Loma Linda Academy Mirror '13-'14 I5

Photos By:Danelle Taylor Johnston and Shawn Weerawardana

Table of ConTenTs And Jesus Grew... 4Watching For The Future “Review” 6Now You Know 7Day In The Life 8Mother’s Day D.I.Y. 10Student Feature: Adam Basical 11Meeting New People 12Divergent Far Superior to Predecessors 14Those Who Go The Distance 16Reality Check: Perspective 18In Fashion! 20

*Publisher*Robert Skoretz*Sponsor*Danelle Taylor Johnston*Staff**Editor-in-Chief*

Shawn Weerawardana*Reporters*Tahira AshleyJason FriasElijah HickmanVictoria IcoAdanna OkwanduDominique Townsend

What are four days of the week that start with the

letter “T”???Guess the right answer, submit it to our website

and win a prize!

Volume 81 Issue 5AprIl 2014 rorThe mIr 5

Loma Linda Academy has a reputation of changing its students towards a life closer to God.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and

stature, and in favor with

God and man (Luke 2:52). Jesus,

the Lord and Savior, the only one

who knows beginning from end,

grew in wisdom and stature. So

many times, as Christians, people

think that they are supposed to be

perfect. However, Christians can

fail. But the thing is that the Lord

meets them at their failures, and

guides them along. At Loma Linda

Academy the students can harness

the campus as one of these guides.

Upon entering high school as

a freshman at LLA, one can expect

to grow closer to God in a very

short period of time. Students have

this opportunity from the very

first day, and so many take this

and run with it for the next four

years that they are on the campus.

Everywhere students can experience

and feel the love and desire from

teachers and staff to help students to

experience this closeness with God.

“It’s definitely chapels every

Friday that highlight my week,

and make me feel closer to God.

When everybody is so involved in

ministry it’s hard not to get involved

in the spiritual hype,” Velerie Lopez

(11) said.

Whether it

be in Bible classes,

week of prayers,

vespers, and all

the other things

done at LLA,

students naturally

are brought

closer to God.

When students graduate it is hoped

that they leave the school, not

only with academic knowledge,

but also the knowledge of Christ.

For years it seems as though

Loma Linda Academy has been

successful at doing this.

“When I came into the high

school I told myself that I would

make a change for the better,

and very fortunately for me there

were things here to help me on

that journey to be closer to God.

And in time, I just became more

involved and just got a lot more

spiritual,” Julian Rengifo (10) said.

Whether students have this

mindset to change or not, LLA

seems to have such a positive

effect on its students, and in

the end it even changes them

for a better life in general.

Alyssa A. from Citrus Valley

High School, a Christian herself,

said, “It’s really sad how much I’ve

lost that connection with God in the

three years that I’ve been at Citrus. I

haven’t had a religion class in years,

and sadly I haven’t even prayed

collectively with a group of friends

in years either...I envy those that

can go to a school where they can

openly learn about God...I honestly

believe that if I went to a Christian

school, I’d be so much happier.”

Being at a school like LLA

is truly a blessing, that if taken

away might even take a toll.

“LLA gives you freedom of

religion in the way that you have

the opportunity to discuss religious

beliefs with one another. You can pray

openly, whereas in public schools

you can’t. I find that it is very hard

not to learn more, or get closer to

God when in every class the teachers

show us how God is involved in every

aspect of education.” Lopez (11)

Come graduation, students

undeniably can say that they have

grown closer to God. This happens

because the mission of Christ is

taught to students. Somehow this

creates a huge change in students.

Through the students of Loma

Linda Academy, those who do not

know God will experience Him

through these students themselves.

The school teaches students about

God, so consequently they can teach

others. Through these very students,

LLA hopes to show others who

God is, and what He can do. What

LLA hopes for is for its students to

create a heaven on earth. For the

most part it has succeeded in that.

by: shawn weerawardana

6 Volume 81 Issue 5 AprIl 2014rorThe mIr

The Samsung® Galaxy Gear: An innovation in communication and design.

Remember the cartoon The Jetsons where people could

watch television shows on

their watches? How about the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, where the

main characters could communicate

just by talking into their wrists?

Well, Samsung® has brought those

dreams into reality with the Samsung®

Galaxy Gear, a smart watch with

some seriously cool tricks. With its

sleek, unobtrusive

design, its

responsive touch

screen and stylish

stainless steel

frame, the Galaxy

Gear, according

Samsung®’s

website,

“Changes the

way we stay connected.”

