S7 E6: Favorite Winter Traditions

Today's Podcast: Sheldyn Williams and Jasmine Garcia ring in the holiday season by asking MJ students for their favorite winter tradition.

Club Highlight: Verina Salama interviews Key Club

Sport Court: Katie Stolz

Ad: The Golden Leaf Yearbook

Weekly Update: Gracyn Melander

Scriptwriters: Jasmine Garcia, Sheldyn Williams, Verina Salama, Katie Stolz and Gracyn Melander

Podcast Producers: Gracyn Melander, Virshawn Holmes & Liz Warren

Podcast Editor: Luke Judkins

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Bear Talk is produced by the Golden Bear Gazette,

(00:02):
Mt High School Student newspaper.
(upbeat music)
Hey everyone, welcome back to Bear Talk.
I'm your host Sheldyn, and I'm your host, Jasmine.

(00:24):
In today's episode, we will be talking about a poll
we created for MJ students about their favorite
Thanksgiving traditions, and this is what they had to say.
All right, so I'm actually gonna start with mine,
and I feel like mine is a little bit, like,
untraditional, and so every year we write something
we're thankful for this year,
and we read them after dinner,

(00:44):
but we don't read that year's we read the year before.
And so each year, we get to read the year before,
and a lot of times they change, sometimes they're the same,
but my mom loves to do it,
and I think it's such a sweet little way
to say what you're thankful for.
- Yeah, most definitely, that is sweet.
My tradition, it varies different years,

(01:04):
just because we moved away from family.
Our current tradition is just cooking
in the kitchen altogether, and after we eat, we watch,
or during cooking, we watch the Macy's parade,
and we also watch the dog competition.
- The dog shows?
- Yeah, do you know what I'm talking about?
- Yeah, they're so cute, yeah, we watch that,

(01:24):
and then we compare which dog we like.
Okay, so someone said that them and their sister
love watching the Thanksgiving episodes of shows,
and I think the shows that they gave are really good examples.
My favorite is Friends, I do this with my family every year,
and then New Girl, One Tree Hill, and Grey's Anatomy.
- Yeah, those are good ones, 'cause there's no movies

(01:46):
that are based on Thanksgiving.
- There's not very many, and the Thanksgiving episodes
of Friends are always so fun.
- Yeah, there's such classics, always.
- One tradition was backyard tackle football?
- This is a pretty common one, I feel,
just playing football with your family,
with your whole family.
- I watched it, watched it.

(02:06):
I watched a lot of shows that did that.
I never did it, but.
- Yeah, that's an episode of friends, actually.
But that also goes along with the big football game
that goes on every year on Thanksgiving,
which is what a lot of people tune in
to watch on Thanksgiving.
Okay, the next one was, this is like a pretty,
like we already kind of said it, is the Macy's day parade.

(02:29):
I watch it every year with my family.
It's just, there's a lot of preparation that goes into it.
- Yeah.
- And this is actually also one of Mr. Judkins favorite
parts of Thanksgiving.
- Shout out.
- The Macy's day Parade.
But I think it's just so interesting to watch all the floats,
how they change every year.
It's also kind of interesting to see if something goes wrong,
'cause sometimes things go wrong during the Macy's day parade.

(02:51):
- Really?
- And yeah, like sometimes a little,
something will be deflated or something.
It's kind of interesting to watch.
Another tradition was passing out from too much turkey.
This is one of our own staff members who said this.
- That's questionable.
I don't really like turkey, so.
Passing out from ham, me either, I love ham.
But, you know, that's a pretty universal thing

(03:13):
to eat and then just fall.
- Cry to sleep.
- And then you wake back up and then it's dinner time
and then you eat the leftover.
- You eat the leftover, right?
- 'Cause it's the most.
- Exactly.
The next one we have is we usually put a prize
in a random person's plate after we prepare the turkey
and whoever gets it on their plate, they get the money.

(03:34):
This one's very untraditional and I think it's really cool.
- I've never seen that.
- I've never seen it either and I think that this is something
that like a lot of people might would want to start
if they had, yeah, no, like in about--
- It might have to- it's mainly forlike big families.
- Yeah.
- I have a small family, there's like five of us
and then it would be pretty repetitive every year.
- Yeah.
Another thing was going back to talking about things

(03:57):
people are great for.
I think that's a good thing to like, get off your chest.
- I think people every year like,
that's kind of what the whole holidays about
but I don't think that a lot of people celebrate it enough.
And so that's why like my mom loves doing the whole putting
in a jar and reading the next year

(04:17):
because she just loves like, it takes the awkwardness out of it
just sitting there and being like,
hey, what are you thankful for?
- Yeah, sometimes it's hard to cope with it.
Sometimes it's little things and it's just really big things
and it can change.
So I think that's definitely a big part of Thanksgiving
that we don't actually really talk about enough.
- Yeah, my family just sits around on the couch
and is like, what are you grateful for?
- Yeah.

