As the festive season approaches, Middle College Effect is spreading warmth and joy through its annual holiday toy drive. From November 27th to December 15th, the Middle College community is coming together to make a difference in the lives of children. 

The highlight of this charitable initiative is their partnership with Toys for Tots. Generous donors are encouraged to contribute new toys to the toy drive, with the culmination on December 8th when the collected toys will be handed over to Toys for Tots. But the giving doesn't stop there! From December 8th through the 15th, all additional donations will be directed towards children's hospitals and charities in our local area. The Middle College Effect club is dedicated to fostering a sense of community. 

"Our main focus is the community, and we wanted to help give back to those who may not be able to afford such gifts. Our goal is to make the children's holiday season special and bring joy to all members of our community," expresses Shannah Kwan, the club's President.

Join us in making this holiday season a time of giving, kindness, and shared joy. Let's come together to ensure every child experiences the magic of the season. Your generosity can make a significant impact on creating cherished memories for children in need.

As the semester comes to a close, students find themselves caught in the whirlwind of finals week—a period marked by sleepless nights, caffeine-fueled study sessions, and a rollercoaster of emotions. For many, the stress of finals week is a familiar and formidable adversary. The pressure to perform at your best can be overwhelming, and the fear of flunking remains a persistent and lingering thought in most of our minds. On the other hand, Middle College has been working towards making finals less stressful, and more manageable in numerous ways. Grant Lau, a Junior, shares his experience, saying, “After going through finals from freshman and sophomore year, I think I've learned how to manage my anxiety over finals. Now granted our CSM finals and Middle College

Grant Lau (11) has learned how to manage his finals in his junior year.

finals are during separate weeks, but overall I'm not feeling as much pressure as I did when I was an underclassman."With the emergence of stress-less week, finals care packages, and time in Advisory to figure out how to plan our finals preparation, it seems that finals, at least at Middle College, are not the looming and foreboding villain they once were. However, it is still safe to say that finals still present an academic challenge to most students, and we must remember, that as emotions run high, we must take the time to sit down, take a deep breath, and relax. Good luck!

Kyra Bajeera, our newest math teacher, perfectly fit our close-knit Middle College environment when she entered the start of the semester. She serves as our first math teacher in the program, where students can complete their math credits without the difficulty of a college class, including Algebra 2 and Pre-Calc.

“I came to Middle College because I was given the opportunity of teaching here,” As Middle College opened up a math teacher position, Bajeera, “...jumped at it. I knew it was part-time and I'd have to commute but it was (and still is) worth it.”

In 2018, she was teaching at Peninsula High School where Mr.Letke was her teaching coach. “He taught me about engagement and deep thinking in mathematics and I learned so much.” A year later, in 2019, she moved to Capuchino High School where Ms.Block was teaching as well. While teaching there, Bajeera and Block didn’t see much of each other, “since we were on opposite sides of campus we had moments where I learned from her.” Not long after, she learned of an open teaching space at Middle College, where Mr.Letke and Ms.Block, “two of my favorite educators” were teaching. Bajeera quickly jumped at the opportunity knowing, “it had to be somewhere special.”

The most memorable moments of Middle College so far in Bajeera are the first few days of orientation. Remembering the playfulness of our karaoke presentations, she recalls, “The thought, play, and vulnerability woven into each day are what make Middle College different.

Although Rohrbach made us not record- your lipsynch dances will forever be burned into my mind.”

For the rest of the 2023-2024 school year, she is, “lifted every day by the little things.” She adores challenging student’s perceptions of math and computer programming, aiming to make it more approachable for all students. Bajeera doesn’t want students to be overpowered by the defeat of not understanding a math problem or computer programming.

As Middle College ends the year 2023, Bajeera’s motto for all students is, “Feeling defeated is not uncommon and even the small moments of clarity or confidence are a joy.”

• Small stuffed animals (Beanie Baby® size) or toys
• 8-pack box of non-toxic crayons
• Thin 8.5” x 11” coloring book 
• Small square mirror (approximate size 3”x 3”)
• Fabric (pref. Yellow— to create the bags)
• Small books? (ex; abc’s, small stories)

The collected supplies will be arranged into “Smile Bags” — an MC Operation Smile project for the Spring Semester! 

After surgery, each child receives a Smile Bag, the perfect gift to cheer up a healing child. Smile Bags are filled with small personal care items, toys, stickers, and a mirror to see their new smile. Hence, we’re collecting personal care items, and then we will sew together the cloth Smile Bags and fill them with collected supplies.

