The Orange and Black Record

Good Times Show Choir revealed their 2023-2024 competition show entitled “Welcome to Our Little Town” on Thursday, January 16th in the Martinsburg High School auditorium. The audience was welcomed by Good Times director, Haley Cowan, and Good Times president, Emerson Stark, along with special performances by the male performers of Good Times, “Blitz”, and the Good Times band, “Good Tunes.” The show commenced with a brief overview of the group and a description of the plotline that “Welcome to Our Little Town” follows. The show is set in the town of “Swindledoon”, an eerie, fictional town that welcomes two lost travelers, played by Rylee Deleon and Lily Campbell, and confuses them as they attempt to make their journey home. The show is loosely based off of the 2021 musical comedy television show "Schmigadoon!" streamed on Apple TV+. “The theme is very interpretive. The audience can pick up clues as to what's going on, but it's really up to them what actually happens based on what they’re interpreting,” said Ruby Amores, Senior singer/dancer, “I enjoy performing it. I like how it's a little bit spooky and dark.” The show features vocal solos from Rylee Deleon, Lily Campbell, Carrington Marpole, Koby Bailey, Bri Santiago, Mady Deleon, Ruby Amores, Ava DiPasquale, Lily Ervin, and a dance solo from Mary McCune.

The group will debut “Welcome to Our Little Town” at their first competition of the season on February 3rd at the Shepherd Hill Central Massachusetts Show Choir Festival 2024. “I am definitely most excited to compete,” said Ruby Amores, “I love showing off at other schools, and performing is so fun.” Over the coming weeks, Good Times will attend competitions such as Medina Midwest Showcase 2024, Robert C. Byrd Vocalfest 2024, and Powhatan Diamond Classic 2024. Additionally, Good Times hosts an annual competition, the American Classic, at our very own Martinsburg High School, which will be held on March 16th, 2024. Come out to support our performers in Good Times Show Choir as their 2023-2024 competition season commences!

Martinsburg High School’s very own Student Council Association (SCA) is hosting our annual Winter Fest. Winter Fest is a fun way for all of our staff's families to come and enjoy themselves. This festive winter event will be held in the MHS library, on January 31, 2024, from 4:30-6:30. SCA is hosting this event to welcome the new year and celebrate this snowy winter season. Winter Fest provides the staff’s families an opportunity for a night of fun and games during the winter season. During Winter Fest there will be eight stations for the children to play at and enjoy. Station one is the cocoa experiment, station two is the snowball fight, station three is pin the carrot on the snowman, station four is Fatimah’s face paint, station five is pictures with our holiday bulldog, station six is snack booth, station seven is make your own snowflake, and last but not least, station eight is cookie decorating. SCA is so excited to host Winter Fest this year and to be able to put smiles on our wonderful staff’s kids faces. “Welcoming the winter season with Martinsburg High School's Bulldogs, Winter Fest will certainly warm you up this season,” said SCA president Lily Campbell. We hope to see you at the magical Winter Fest! For more information please contact Lily Campbell or Mrs. Foreman.

The year 2023 has come to an end, and 2024 is just getting started. Each year, we see new trends arise and fall. These trends characterize our year as a whole. We all remember the rise of Hydroflasks and Scrunchies, and currently, we are experiencing a surge of Stanley Cups and LuluLemon. Trends range from clothing, music, TikTok challenges, water bottles, self-care, etc. As the year begins, we ask students what their "ins and outs" predictions and goals are for the upcoming year.

Junior, Lily Ervin, expressed that she sees bows making a comeback. Not just hair-bows but tying ribbons to anything possible. Junior Elijah Blocker predicts sweaters will become more popular. "I am trying to find different sweaters for every occasion," said Elijah. "Colored or patterned pants. They are so fun and stand out," said Junior, Kristopher Miller. Kris thinks Instagram "spam" accounts will become popular again, "I like posting funny pictures on mine, and I like looking at my friend's posts too," said Kris. Kris thinks Crocs will finally go out of style this year, "it's been a long time coming."

Many students agree that self-care should be a significant focus. "Once a week self-care night, not really once a week, but randomly putting on a face mask," said Kris. Lily claims being well rested is a top priority, "going to bed earlier, drinking water, and taking naps." "Being lazy with self-care has got to stop," said Lily. Elijah and Lily share the goal of getting more sleep, "I will not be skipping bedtime this year," said Elijah. Screen time is the issue of the century, and Kris says it's time to cut down. "Constantly being on your phone, especially when there's things going on around you in real life, is so weird," says Kris. 2024 is the year of the individual, "we are going to stop doing things we don't want to do," said Lily. Similar to Lily, Senior AVonna King has decided that 2024 will be the year to better herself and support others. "I just want to grow and better myself for the future and be the person everyone can come and talk to," said Avonna.

