Everett Brown and Chris Henrriquez are seniors and both the Co-Drum Majors in the CMHS Marching Band.

Everett Brown
Everett Brown is 17 years old and a senior in high school. He plays the trumpet and the French horn.

Brown started playing the trumpet in fifth grade at Davis. He continued to play during middle school and in 8th grade. He joined the marching band as a way to try to get out of P.E. But soon after he met many new people and grew close to the other people in the marching band.

Last year, Mrs. Gilboe chose certain people that she thought would be good for the job, and Brown was one of them. He had to interview with Mrs. Gilboe and had to learn to conduct music.

At first he felt unsure but now he says, “It’s an awesome experience”.  He is in charge of conducting the marching band, delegating work to those around him, and helping the marching band perfect their field shows for games and competitions. However, he is not in charge of choosing the songs that they do, that is a task for Mrs. Gilboe.

When asked about his time during band, he said, “It’s awesome, fun, and it’s made high school fly by.”

Everett is undecided about where he is going to go to college. He does know that he wants to major in either business administration, architecture, or pre-med. No matter where he goes or what he does he hopes to be able to play music but not to major in it.

His words of wisdom from his time here at Mesa is, “You get out what you put into it.”

Chris Henrriquez

Chris Henrriquez is a senior and plays the trumpet and the bass drum.

Henrriquez first joined band in fourth grade, where he learned to play the trumpet. He then joined the marching band here at Costa Mesa High School when he was in eighth grade. Unlike many of his fellow band mates, he joined marching band because it seemed exciting and fun. He then grew very close to those in band with him and has created lasting friendships with some of them.

He interviewed with Mrs. Gilboe and was chosen to be the Co-Drum Major.

“This year in band has really been great; I love band and the group as a whole.”

Henrriquez, is in charge of conducting the marching band and teaching them their routines.

He was in the last school play, “Up the Down Staircase,” and seven other school plays. He enjoys acting because it gives him a chance to be someone different and to switch lives with them for a little while. This is also his second year in the Madrigals choir.

Chris is hoping to go to San Diego State University. He is going to major in either biology or pre-med with a minor in music.

“In all my years of band, people have come and gone, there were supposed to be three times as many seniors as there are. I love those who have stayed. We’re the best class of seniors!” Chris admitted about his time in marching band.

It is safe to say that students at Mesa all like Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is time to spend with family, eat tons of food, and enjoy three days of no school.

There are people like sophomore Kyle Hefner and junior Alyssa Dasca who have, what people might consider, the normal American traditions of a family gathering, the normal turkey, and mashed potatoes.

 “Average get-together. It’s the normal tradition every year, nothing special,” says Kyle Hefner. 

Others have different takes on Thanksgiving, which combine their unique cultures with the American culture.

Junior Angel Jesudasen has what she says, “Two Thanksgivings.”

She travels to Los Angeles to visit family, as well as Lake Forest for a celebration there.  

“I have a big family, around 80 people, so we have two turkeys. An Indian one and a normal one.”

Her family can mix Indian food and American food, for what is sure a memorable meal.

The case might also be true for people of Hispanic, Asian, or European heritage. Though not only does Angel’s family do Thanksgiving different then the everyday American, they also have special traditions.

“[We] pass the plate, we write down what we’re thankful for and put it in a bowl and we pass it around,” Angel Jesudasensays.  

Senior Meghan Clevenger’s family also has a special tradition.

“All the women in my family make little deserts. It just kind of happened and we kept on doing it.” 

Not to mention Black Friday, the Friday for great shopping deals. Some families wake up “really early” to jump-start on deals like Meghan Clevenger’s. However, some don’t like senior Raquel Friedmann. When asked, it was usually the girls that said they did go to Black Friday. 

Other than super deals, no school, and yummy food, people love Thanksgiving for different reasons.

“I get to see people I never see, “says Kyle Hefner.

Alyssa Dasca says, “It brings the family together.”

Sophomore Kenya Avila likes Thanksgiving because it’s “the time to celebrate with family, even though that should beevery day.”

Although you may not celebrate the ideals on what Thanksgiving was founded on, you should be thankful either way. Celebrate and give thanks to the people and friends around you.

As Angel Jesudasen said, “Thanksgiving starts off the holidays.”  

The Spanish and Art departments worked together last Tuesday to bring together the community of CMHS/CMMS by providing them with a fun night celebrating "La Dia de Los Muertos" (The Day of the Dead). 

The event was organized by Ms. Davalos, Mrs. Ayala, and Mr. Olier. 

