“Fall Festivities”
By the TMI Journalism Club
The TMI Journalism Club presents you with our October Issue. We hope you enjoy it!
This past month has been an eventful one for the TMI community! With all of our homecoming festivities, such as the entertaining pep rally with performances from seniors to staff, the homecoming carnival, and recognition of our fall sports teams, such as cross country, volleyball, football, and cheer, which have worked hard all season! Enjoy our monthly issue with entertaining editorials about Halloween traditions and our What’s Poppin’ section.
Editorials
Halloween Traditions Across The Globe
By Mads Gonzales, Chloe Brown, and Marissa Nunez
As Halloween season just ended, we knew it’d be our golden opportunity to talk about the spooky traditions of this largely celebrated holiday and the differences these traditions entail around the globe.
In the United States, Halloween is most commonly understood as a night of trick-or-treating, where children dress in silly or scary costumes and go door-to-door collecting candy. Beyond the act of saying, “Trick or Treat!” Halloween is full of fun tasks such as exploring haunted houses, carving pumpkins, and trying to decorate your house to create the spookiest atmosphere.
Going further South to Mexico, Halloween intertwines with Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a two-day celebration honoring loved ones who have passed. Families work together to create altars, known as ofrendas, consisting of heartfelt photos, candles, and food offerings, believing that in doing so, their ancestors’ spirits will be invited to visit during this time.
In places such as Ireland and Scotland, Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people light smoky bonfires and play fortune-telling games. Similar to the U.S., trick-or-treating is also a popular activity amongst children, and even the act of pranking each other is prominent to give the best scare.
Japan likes to celebrate Halloween primarily with vibrant costume parties and parades in its largest cities like Tokyo. The scary themes take part, but the holiday is more about creative costumes and having fun rather than focusing on the supernatural.
The unique ways each country celebrates its customs tell a beautiful story of its people, reflecting not only their beliefs but their rich cultural histories. These traditions remind us that, despite our differences, we all have the power to come together and connect in ways that allow us to celebrate the fun moments of our lives, honor those that we’ve lost, and explore the deeper mysteries of the unknown.
The Fright Fest Extreme Experience
Every fall, San Antonio’s Six Flags comes alive with spooky fun at Fright Fest, one of the most popular attractions in the surrounding area. Since opening in 1993 at Six Flags AstroWorld, this Halloween event has been one that can’t be missed. From haunted mansions to the scare actors to the incredible live entertainment, Fright Fest promises chills and excitement for all ages.
One of the biggest highlights is the vast selection of haunted houses to choose from. As you walk through the various houses, the many actors who dress up and roam the haunted house periodically jump out and scare you at any possible moment. Another crowd favorite is the live entertainment. With shows like Rock Apocalypse: Anthems and Monster Mash Bash, you’ll be sure to have an amazing time. A new attraction this year is Stranger Things, which is sure to become a fan favorite in the next few years with its maze where guests come face to face with demogorgons, demodogs, demobats, the mind flayer, and finally the Vecna himself.
Regardless, the best part of Fright Fest is its ability to offer something for everyone, making it a can’t-miss event each Halloween season!
School Events
Hoco Carnival
By Caroline Stidham and Maria Alvarez
This year’s Homecoming carnival was a great success, bringing together students and faculty for an afternoon of games, food, and school spirit. Held on the baseball field, the event featured booths from many different clubs at TMI, each with a unique spin on carnival games and activities, making for a memorable kickoff to the homecoming weekend! The carnival’s wide variety of games gave each student something to enjoy. One highlight of the carnival was the dunk tank. Students eagerly lined up to get the chance to soak their favorite teacher, and with every successful hit, everyone cheered as the teachers dropped into the water. Beyond the games, the food options were also a major hit. The Spanish club offered delicious tacos, allowing students to taste a different culture. This year’s carnival was not just about the games and the food–it was about coming together as a community. The excitement and laughter that filled the air left everyone with a sense of pride and connection to TMI. Here’s to another successful Homecoming carnival–and many more to come!
Sports
By Madeline Donnelly
Swim
It’s that time of the year again! As the second quarter begins, so do winter sports. After two months of pre-season, the swim season officially began. Last week, the TMI swim team attended the NISD Pentathlon, where we placed 9th overall. In addition, there were 17 personal best times swam at the meet. The season is just getting started, and we are all excited to see what’s next.
Cross Country
Last month, the TMI Cross Country team traveled to Waco to run at the TAAPS XC State meet. This was their final meet of the season after a very successful season. Before their state meet, both the boys and girls teams came in second place at the XC District meet, with many of the runners being in the top ten overall! The results of the State meet truly reflect how hard the team has worked over the season. The boys got 3rd in the TAAPS 6A division, with Wells Peterson 26’ coming in first overall. The girls also came in 10th overall in the TAAPS 6A division. Although this was the first year the team competed in the 6A division, they still managed to represent us well!
