey, because, well, it’s entirely meat. An easy and delectable substitute for this traditional entree is the Tofurky Veggie Roast, which has wild rice stuffing. 

     The wheat and tofu roast is purely plant-based, serves up to six people, and can be found in the freezer aisle of almost any grocery store, along with other plant-based meat alternatives. Tofurky isn’t the only brand of this holiday roast; similar roasts can be bought from brands such as Gardein, Trader Joes, Field Roast, and Quorn.

     Another one of the most well-known Thanksgiving foods is mashed potatoes, which is vegetarian, but unfortunately not vegan. Lucky for you, it is simple to make homemade vegan mashed potatoes.

     In order to make mashed potatoes, you will need  butter and cream or milk substitutes. For butter, you can either use plant-based butter, such as Earth Balance or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, or a 50-50 blend of olive oil and refined coconut oil.

     For your milk substitute, I recommend using soy milk, as coconut and almond milks create unwanted flavors in your dish. If you wish to use cream, making cashew cream is your best bet; it will add a richer flavor to your mashed potatoes – they won’t end up needing lots of seasoning!

     Lots of vegetarians and vegans sadly miss out on a tasty sauce that is often poured over turkey and mashed potatoes – gravy. While gravy is made mainly of the meat juices, there is still a way to make gravy with no animal products whatsoever. 

     Vegan gravy calls for 2 cups vegetable broth, ¾ tsp onion powder, 3 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tsp dijon mustard, and ¼ cup all purpose flour. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a medium-sized pot, then whisk over medium-high heat until the gravy thickens, and voila! You have meat-free gravy!

     One of everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving desserts, pumpkin pie, is full of dairy but can of course be made (or bought) vegan. Since going vegan has become a bigger trend recently, vegan pumpkin pie can be found at many grocery stores, especially Whole Foods and Trader Joes, during the holiday season.

     If you would like to make your own pie, simply substitute coconut milk for regular milk, can pureed pumpkin for pumpkin pie filling, and a store bought or homemade vegan pie crust.

     Finally, you’ll be glad to know that a classic Thanksgiving dish – green bean casserole – can be made vegan as well. The only part of this delicious dish that isn’t vegan is the cream of mushroom soup. Many brands such as Amy’s sell vegan cream of mushroom soup.

     Alternatively, it may seem a bit high maintenance, but if you have a lot of time on your hands, you can actually make your own vegan cream of mushroom soup to substitute for this.

     As you can see, there is no need to miss out on all of those delicious smelling foods this Thanksgiving with all of these accessible, plant-based, mouthwatering, and absolutely necessary substitutes.

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