Never Again—Murals with a Message

By THOMAS M. CRUMP and CARTER R. PEYTON 

DHS

The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts and the Danville Schools had the honor of hosting “Never Again—Student Holocaust Murals Honoring the Past” presented Nov. 15-29. Students from Western Kentucky University’s VAMPY program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth created and painted the murals. This art project allowed students to connect to historic events on a deeper level, inspired by Kentucky Center’s Education and Community Arts Bearing Witness program.

Included in this exhibit were political cartoons by celebrated American artists, one of which was Dr. Seuss; and other paintings, interviews and items from second-generation Holocaust survivors such as Fred Gross. The funding for the project and touring was provided by the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, giving DHS students a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience. This viewing allowed students and community members a chance to remember atrocities of the past and join in saying, “Never Again!”

Kentucky Climate Anomalies

By TIMOTHY MATHERLY 

DHS 

If you’ve ever lived in Kentucky, you know the weather can be a little unpredictable, at best. Having lived in Kentucky my entire life, my experience with the weather has been entertaining and comfortable. Although there have been times when the weather has gotten the best of me and others, it isn’t too bad if you’re used to it.

Kentucky has what is known as a humid subtropical climate, and this name doesn’t disappoint. With humid, sticky, saturated and hot air in the summers, 80 degrees in Kentucky isn’t the same as 80 degrees in Nevada, and I will explain why. The lakes and rivers that blot the Bluegrass cause the humidity, evaporating water that fills and saturates warm air in the summer, and can make any situation uncomfortable. Plus, warm air holds more evaporated water than cold air, so I recommend that you keep that A/C on because you’re going to need it. Be careful though, you don’t want your A/C to ironically burn out; so don’t keep it on full blast all day, or else that could lead to a figurative and literal sticky situation.

On the other side of the thermal spectrum, winter. Unlike its heated counterpart, Kentucky’s winters are rather mild. Temperature rarely ever drops below 0 degrees, and snowfall is usually light. But if the case is wet or saturated snow, those seemingly innocent flakes won’t be forgiving. Ice patches are prone to form on roads, especially after wet snow and compression from being driven on. Noted in 2009, a rare extreme winter for Kentucky and 6 other states, known as the North American ice storm. It wasn’t the best time from my own recount, especially since all power to my parents’ house and grandmother’s house was out, and we had to use Sterno under sealed aluminum trays to cook our food. I couldn’t tell you how many times during that week that I saw cars sliding down my grandmother’s hill. One even took out a telephone pole and transformer, which aptly exploded in the dusk of night. Now those were some fireworks.

With the other two seasons, it’s really a gamble. During spring and fall, temperatures fluctuate rapidly and without remorse; for example; 70 degrees on Monday, 47 degrees on Wednesday, and back to 70 on Friday. Then on the weekend it jumps to 80 degrees and down to 60 on the following Monday. Even with weather forecasts and predictions from your local news station, half of the time the predictions aren’t accurate, but it isn’t the forecaster’s fault. It’s pretty hard to keep track of all air molecules in our atmosphere and to predict how they interact with each other a week in advance.

Be generous

By JONATHAN AMREIN 

DHS

Be generous, they say. Every year around this time, people are uttering the same thing. You see it on commercials, on store windows, on posters, and of course, cheered by the thousands of volunteers that work to make people’s lives better every single year. Yet, there is still poverty. There are still people going hungry. There are still millions without a permanent place to call home. Why? Well you see, the posters alone cannot generate enough food, money, and other items to help out everyone. There aren’t enough volunteers to help out everyone either. However, there are more than enough people who can help. There are over 320 million people living in the U.S., which is more than enough to make ends meet for the 45 million living below the poverty line. But what can you do? Well, you can help the less fortunate have the happy holidays they deserve by:

• Volunteering at soup kitchens
• Donating money to a local charity
• Donating food to food banks
• Organizing food and other types of drives
• Donating old clothes to donation drop offs
• Donating items to drives such as Operation Christmas Child
• And most importantly, encouraging others to help out

If everyone could just do one of these things, poverty would be a far-away thought in people’s minds this holiday season. Then they could concentrate on what to get their great aunt Rosaline (a gift card? Yeah sure) for Christmas. Remember to be cheerful and to be generous this holiday season. From the staff here at The Log of Danville High School, we wish you happy holidays!

Atypical gifts your teen will love

DHS 

Christmas, the time of year that is synonymous with presents, cheer, food, and good feelings for all. However, if you have a teen on your list of people to shop for, you may be struggling to find the perfect gift for them. Here are some out-of-the-box gift ideas for your teen’s merriment.

Electronics:

Automated change bank

Rechargeable battery pack for phones

Portable DVD Players

Hovering Bluetooth speaker

For Star Wars fans, a Darth Vader toaster

Echo

Skip Dr DVD and CD Manual Repair System

Entertainment:

A Classic Gameboy

Movie and/or concert tickets

Themed decks of cards

A subscription to YouTube Red

A Yodeling Pickle

NES Classic (Recently released plug-and-play)

Miscellaneous:

Finger lighting hand-warming gloves

Solar stained-glass table light

An Accoutrements Horse head squirrel feeder

Dinosaur double taco holder

Periodic table coffee mug (Use this ‘periodically’)

Harry Potter’s Sorting hat

Bob Ross Chia Pet

A burrito blanket (Warning, you may become tasty!)

Stocking Stuffers:

Themed peel-and-stick wall decorations

The Driving Book (By Karan Gravelle and Helen Flook)

LED wheel Lights

A bag of “Reindeer farts” cotton candy

Money soap ($1 to $50 inside every bar!)

Christmas Mad Libs

Blackhead Pimple Remover kit

97 Things to do Before You Finish High School (By Erika Stalder & Steven Jenkins)

Sizzling Bacon Novelty Candy

Christmas DIY

By SARA BARRINGER 

DHS

Holiday time is full of good feelings and holiday spirit. Everyone is decorating, shopping, and singing songs. Often, holidays can break the bank because the gift of giving never stops being an exciting part of holidays. While people are balancing their checkbooks for the gifts they’ve bought, later rather than sooner they realize they need to decorate, or they don’t have a craft for their children to do. Don’t fret; We’ve got your back. This season, take a moment and get your unused cardboard that’s just taking up space and make a holiday craft!

This craft is simple; you need extra cardboard, paint/marker, and papier mache. Draw an outline of whatever the object may be (reindeer, Christmas tree, or a different item from a variety of holidays) on the cardboard. Then, you’re going to paint/color the image. Then, if it’s dry/you’re happy with your work, start cutting. Now you have a cute decoration. You could hang this up or set it against a wall, but getting some paper and glue and water to make papier mache will make this an even more brilliant craft.

Once you’re finished with the base, trace the same shape on more cardboard and papier mache around the bottom and sides of the object.

Papier Mache Recipe:

Ingredients: Newspaper, Flour, Water, Salt, Water-Based Paint, Paint Brush.

Steps:

1. Tear newspaper into 3-inch strips and set aside.
2. Mix one part flour with one-part water until you get a smooth, glue-like “batter.” (If too thick just add a little more water–one teaspoon at a time–until glue is smooth.)
3. Mix in a few tablespoons of salt to keep mixture from bacterial molding.
4. Paint both sides of paper strips, removing air bubbles so the surface is flat.
5. Dry the painted strips and layer three times. You can even add more layers if you need it to be thicker.
6. Let dry overnight.

Then, you can put this decoration in the yard or wherever you feel standing it up, and you now have an easy decoration that didn’t cost a fortune!

We hope you find many ways to keep the cost of holiday time not too costly. Happy Holidays, and good luck!