Faculty Spotlight: Father Ben!
By Mara Flores
- How have the senior chapel talks been going so far this year?
They’ve been going great–I’ve loved working with the class of 2025. So far [everyone has] been super dedicated and committed to the work required to deliver a talk, and the messages have been outstanding. Most people don’t realize how much work goes into a talk between the time seniors write them and deliver them.
- What is your favorite part about seniors doing these talks?
That’s easy! My favorite part is the fact that every single senior has the opportunity to share with the community their story–our only expectation is that they are real and authentic in how they tell those stories. It’s amazing for me to work with each senior so that their story can be told in the way that they want.
- What is your hope for the Class of 2025 this year?
My hope is that they will continue to see the importance of their legacy on the TMI community. Their stories and examples are so important for us to hear, and I’m not just talking about chapel talks; I hope that when they graduate, they can look back at their experience and know that their story mattered and continues to matter wherever they may go.
- Bonus Question: What TV show or movie have you been loving lately?
Ted Lasso–I love Ted Lasso. It’s just one I always find myself going back to. I also have gotten into a few shows on AppleTV and Netflix lately: one of my favorite authors just had a TV show made into a series [that] I thought was pretty good. It’s called Bad Monkey–it’s a funny crime drama [and] detective show.
What’s Poppin’
ACL Review:
Earlier last month, Austin hosted their annual festival, Austin City Limits (ACL), in Zilker Park, right next to downtown Austin. This year’s lineup included various artists, including Chris Stapleton, Dua Lipa, blink-182, Tyler the Creator, and many more! This year, about 450,00 people attended the festival over the three days, with the biggest crowd being for pop singer Chappell Roan. Here are a few highlights from some of the performances!
On Saturday night, Dua Lipa brought her audience a fun-filled and energetic performance featuring her newest album, “Radical Optimism.” Fireworks flew from the stage as she performed some of her biggest hits: Levitating, Break My Heart, and One Kiss.
Journalism Club Members: Favorite Performances?
Mara: My favorite by far was Dua Lipa. Almost every single one of her songs was a major radio hit, so pretty much the entire crowd knew all the lyrics. It was super hype from start to finish, and her dancers brought the energy the whole time! We were also super close to the front–it was amazing getting to stand just a few feet away from her once she came down the center aisle!
Although every song was incredible, my favorites were definitely Illusion, One Kiss, and New Rules. They were the ones I was most excited to see, and none of them disappointed!
Besides Dua Lipa, other weekend highlights for me were Tyler the Creator, Chappell Roan, Cannons, and Still Woozy.
Carolina: Personally, my favorite performance out of the whole weekend was definitely Jungle. Jungle performed their set on Saturday afternoon, and my favorite part was how much the crowd genuinely enjoyed listening to and singing along to the music. They also had really cool visuals that made the band stand out from many other performances I saw.
Continuing the Halloween Spirit!
There are many easy and fun activities that we can do to continue the Halloween spirit!
- Decorate spider cookies
- Carve Pumpkins
- Visit a pumpkin patch
- Watch Halloween movies:
- Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, Scream, The Conjuring, Beetlejuice, Coraline
- Have a Halloween-theme charcuterie board night.
Billy Joel Still Rocks!
By Margo Delmer
On Friday, October 25th, Billy Joel and Sting performed an outstanding concert at the Alamodome. Yes, it may have appeared as a random assortment of musical pieces combined and seemingly at random; however, the same could be said for the diverse crowd that congregated for Billy Joel, representing the range of generations that his songs have brought together. All around the stadium, older concertgoers reminisced about their early life, when many of his songs were released and were very popular. Additionally, the younger crowd of attendees swayed and sang along, bringing new and fresh energy to the occasion. Coming together to relish the melodies of each track, the diverse crowd truly reflected the lasting success Billy Joel has achieved. Furthermore, Billy Joel’s voice is as strong today as it was back in the 70s. During An Innocent Man, the talented singer did not miss or fail to sustain a single note, which is quite impressive, considering the difficult soprano components wound into the chorus. Do not be fooled by his mature age of 75; Billy Joel still brings impressive enthusiasm and energy to the stage. Even experiencing the show from the nosebleed section, I am so lucky to have witnessed the performance of a legend.
Wicked Movie in Theaters November 22
By Carol Marin
Based on the famous Broadway show Wicked, its movie adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will hit theaters on November 22nd! It is a two-part musical film with a storyline like no other. Before Dorothy, the future witch of the West, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) meet at school forming an unlikely friendship. Part one will feature 11 songs up to Defying Gravity, and part two will be in theaters on November 26, 2025. The film features Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, and Jeff Goldblum. Directed by Jon M Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) his masterful and visually stunning films reflect a high expectation for Wicked. We can expect an immersive and exciting experience in Oz. The Wicked press tour has kicked off in Sydney stopping in New York, London, Mexico City, and Los Angeles.
The Cop Show
By Lily Warr