The watch is essentially

an extension of the Galaxy S

smartphone, the two devices being

seamlessly linked together. This

makes it so that you have many

of the features of your phone

conveniently on your wrist.

With the Galaxy Gear, you

can now make and receive calls

without needing to take your phone

out. This could make unnoticed

missed calls a thing of the past.

Some of the

different features

of the Galaxy Gear

are Bluetooth®

connectivity,

4GB of internal

memory,

accelerometer with

gyro-stabilizer,

a 41.4mm

display screen with 320x320

resolution, and of course, the

ability to become a watch.

Another very interesting feature

is its 1.9 megapixel camera located

on the strap. The camera shoots in

720p at 30fps and can play video in

MP4, and also has 2 microphones.

So far, the Galaxy Gear has

gotten some good reviews with

many people praising its design, and

innovation. The main gripe, however

is that there is no way to access social

networks, something that people

really wished would happen. Another

drawback is that its compatibility

with other devices is limited.

The Samsung® Galaxy Gear

is an incredible innovation with

lots of potential. It and similar

devices will most likely take the

world by storm. The Galaxy Gear

is truly the next big step in how

we communicate with others.

“waTChing”for The fuTure

by: Jason friasPhoTos CourTesy of samsung.Com


now you Know

Correction!In the last issue of The Mirror,

in the article “A Week of Prayer A

Week of Revival,” we published

that Week Of Prayer was run by the

Student Association! Although SA

does an amazing job, they didn’t

run Week Of Prayer, Campus

Ministries was and always has

been in charge of week of prayer. SORRY!

On March 13, 2014 Sergio

Uribe and Elva Vega took their

Spanish classes to Balboa Park

in San Diego. The students were

gone all day. They went to the

Centro cultural de la Raza in

San Diego old town. To look

at their adventure go to North

Hall and look on the board

next to Vega’s classroom.

In the last issue of

The Mirror there was

another scavenger

hunt. The winners

were...

Charles Clayton

Josef Wright

Thomas Rouser

...they each won gift

cards to Chipotle.

The tea club has been meeting every

Wednesday for treats and tea. They also

make special trips to teachers.

Danielle Hamilton(12)

recently won first

place in the Redlands

Classic Bike Race for

her age group with

barely any training at all!


Spending more than eight hours with several different classes of teenagers is not usually what comes to mind when thinking about a typical dream job.

However, this is a typical day

in the life of Loma Linda Academy

(LLA) math and physics teacher

Heidi Elssmann. Getting to school

around 7:35 AM for faculty worship

is the only

chance

she has to

interact

with

adults.

“From

then on,” she said, “I see

nothing but kids.”

The morning periods are

occupied by her physics classes, which

have lots of fun experiments and

toys to interact with. “It’s always fun

to play with the

physics toys after

we make them,”

Elssmann said.

Between her

morning classes

and lunch time

she has one period

dedicated to

preparation for her

afternoon classes,

which are all

Algebra I classes.

She also takes

advantage of this

time to eat lunch,

because she gets

very busy as soon

as lunch time starts. “I always have

kids in here taking tests or studying,”

she explained. “So, I try to eat lunch

before then.”

Even when

after-school

time is thought

to begin,

Elssmann is

still working on

school related things. Sometimes it

is with labs for her physics classes,

and at other times it is with projects

in the LLA Robotics Club. Overall,

her day does not truly end until

about 5 PM when she goes home.

Sounds pretty stressful, right? This

kind of a schedule is enough to

give anybody a cross attitude and

aching head, but Elssmann actually

enjoys it. Since her own children no

longer live with her, she said that it

makes her “happy to have so many

teenagers [around] everyday.”

Surprisingly, Elssmann had not

originally intended to be a teacher.

“It was a providential thing. I really

believe that God led me to work as

a teacher,” she remarked. Having

gone to school for engineering

and pursued that career, Elssmann

had only taken up teaching as a

part-time job. She grew to like it

TeaCher feaTure: mrs. elssmann

“I really believe that God led

me to work as a teacher.”


more and ended up sending in a

teaching application to LLA.

Somehow the application made

its way to Mesa Grande Academy,

who then offered Elssmann a part-

time job. Accepting the job offer

resulted in her service there for

three years. After that, it was the

late Gordan Day, the junior high

principal at that time, who worked

it out for her to come and teach at

the LLA junior high full time.