(04:38):
- Gotta get it done somehow.
- Okay, this next one, I honestly am very much in favor of
which is putting up my Christmas tree after we eat.
So am I the only one that puts their Christmas tree
like October 31st at midnight?
- So I really wish that could be me
but my mom does not let us until after Thanksgiving.
It's typically black Friday when we put it up.

(04:59):
It's pretty sad.
- But like, no.
Like Christmas is after we only get,
guess what, then we only get like 25 days with it.
- Yeah, that's always make my birthday is January 1st.
Always make my mom leave it up for my birthday.
- Yeah, that's why you need it for like two whole months.
Like as soon as the last treater-
the last trick or treater comes to the house, we're like, okay, tree time.
Yeah, that's my Halloween decor.
It's actually just Christmas.
Exactly.

(05:20):
Okay, and then, okay, this is Judkins.
We already talked about it, but watching the parade
in spending time with my family,
but he really specifically talked about not traveling.
He does not wanna travel for Thanksgiving.
He wants to stay right here and he has to go anywhere else
then he just doesn't wanna celebrate.
- I feel like he has a recliner and he sits in it
and watches the football game.
- For sure.

(05:40):
- And the Macy's day parade, he looks like that type.
- He's not coming.
- that's all the traditions we have today.
Make sure to hug your loved ones,
extra this Thanksgiving and share what you're thankful for.
Hey guys, we're your host, Liz Warren.
- And Arda Togac.
- And we're here today with.
- Dustin Cunningham, Jackson Sanders.

(06:02):
- Isabella Jock.
And we're gonna be interviewing them today about Kyler.
- So, Jackson, how does you guys meet?
We met in fifth grade.
I started West Elementary, like brand new.
I originally went to Colesbury K through fourth grade
and then switched to West fifth grade that I met him

(06:23):
like the first day.
We instantly became good friends, yeah.
- That's amazing.
What about you, Dustin?
- I met Kyler and Miss Curry's seventh grade math class.
We became quick friends because of how fun that class was.
- Nice. - What about you, Bella?
- I met him when I was in daycare.
I met him because he had these woody boots

(06:44):
and I just really, really liked them.
- That's cute.
All right.
What's your best memory with Kyler, Bella?
My best memory would have to say this last trip
that we went on and it was us playing putt putt
in whenever me and him tied for last place.
Okay.
- What about you, Dustin?
- My favorite memory would probably be last Halloween.

(07:06):
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays
and I'm always very intricate with my costumes.
Kyler, he likes the candy, not so much the costumes.
At most, you'll put on a funny little mask
so it's always really fun to see his costume compared to mine.
Jackson?
- My favorite memory was going to Orange Beach last spring break.

(07:29):
We got to spend some good quality time there.
We had a good time.
So Dustin, what is something that reminds you of him?
- Hmm.
Whenever I see a basketball, very broad thing
but basketball was always really Kyler's thing.
I've never really been into basketball.

(07:51):
I've been trying to get into it recently
out of respect for Kyler,
but whenever I think of basketball,
the first thing I usually think of is,
oh yeah, Kyler likes basketball.
I haven't really been into basketball much,
but I start getting into it
because I knew Kyler was a big fan of basketball
and though I never really watched him play basketball,

(08:12):
I knew he was really into it
and I tried to get into it with him a lot,
try to understand it because I knew
something he was really passionate about.
So I usually associate basketball with Kyler now.
- Mm-hmm, that's good.
What about you, Jackson?
I completely agree with Dustin.
Basketball was his biggest passion for sure.

(08:32):
And yeah, when I'd see anything,
basketball related, I always think of him.
- Whenever I think of Kyler,
I think of light clear skies, light blue
because he always was a light in people's lives
and every time I hung out with him,
there was either at his pool
or he were just outside and he was playing basketball,

(08:54):
so.
- That's really sweet.
Okay, Bella, what has helped you the most during this time
and do you have any advice for anybody
going to the same situation?
- What's been really helping me is looking back
on the photos and looking back on the memories
and just thinking about the good times

(09:14):
and if I could give any advice to people out there
is find people who share almost kind of the same memories
like Dustin and Jackson, they've been helping me a lot
and just other people and just find a strong community.
- Do you feel the same Dustin or do you have anything to add?
- Nothing of note to add.

(09:34):
- Jackson?
- I agree with her looking back at memories for sure.
My family's been real supportive like the day after he passed
he, all my grandparents came over and supported me
throughout the day, so yeah, and then advice.
I just recommend everyone to stay strong

(09:56):
and then if you need to talk to a counselor
or a family member or a friend, I would strongly recommend it.
- That's good advice.
- So Jackson, what do you hope that people will remember
about Kyler?
Gosh, he was overall a great person.

(10:16):
He was caring, he was so kind to people.
He was always trying to help other people.
He helped me so much every day.
Like I said, he was just a great person overall.
Yeah, he truly was a great person.
Isabella?
- I would say just to remember,

(10:38):
to always have a smile on your face
and just remember Kyler as this guy who is always there
for helping hand and just always making sure
people weren't left alone.
- Yeah, Dustin?
- Everyone always, as always,
I was talking about how wonderful of a person was.
He was and he really was.