Several students want to prioritize self-care and take time to care for themselves and others properly. 2024 has been predicted to be a year for sleeping properly, eating well, and creating time to focus on caring for your mind and body.

Unlike the American New Year, that is based on the Gregorian Calendar, the Chinese or Lunar New Year is based on the Lunar Calendar. So, it begins and ends at a different time than ours does. This year, it will start on February 10th, and the celebration will continue till February 24th, with the Lantern Festival marking its end. The year will end on January 28th, 2025 on our calendar. Like any national holiday, the Chinese New Year has many traditions, the most famous being the Chinese zodiac signs.

Chinese New Year is all about the arrival of spring and the start of the Lunar calendar. However, the start of the year doesn't land on a specific date. It falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, which is December 21st. This is usually between January 21st and February 20th. China is not the only country that celebrates the Lunar New Year; South Korea and Vietnam also do. Numerous people around the world commemorate the holiday no matter what calendar they're using. Here at Martinsburg High School, the Chinese teacher, Ms. Ho, said, "I still do in small ways but did much more as a kid." She said one tradition she still does is giving out the red envelopes to kids. This is a big part of the tradition behind New Year's as it symbolizes luck and the giving of good wishes for the year ahead. Lucky red packets can be given to friends, family, and coworkers but are more often gifts for children. They are also not exclusive to New Year's as they can be given at weddings, graduations, or funerals. Although usually holding about $20 or other even numbers of cash. The true purpose is to give and wish others luck. Having a whole fish as part of a New Year's dinner is another common tradition. It symbolizes abundance and prosperity, even translating to having plenty or being abundant.

Finally, on the 15th day, the event closes with a large parade. The Lantern Festival promotes peace and forgiveness. People will also perform lion and dragon dances throughout the celebration. The most popular legend around the holiday is of the beast Nian, a mythical creature known to arrive on the eve of the new year to feed on crops, livestock, and people. To prevent Nian from raiding their villages, people would wear red and put food at their doors. Ms. Ho said the main difference between Chinese New Year and American New Year is that "Chinese New Year is more family-oriented, and the American New Year's is more of a celebration and more fun."

The Lunar New Year also marks the change of the Chinese zodiac sign. Similar to how Western astrology is based on 12 months. The Chinese zodiac is based on 12 animals that change each lunar year. This year will be the year of the wood dragon. Dragons' characteristics are strength, power, success, nobleness, honor, and luck. Wood dragons are said to be introverted, less enthusiastic, and lacking in good relationships. You will have different lucky numbers, colors, and even flowers depending on your sign. The lucky numbers for people born this year are 1, 6, and 7; their colors are gold, silver, and grayish-white. Ms. Ho told me about her zodiac sign, "I'm a dog; it's something you're assigned from birth." The holiday is called by different names, depending on who or where people are talking about: the Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. Whatever you call the holiday, mark your calendars and wish someone luck in the new year.

For people in relationships, Valentine's Day is a time to show appreciation and to celebrate their significant others. Even if you're single, this international holiday is a great excuse to get together with your friends and celebrate as well. I'm sure we have all wondered, where did Valentine's Day even come from? Who came up with it?

There is not an exact date for when this holiday came about, it's believed to have started years ago in ancient Rome. According to Arnie Seipel in her segment for npr.org, the Romans used to celebrate Lupercalia from February 13th-15th. They men would sacrifice a goat and a dog, then young woman would line up to be whipped with the hides of the animals they had killed. The girls believed this would make them fertile. This festival also had a matchmaking lottery. Young men would draw the names of women from a jar, then the pair would be coupled up for the remainder of the festival. Sometimes they would stay together even after the celebration if they believed they had found their match.

During the third century, Roman emperor Claudius II executed two men-both named Valentine on February 14th during different years in this time period. These martyrs were honored by the Catholic church with the celebration of Valentine's Day.