That lasted for three years before

she quit so that she could take a break

from teaching for a while. Elssmann

was called back to LLA in order

to be a substitute teacher for Dave

Burishkin in 2009 when he became

ill with cancer. He had hand-picked

her to take over for him. She started

teaching at the high school full-

time after he passed away in 2011.

In all the time that Elssmann has

been a teacher, she said

that the most satisfying

feeling has not been when

the whole class does well

on a generally difficult

test or when everybody

in class behaves, but

“when a student has

the ‘Aha!’ moment.”

The ‘Aha!’ moment,

as defined by Elssmann, is that

moment when a student finally

understands something that they

have been struggling with. It

apparently happens quite often,

which makes her happy. “I love it

when it happens. What really helps

them have that moment is when they

do things themselves,” she said.

“Mrs. Elssmann is one of

the teachers I relate to the most

because she’s so young at heart,”

said Joshua Sihotang (12). Even

though they can drive her crazy,

Elssmann loves to spend time

around the students and she enjoys

getting to teach them. “They

bring me so much joy,” she said.

Kevin Dockham (11), Christian Lott (12), Jonathan Thomas (12), and Heidi Elssmann

by: adanna oKwanduPhotos by: Matt Kim & Victoria Ico


moTher’s day diyMaterials:

• construction paper

(two colors)

• scissors

• lollipops (min. 4)

• scented wax beads

• drinking straws

• small vase

Step 1: Fill the vase with

the beads. Be sure to

pack them down so that

they are really tight.

Step 2: Cut out six hearts for

each lollipop. Those will serve

as the petals of the flower.

Lollipop Flowers

Step 3: Using the scissors,

make a small hole in the base

of each heart. Run the stem

of a lollipop through the hole

to make sure that it fits.

Step 4: Slide the hearts onto

the lollipop, one at a time, and

arrange them like the petals of a

flower. Then cut the straw just a

half-inch longer than the stem

of the lollipop, and slide it on.

Step 5: Push the lollipop

into the vase, and pack

down the beads around it.

Step 6: Repeat steps 3 through

5 until the vase is full.

by adanna oKwanduPhotos By: Shawn Weerawardana


sTudenT feaTure: adam basiCal

In indescribable heat, competitors dropping like flies, one man emerges victorious. His name? Basical—Adam, Basical.

Adam Basical (10), a student at Loma Linda Academy (LLA), finished his first full-length marathon on March 9, 2014. Coming in at a time of “five hours and thirty-something minutes,” he said, Basical ended the 26.2 mile race just steps before his father in the famous L.A. Marathon.

The Los Angeles Marathon is one of the biggest and most prestigious races in the United States, boasts the marathon’s official site, with upwards of 20,000 contestants that participate each year. This year, it began at 7:25 A.M. (for the full field, or regular, marathon competition) at Dodger Stadium, running through tourist sights such as: the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Beverly Hills, and ended at the Santa Monica Pier.

The marathon itself was in March, but the training began long before that Sunday morning loomed on the horizon. “I started training six months before,” Basical said, describing his routine. “I ran twice a week at 5:30 in the morning, with a long run on the weekends,” he said calmly. That would be a lot of running for anyone, but it didn’t seem to faze him. He said, “I run four minutes and walk one minute.”

The race has become a huge event not only for the competitors and their families and supporters, but also for

the community. Often, locals and many others, line the road to cheer on the runners, holding up signs to inspire the tired athletes to keep pushing themselves. If a competitor’s name is easily visible, supporters on the side of the road can be expected to chant and cheer him/her on.

Those who take time out of their

schedules to become official race volunteers, organize and support water stops along the route, often passing out snacks to the exhausted athletes. Some of the race course takes the competitors through residential neighborhoods, so sometimes the homeowners also pass out bottled water or food as the runners go by.

The race on March 9th was a particularly difficult one for many competitors because of the extreme heat. Basical became animated at this point during the interview, saying, “It was so hot! Sometimes I didn’t even drink the water at the stops, I just poured it over my head to cool down.”

Local weather stations announced a record high temperature that day at 85 degrees (according to the L.A. Times). Also according to the L.A. Times, race officials noticed quite a few more people in need of assistance during this race, as compared to previous years.

But more than staying hydrated (though very important) or knowing a safe pace to run at, a serious racer knows that the proper equipment is key. Special running shoes, and a pouch with protein bars, GUs (a popular energy gel), or cookies in Basical’s case, and electrolytes are the basic elements that each and every runner carries with him or her on a marathon run.

