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By: Joanna Halle ‘29
Celebration. Ofrendas. Remembrance. Those are some of the elements that characterize Días de los Muertos. Días de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday traditionally celebrated from November 1st to November 2nd and dates back over 30 centuries to the traditions of the Aztecs and other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. This holiday is an integral part of Mexican culture, and spread the tradition to Latin America and the United States. This tradition centers on the belief that when a person dies, their spirit lives on and that death is not an end but a natural occurrence in life. Dia de los Muertos stems from ancient Mesoamerican rituals that honored their dead in a month-long celebration. Due to the Spanish conquest, the indigenous traditions fused with Catholic holidays: more specifically, All Saints Day on November 1st and All Souls Day on November 2nd. That fusion led to the modern, two-day celebration that occurs today, combining the indigenous and Catholic beliefs about life after death. These celebrations commemorate the dead through creating altars, or ofrendas, with photos and favorite items of the departed, decorating graves with marigolds, cooking traditional foods, and hosting festive and colorful parades. The traditions at the root emphasize the importance of remembering and honoring those who have died. Today, almost 116 million people in Mexico celebrate Días de los Muertos each year, with cities practicing different traditions annually. Cities such as Mexico City are known for their extravagant celebration, with a well-known parade that travels through the city's center, while Pátzcuaro is famous for its candlelit processions in the cemeteries. With each passing celebration, more and more people celebrate Dia de los Muertos for a multitude of reasons. Events such as Muertos Fest at Hemisfair, and the Day of the Dead River Parade in San Antonio, attract thousands of visitors each year. Another factor in the growth of this holiday is the attention from the media, with the influence of the Disney movie, Coco. In full, it’s clear that Días de los Muertos is a beautiful holiday that honors departed loved ones in a two-day celebration rather than mourning. The celebrations are festive with parades filled with music, dance, and traditional foods and decorated ofrendas in homes. There are no requirements for people who can celebrate either! Next year, honor loved ones who have died with a celebration!
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By: Ethan He ‘28
The wind tears and tugs at the canopies, howls through trees, Pulling down what was once green. Leaves drift, scatter, then disappear, All that’s left is the debris, Swirling with the ashes A low, drawn-out murmur fills the air – Hiss, hiss – The sound of time is heard. The sky turns pale and thin As daylight is swiftly fading. The persistent frost begins to seep, The earth prepares for its sleep. Beyond the gray, Birds flee, Leaving the silence to me. Each echo, soft yet clear, Reminds me – time is here. For youth, like autumn’s flame, Can never stay the same, Though burns bright, then fades away, Its glow consumed by gray. It fades, it burns, it dies, But from the ashes, something will rise – A root, a seed, a spark in spring, Quietly remembering everything. Though time may take, it also gives, And what was lost still somehow lives. Yet in the endless flow, New lives begin to grow. What’s lost is shaped again, Changed, but not in vain. Time destroys, but restores – It creates wounds, then heals the sores. It breaks, it bends, it mends, Decides all fates, then recreates. Through every loss, through every growth – Nothing can defeat the hands of time. Chloe Zhao ’28
the trees are frozen sketches—no leaves, only the bones of last year’s thoughts, charcoal lines on paper abandoned in the wind, smudged by snow, forgotten by hands too tired to keep drawing. her boots whisper down the salted path, puddles blooming in the snowmelt—dark, shallow ghosts that trail each step. she swallows each bite quietly: bread crusts, the fraying edges of soft-boiled eggs, the dull face of an apple still carrying the sting of cold storage. the living room’s windows bleed gray as the trees press their bodies against the glass. she reads the same paragraph—twice, then again, until the letters blur back into the black poppy seeds the wind never split open. when sleep swings open like the unlatched gate we always forget to silence, the night turns sleepless. she curls into the chair by the window, wrapped in wool thick enough to muffle both body and voice. her breath fogs the pane, lattices of ice inching up the glass, watching night dissolve into dawn, pale & thin—milk left to curdle in the bowl. waterlogged, cold. she prays for the lush greenness to return, to devour the dry season with a message threaded through the long hush of darkness, a message that climbs the hill, passes through the frostbitten glass, that wades through the beige cocoon of wool, until it blooms in her ears: so soft, so sure, she can’t quite hold its warmth in words. all she can muster is: let the light pour in. she waits for the azure to yawn & wakes, to gingerly unravel her crimson scarf and wrap her in its own pulse, a flare of color against the long gray. Colin Daly ‘27