The night began at 5:30 with a quick introduction of what the Day of the Dead is all about and what they would be do doing to celebrate, including decorating their own t-shirts, coloring traditional masks and costumes worn on this day, and enjoying the food associated with The Day of the Dead.

This celebration began last year with the idea of getting the parents of our school involved, and letting them be able to enjoy a family night with their kids, learning something new for free. Students enrolled in any of the Spanish teachers' classes were offered 25 extra credit points for attending and helping to decorate by coloring pictures and t-shirts; while those not enrolled in Spanish received community service hours. Overall the night was successful, but a little overwhelming, "We were expecting 30, maybe 40 kids at most, and about 80 kids showed up," said Ms. Davalos. The celebration is planned to become an annual event and should take place next year around November 1st, the actual Dia de Los Muertos.

This week, Mesa was bombarded with huge, brightly colored sheets of paper, posted on nearly every open surface on the campus, bearing phrases like, "Neigh > Chirp," and "Yo Quiero Eagle Meat." Of course, nearly every Mustang knew what this was for: Battle of the Bell, the long-awaited football game between us and our crosstown rivals, the Estancia Eagles. In preparation for this annual event, the A.S.B. at each school prepared decorations and hosted events to foster a kind of "school spirit" in their student population. 

We all know how Mesa prepares for Battle of the Bell; making Eagle bashing posters while maintaining a steady diet of eagle meat sandwiches and eagle blood. How does Estancia prepare for this event? I spent an hour snooping around the enemy camp and wasn’t surprised at what I found: Mesa bashing posters and diets of horse meat.

I have mixed feelings about the decorations and events. They seem to serve no other purpose than to talk smack on the other school. Why should we kill trees and waste Sharpie markers just to be jerks? We need to remember that this is about supporting our football players; not being rude and bashing the other school. 

On the other hand, it does seem to be an effective tool in bringing the school together. Most students ONLY go to the Battle of the Bell game. At the rally at lunch Thursday, an enormous crowd gathered to the dome, chanting, "WE EAT EAGLE MEAT!" while cheering on various performers.

There is no doubt in my mind that Costa Mesa has school spirit, we’ve proved that at every game so far. The real question is: Are our schools showing their spirit in the right ways?

_For those that of you who thought that touchscreen technology would end with the iTouch, think again.

Behold the Omnitouch: a device that is worn on one's shoulder and uses everyday surfaces as a gigantic touchscreen. The Omnitouch does this by using a projector to project a screen onto various surfaces, then it records and analyzes one's movements.

A fun result of this is the ability to use your own body as a touchscreen. You can call friends from your hand, play games on walls, watch television on your arm; the possibilities are endless. I think that the freedom from a little four inch screen is what sets the Omnitouch apart.

Why lug around a laptop when you can have the internet right on your shoulder? The small and lightweight Omnitouch is much easier to take with you than most traditional devices.

The creator of the Omnitouch, Chris Harrison, plans not to release the device for public consumption until he can reduce its size to roughly that of a pen.

Dr. D’Agostino gave a Mesa Talk on the importance and benefits of a strong, happy relationship last Thursday.  

D'Agostino recounted how he met his high school sweetheart. They met in a deli he worked in, and he was "transfixed" on her immediately, but didn’t have the guts to act on it. At the age of 18, he left for a trip to Europe and didn't see her for a year and a half until he returned home. 

Once he was back, D'Agostino approached her once again with a nonchalant, "Don’t I know you from somewhere?" and was shocked when she happily replied, "Yes!  But I'm not going to tell you from where." This prompted him to ask her out on a date, and the relationship grew from there. 

D’agostino asserted that, "Having someone to confide in and rely on can make all the difference in the world."  

He advised the boys in the audience to “listen” and the girls that sometimes guys “want to be left alone”.      

He understood what high school teens go through and addressed it in a very open and relaxed way.  

In closing, he told the students, "Make sure whoever you're with is someone you can achieve your dreams through."

This year, math teacher, Mr. Poveda, dressed up as Donald Duck.

Mr. Poveda adds this to his list of impressive Halloween costumes, which already includes Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh, Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sully from Monsters, Inc., Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean, and the genie from Aladdin.

Poveda admitted that  when he trick-or-treated as a child, his costumes weren’t very cool.

“Halloween is more about having fun, enjoy what Halloween is. It’s not all about the candy, but about having fun," said Poveda.

Poveda tries to find costumes that are rare and that students will find cool. Lately, he has found most of his costumes online.

His shopping advice is to look for costumes from November 1st through the 8th because that’s when the best sales are.

Poveda’s personal favorite costume was Sully from Monsters, Inc. It was the most realistic of all his costumes and got the biggest reaction from his students.