Instead of running with an organized group, such as the Loma Linda Lopers, Basical said he runs with his family. “My dad and brothers run,” he said. In fact, Basical said he ran almost the whole race with his father, only breaking away near the finish line.

This final push to the end was his favorite part, he explained, “Near the finish, people start chanting your name.”

Can’t you hear it now? “Bas-i-cal, Bas-i-cal!” And the crowd goes wild!

by: dominique Townsend


meeTing new PeoPle

Tip #1: Get out there. How are you going to find new

friends if you are not trying to look for them? This is often

more difficult for the shy, self-conscious type of people

than those who are outgoing and bold. “Most kids who

are afraid to talk to new people just need to step out of

their comfort zone,” said Lynne Hattendorf, the Loma

Linda Academy (LLA) high school guidance counselor

and testing coordinator. “Don’t worry about being nervous

because the other people are probably nervous too.”

Grace Hutagaol (12) was very introverted when she

first came to Loma Linda Academy (LLA). “The people

came up to me first,” Hutagaol said. “That made me more

comfortable.” Even though that may happen occasionally

to some people, waiting for others to approach you does

not always work. Seeing that you are willing to befriend

others will encourage them to make an effort as well.

Tip #2: Make conversation. Talking with people is a

good way to get to know them. It also provides ample

opportunities for you to look for common interests, which

are great for beginning friendships. If you are not sure

about how to start the conversation, you can begin with a

compliment or question about school related things. If you

have joined a school sports team, you can absolutely take

advantage of that by using it as a conversation starter.

“Talking about [recent] events is a great way to start a

conversation,” said Hattendorf, “or you could try [mentioning]

sports or something. There are tons of things to talk about.”

The only thing you definitely do not want to talk about

is yourself. Try not to ask questions or make comments

that only center around you and your own abilities. It

makes you appear self-absorbed to others, and how other

people see you is an important part of making friends.

Meeting new people and making new friends is not the easiest thing to do.

It is not easy to be the new kid in school or the one trying to make new friends in a new environment.

However, being the kid who watches the new kids come into their familiar territory is pretty hard too.

People often have a hard time making new friends because they don’t know how to go about doing so.

Unfortunately, there is no official guide book on how to befriend someone, but here are some tips that can

definitely help you take a step in the right direction. Besides, it is never too late to make friends.


Tip #4: Be friendly and

approachable. Smile at people

when they look at you instead of

only staring back, and laugh when

you hear a funny joke. Interacting

with other people will show them

that you are a sociable person,

willing to make friends. However,

there should be a definite line

between friendly and strange.

“Don’t be too creepy. You

don’t want to scare your soon-to-

be friends away,” said Janna Que-

Albano (9), a new student to LLA

this year. This piece of advice comes

from a personal experience that

she had when someone had tried

to befriend her when the school

year began. She had been a bit

weirded-out by the other person’s

sudden approach and was unsure

of what to do. It took some time

for her to become comfortable with

them, but Que-Albano eventually

understood why they had acted so

and now they are good friends.

Tip #5: Be yourself. There are

many qualities that people look for

in people whom they might befriend,

and one of the most important

ones is honesty. Being honest about

who you are and what you like not

only shows other people that great

characteristic, but also gives them

the chance to get to know you.

“Everyone should know this: be

yourself,” Emily Mejia (11) said. “If

you’re not yourself [with them] the

first time, what’s the point of being

yourself the second, third, or fourth

time with them?” Changing yourself

to fit the description of “cool”

according to other people is not

something that you should ever think

is okay to do. People should accept

you for who you are. Stay true to

your own original personality so that

people will like you for who you are.

Tip #3: Be careful. Make sure

your friends will be friends with

you because they truly enjoy your

company, not just because of the

things you might have or do.

You want to be able to recognize

why a person wants to befriend

you, and it should be for the

genuine want of friendship.

However, you should have good

reasons for making friends with

other people as well. Hattendorf

recommends that you figure out “why

you want to become friends [with

certain people] before you approach

them,” because you should treat them

the way you want to be treated. If you

are not going to treat them with the

same respect for their feelings that

you are expecting from them, maybe

they are not the best choice of friends

that you could decide on. There are

many other people to chose from.

by: adanna oKwanduPhoto illustration by: Elijah Hickman


WARNING: “DIVERGENT” SPOILERS AHEAD.