The holiday spread and evolved over the years. During the fifth century, Pope Gelasius decided to combine Lupercalia and Valentine's Day in an attempt to expel the pagan rituals. But Lupercalia was not exactly the same as it once was. At least now they had clothes on while reveling in the holiday, during the third century they celebrated the entirety of Lupercalia with no clothing. But it still continued to be a day of fertility and a symbol of love.

As the years progressed, the holiday became less harsh. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized the holliday in their writing and plays causing it to gain popularity in Britain and throughout the rest of Europe.

Now the holiday and the days leading up to the holiday are incredibly commercialized. Chocolates, flowers, cards, fancy dinners, etc.: These things tend to define the holiday now, which has ruined it for many people. It's a money-making holiday, but so is every other holiday. It's no longer a holiday meant for everyone, now it's mainly meant for people in relationships. Still some single people choose to treat themselves or their friends and celebrate that way. Valentine's day has certainly come a long way over the years. Senior Lily Campbell thinks that Valentine's Day is celebrated "to show the weight of your adoration for family, friends, and loved ones. We get to exemplify it to a maximum for one day."

Leap Year comes around every four years, but why does it occur? According to NASA, Leap Year is extremely important because it ensures our calendar year matches our solar year. Contrary to popular belief, it takes approximately 365.25 days for the Earth to orbit the Sun. To make up for the additional time in the year, we add a day into our calendar every four years. While it doesn’t seem like 0.25 days is a lot of time, it equals around 5 hours and 45 minutes. If 5 hours and 45 minutes were removed from every year, our seasons would shift slightly every year. If we didn’t have Leap Years, eventually winter would occur in July, while summer would be in December. Earth isn’t the only planet that has a Leap year. Almost every other planet in our solar system’s days don't perfectly align with the amount of time it takes for the planet to orbit the sun.

The phenomenon of Leap Year also comes with multiple odd practices or lesser-known traditions. In an article written by History.com, many of these unusual traditions surrounding Leap Year are explored. In ancient calendars, many cultures had Leap Months instead of Leap Years. Calendars like the Hebrew, Chinese and Buddhist calendars are Lunisolar. Lunisolar calendars base their dates on the position of the Moon and Earth relative to the Sun. Due to the natural gap of about 11 days between lunar cycles and Earth’s orbits, their calendars needed the additional month, often referred to as an interstitial month, to keep their seasons on track. In Ireland, Leap Year has romantic connotations. The tradition says that St. Bridget told St. Patrick that women aren’t allowed to propose to men. St. Patrick then decided that since Leap Year doesn’t occur often, women would be allowed to propose to men on Leap Day only. This declaration led to Leap Day being referred to as Bachelor’s Day in some areas. The proposal tradition made its way to Scotland and England where it was slightly altered. The new tradition stated that if a man rejected a woman's proposal, he was indebted to her. The man then needed to buy several pairs of fine gloves, likely with the intention to hide the woman’s lack of an engagement ring. Although multiple cultures have positive romantic traditions surrounding Leap Day, a Greek tradition says that marrying on Leap Day is bad luck.

Around five million people have Leap Day birthdays, beating the odds of 1/1461 or 0.00068%. A few notable people with Leap Day birthdays are Musician Mark Foster, NHL Goalie Cam Ward and NBA Point Guard Vonteego Cummings. Since Leap Day only occurs once every four years, the question becomes, when do you celebrate a Leap Day birthday? What’s the best and worst part about having an uncommon birthday? Sophomore Ashylnn Barrow is the only student at Martinsburg High to have a Leap Day birthday and she was willing to answer the questions. According to Ashlynn, she celebrates her birthday on both February 28th and March 1st, but receives her presents on the 28th. When prompted, Ashlynn said “the best thing about having a leap year birthday is that I get to celebrate it for two days”. She followed that statement by saying, “the worst part of having a leap year birthday is the fact that my real birthday only comes once every four years so I don’t really get to celebrate my actual birthday.”

Leap Years are an interesting phenomenon that occurs every four years. It’s odd to think about how much different our calendar year and seasons would be if Leap Year was no longer celebrated. Would the seasons not following the calendar like we’re used to be weird or would we just get used to it? While it’s a question we likely won’t ever get an answer for, it’s interesting to imagine just how different our world would be without the additional day and the traditions and customs that are associated with Leap Day around the world.

Reporters: Isabel Banks, Kaylin Henry, Savannah Malatt, MaryKate McKinnon, Aden Reid

Co-Editors: Ruby Amores and Phoebe Porter

Advisor: Rhonda Foreman