(11:00):
And he was also a really funny guy.
He was always, he always had something funny to say
with whatever he had to say nice.
He was a very human person.
He was very interactable.
I've never really been much for interacting
with tons of people.

(11:20):
He was one of the few people that I could really get to know.
If I could say anything,
it's just that he was a very human person.
- Okay, Bella, how did Kyler impact your life
and influence you to be the person you are today?
- That's a hard one to say.

(11:42):
I would say competitiveness.
Me and him have always been competitive with each other
because since I knew him from such a short age,
that we kind of grew up like brother and sister.
So we always had that sense of,
I wanna beat you.
So he always made sure I was on my toes
and making sure I was beating other people around me.
- I love that.

(12:03):
What about you Jackson?
- I'm thinking about this.
I mean, kind of like I said earlier, just,
I guess,
I always just trying to help people like he did,
always trying to,
help as best as I could,

(12:25):
can to other people.
So he impacted me through that way.
- I've never really been the best for making friends
I've sort of had trouble interacting with other people
and getting to know them,
but Kyler really sort of helped me out of my shell
and helped me sort of learn how to socialize
and interact with people.

(12:47):
And I know I wouldn't be where I am today
if Kyler were never there.
- Yeah, I'm just so thankful that I had to,
I had the ability to have him in my life.
- Thank you guys for being here today
and telling us how you feel.
- Thanks for having us.
- Thank you.
- Hey everyone, I'm your host Verina,

(13:11):
and today we'll be interviewing Daniel Amin,
president of OCSM.
- Hello, my name is Daniel Amin.
I'm a senior here at MJHS
and I'm on the committee for OCSM.
- Okay, just to get started, like some information,
where does OCSM meet and when?
- OCSM meets every Thursday at 3:30 in the library.

(13:33):
- What does OCSM stand for?
- OCSM stands for Orthodox Christian school ministries.
Our motto is, we are ambassadors for Christ.
- What is the main goal or purpose of OCSM?
The main goal, purpose of OCSM is to give everyone
a safe space to enjoy or experience Orthodox Christianity

(13:55):
in a fun environment.
- What opportunities does OCSM offer for its members?
- It offers many opportunities including fellowship,
spiritual growth, volunteer opportunities,
and just a good time.
- Could you tell me more about one of the volunteer
opportunities the club is down this year?
- Yeah, we recently went to a Coptic Orthodox church

(14:18):
and cleaned it and then enjoyed food and fellowship after.
- Is there any more information you'd like to share about OCSM?
- Yeah, OCSM, it's a really fun, non-academic club
we'd love for anyone to join.
- Okay, that concludes our club highlight segment
with OCSM president Daniel Amin.
We'll be featuring more club highlights in future episodes.
Be sure to tune in.

(14:39):
- This is Katie with SportsCourt.
Last Friday, we put up a good fight against Oakland,
but we fell short after half time and lost 20 to 31.
Speaking of football, this weekend Tennessee lost
to Georgia 17 to 31 and the Titans also lost 13 to 23
but had a record-breaking touchdown pass.
Will Levis set an NFL record with a 98 yard touchdown pass

(15:01):
to Nick Westbrook.
For more record-breaking news, last Friday,
Jake Paul won a tough fight against 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
Tyson lasted eight rounds but didn't look as best in the ring
due to a 20-year break from fighting.
Moving on to basketball, we have our first home game
tomorrow against Brentwood.
So everyone come to support your bears.
- Hey guys, it's Maggie.
Before our announcement, here's a quick word

(15:21):
from one of our sponsors, The Golden Leaf.
If you haven't already gotten a yearbook yet,
you're gonna wanna get one.
As we make memories this year and have the best school year ever,
we encourage you to always remember
by purchasing a 2025 yearbook,
currently priced at $95 plus tax.
Please visit room B-118 to get yours today.
Make the most of it, remember all of it, The Golden Leaf.

(15:43):
Before we drop our next episode, be sure to go
to our Instagram and give us a follow at MJ_BearTalk.
If you would like to hear a future topic,
drop it in the drop box outside room B-118.
Here are a few things to catch you up on
before our next episode.
Mount Juliet High School student council is hosting
a parent night.
It'll be December 7th, 2024.

(16:03):
Time is 2 to 7 pm.
Go wrap presents while we entertain your kiddos
with some games and pizzas.
FCA Huddles will be held in the small gym at 7:45 on Fridays.
All students and staff members are invited to attend.
Winter formal is coming up on December 14th.
Tickets for the dance go on sale this week.
They're $25 a piece.
HOSA will be sponsoring a blood drive

(16:25):
on Friday and November 22nd, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Staff and students over the age of 16 may sign up.
See Dr. Kreil with any questions.
That's all we have for you this time.
Keep it classy MJ and have a beary great day.
[MUSIC PLAYING]


(16:45):