Those who were unable to donate supplies could donate through the club’s Smile Fund (which is like a club Go-Fund-Me page), in which we’re collecting donations that are sent directly to Operation Smile Organization (https://bit.ly/MCSmileFund).

While we don’t have the exact amount of items they collected, we know the club was able to collect over 100 dental hygiene supplies, ~12 packs of non-toxic crayola crayons, ~20 washcloths, and about 50 other personal care items like shampoo and soap. Their next goal is to collect more combs, washcloths, small stuffed animals, crayon packs, coloring books, and mirrors.

MC Operation Smile Club’s journey is set to host another Supplies Drive, expanding from Middle College to across the College of San Mateo with their collaboration with the CSM Volunteer Club. Stay tuned to find out more about the upcoming events!

CSM & Middle College’s Operation Smile Club hosted a winter supplies drive! The club is associated with the not-for-profit organization, Operation Smile. The organization provides free cleft lip and palate repair surgeries to children in more than 30 countries worldwide, giving them a smile and helping them feel welcome in today’s society. The club is one of thousands across the globe working together to support these surgeries. These birth defects can lead to difficulties in eating, speaking, and social inclusion, and Operation Smile's mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of their place of birth, has access to essential surgical care. They’ve been transforming lives through free cleft surgeries and comprehensive care.

The Supplies Drive which continued through December 2023 had two donation boxes: one in the Middle College Office, and one at the hallway bench right outside the office. The club also reached out to several dental practices and organizations like the San Mateo Dental Society, Family Dental, etc. in order to collect dental hygiene supplies. All in all, the drive collected basic hygiene products like:

• Small shampoo (.85 to 1.4 oz size, screw-on top only)
• Small comb (no rat tails)
• New washcloth
• Bar of soap (small hotel size)
• Travel-sized toothpaste(at least 6 months from expiration date)
• Child-sized toothbrush (single package)

Christmas movies are a winter staple, but with so many available, it can be difficult to choose one. If you don’t know what to watch this year, then here is a list of delightful films to watch while you sip some hot chocolate.

Klaus is a unique spin on Santa’s origin story. The film features a lazy postal worker sent to an island with the goal of delivering several thousand letters in one year. Unfortunately for him, the population is split into two clans with a bitter rivalry between them, giving them very little reason to ever send letters. With the help of a reclusive former toymaker, however, children start sending letters with requests for toys, and the feud starts dissolving.

The movie’s story is very cute, but the animation is what really makes it stand out. Every frame is a work of art. It was traditionally animated and employed a unique and gorgeous lighting technique, creating a pseudo-3D effect rarely if ever used in any other movie. For that alone, I cannot recommend this movie enough.

an assassin sent after the Hogfather. It’s honestly worth watching for him alone, but the actual story has a compelling message about the important power of fantasy and belief.

Rudolph is one of the definitive Christmas movies. Based on the song (you know the one), it tells the tale of how Rudolph went from an outcast to a celebrity. It also adds some unique characters, such as an elf who aspires to be a dentist and a prospector on the hunt for gold in the North Pole.

Putting aside the implications of bullying a child for being born with an unconventional physical feature until they prove their usefulness, this special’s cozy stop-motion animation and comfortably familiar tunes make it a must-watch every year.

One day, somewhere, someone thought to ask, “What if we adapted A Christmas Carol… but with Muppets?” This seemingly unlikely crossover resulted in perhaps the single best adaptation of Charles Dickens’s story. It’s the same premise—three ghosts of Christmas terrorize Scrooge into no longer violently exploiting his employees—but, again, with Muppets!

What makes The Muppet Christmas Carol work is that, beneath the sheer absurdity of using a bunch of colorful puppets in one of the most emotionally touching Christmas classics, there is a genuine respect for the source material. Far too many adaptations of any work simply spit out a butchered version of the original for a quick buck from the fanbase. The Muppets, however, are sincere. If you haven’t seen this yet, give it a watch as soon as possible. You won’t regret it.

Winter Drink Review

By: Megan Morales and Mariana Lopez-Ovalle

We explored various spots in downtown San Mateo in search of holiday treats that might be worth your buck!  While some establishments left us with a tinge of disappointment, others emerged as hidden gems worthy of trying. These are our thoughts and reviews on the holiday drinks and treats we encountered on one crisp fall afternoon.