Recently, the 2025 Major League Baseball season came to an end in an iconic, winner-takes-all game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. This marked the first time since 2019 that a World Series was so evenly matched that no champion had been crowned after the first 6 games. From the National League, the Dodgers had been the expected champions all year, having won it the previous year. From the American League, the Blue Jays were the underdogs, the team that no one expected to make it as far as they did, and they put up an incredible fight. After a shocking win in Game 1, the Blue Jays would continue to be consistent in the series; however, after 6 games had been played, each team had taken victory in 3, requiring a game 7. In the most-watched MLB game in over 34 years, the Blue Jays hosted the Dodgers in an incredible contest. Somehow, after a full 9 innings, both teams were even at 4 runs a piece, in spite of the Blue Jays being just 2 outs away from winning it all in the inning prior. Finally, after 11 innings, a Dodgers double play ended the underdog run for the Blue Jays and won them their second straight title. In the days after the World Series, conversations have sparked about whether the Dodgers have an unfair advantage over other teams in the league. For context, the Dodgers are the largest market team in baseball, and they had a whopping $350 million dollar payroll distributed amongst some of the biggest names in the sport. Many fans find this wealth advantage to be unfair and are calling for a salary cap to be implemented following the franchise’s second straight World Series title. Could this be recency bias among upset fans of worse teams? Or is there a legitimate problem in the hands of Major League Baseball? By: Colin Daly
With the current U.S. government shutdown officially breaking the record for the longest in our nation’s history, many are wondering what effect this will have on their everyday lives, as well as those they love. In case you don’t know what a government shutdown means, essentially, if Congress cannot agree on bills to fund government agencies by September 30th, (the end of their fiscal year) then they no longer have the ability to spend government money on non-essential government workers. Some careers affected by this can include TSA officers, air traffic control workers, national park rangers, and even various military positions. Many of these people will still have to go to their jobs; however, because the U.S. government lacks the authority to pay them, they are doing so without receiving their paychecks. In spite of this, a large frustration for many is that congress themselves are still being paid. Another large concern with the shutdown has been SNAP (the program formerly known as food stamps) benefits. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 12.3% of U.S. residents were on some form of SNAP benefits in 2024. The reason this is significant to this situation is because, due to the shutdown, most November SNAP benefits were delayed, causing nationwide concerns about how the 12.3% of Americans relying on the program will be affected. With these concerns and several others, the entire country has one question: When will it end? Essentially, in order for the government to re-open, congress will need to pass legislation to fund the government agencies that are currently without funding, and President Trump will need to sign off on it as well. Unfortunately, there is not one particularly accurate way to tell when the government will re-open; however, we are told it is being worked on every day. Sources: https://carbajal.house.gov/shutdown/#:~:text=To%20end%20a%20government%20shutdown%2C%20Congress%20needs%20to%20pass%2C%20and,can%20sign%20them%20into%20law. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=55416#:~:text=In%20fiscal%20year%202024%2C%20the,12.3%20percent%20of%20U.S.%20residents. With the coming of the winter season and many major sporting events here on The Hill, it is time to learn our school chants! Flock Member: We are… Everyone: BLACK Flock Member: We are… Everyone: GOLD Flock Member: We are… Everyone: WESTMINSTER Everyone: Let’s Go Westy Let’s Go Westy Let’s Go Westy Everyone: Here We Go Westy………..Here We Go Here We Go Westy………..Here We Go Here We Go Westy………..Here We Go Section 1: …………………Section 2: NO FEET …………………NO FEAR NO FEET …………………NO FEAR NO FEET …………………NO FEAR Section 1: ….…Section 2: BLACK….……..GOLD BLACK………...GOLD BLACK…….…..GOLD |
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November 2025
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Photos from Verde River, Manu_H, focusonmore.com, Brett Spangler, Cloud Income