Well, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment have done it again, another young adult series crashes the big screen this season.

Following in the massive footprints of blockbuster hits such as “The Hunger Games” (2012) and the “Twilight” franchise (2010-2013), “Divergent” is the latest dystopian film based off of a best-selling novel to make

its way onto the big screen.This series follows the journey

of one young woman who refuses to be categorized in America’s futuristic society. A society where individuals are separated based on a specific set of characteristics, and “faction [comes] before blood,” as is first stated by faction (a group based on a set of characteristics they live by) leader Marcus Eaton (played by Ray Stevenson).

Directed by Neil Burger and adapted from the book published by Veronica Roth (2011), the film pursues the heroine in her struggle to survive being different in a society where abnormality is feared and quickly wiped out. The heroine,

16 year-old Tris Prior (played by Shailene Woodley), discovers a conspiracy in the government that

threatens her very existence as a “divergent,” a person who cannot be contained by any

single characteristic or placed into any one “faction,” and therefore poses a threat to the corrupt leaders of the society.

Under pressure and in danger of being found and killed for her ability to resist the influence of the mind-altering drug called only “the serum,” Tris and her new-found love interest Four (played by Theo James) must decipher the reasoning behind the conspiracy and find out how to protect themselves, before the unthinkable happens.

Playing at two hours and twenty minutes long, my first thought was that the film had better hold up to my expectations. However, when the opening scene began with a realistically abandoned Navy ship resting just outside the most wicked-looking gated wall I’d ever

moVie reView: “diVergenT”farsuPerior To PredeCessors

“Playing at two hours and twenty minutes long, my first thought was that the film had better hold up to my

expectations.”

Retrieved from Lionsgate Website


seen, I was pleasantly surprised at the digital art depicted in the film. The fact that the setting was realistically an adaptation of a post-apocalyptic Chicago made the film seem far more plausible than its predecessors.

With that said, I did feel as though sometimes the film left

out details that would have smoothed the plotline out, creating a peculiar feeling of the movie being

unnecessarily extended, and yet emotionally truncated, as if the characters weren’t fully developed.

But at other times, details seemed unlikely or impossible, as if added only to allow pieces to be cut out of the film.

However, I applaud the casting choices for this film, for once a bit of divergence (excuse the

pun) from the novel’s description of a character was welcome.

Playing the main characters

Tris and Four, actors Shailene (of “Secret Life of an American Teenager”) and Theo (a better known British television star) gave an enthralling and nearly flawless performance. Their facial expressions portrayed the emotions and chemistry that their lines lacked, particularly in the scenes involving the fear simulations.

The biggest complaint I have might be that the only real difference I gathered from the film

between the “divergent” Tris and the rest of the people in her faction, was her overwhelming determination to survive. She may have been able to resist the hallucination-inducing (for the fear landscape) serum’s influence, but this ability is not explained in the film, other than an offhand comment made by Tris’ mother, who says, “Divergent. Your mind works in a million different ways. They can’t control you.”

Despite the screenwriting discrepancies, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. In fact, I went back to see it in theatres a second time. I would recommend this film for fans of both the series and dystopian storylines. Unlike “The Hunger Games,” you don’t need to have read the books to understand the story, and the acting was on point. I’d say “Divergent” is the best film of the season. A-.

“Divergent. Your mind works in a million

different ways. They can’t control you.”

Retrieved from Divergent Official Facebook

Faction Symbols: Retrieved from Divergent Official Facebook

by: dominique Townsend


Those who go The disTanCe

Such an effort, for such a long distance.

If getting up at 7:00 A.M. was

hard enough for most local residents,

imagine the time that some students

have to get up because they live

anywhere from 15 to 50 miles

away. That is just one of the many

complications that about 36.2%

of the student body have because

they live far away (outside of Loma

Linda, Redlands, San Bernardino,

and Grand Terrace) from the school.

Many of the students that attend

Loma Linda Academy (LLA) come

from cities such as Pomona, Riverside

and Highland, and have to travel

at least 30 minutes to school every

morning and home every evening.

It takes a lot out of these students.

They have to wake up much earlier,

sacrifice homework time for travel,

and sometimes lose sleep because of

struggling to get homework done.

This distance issue is a problem

that is unique to private schools

such as Loma Linda Academy.

Most students in the United States

attend a public school, which has

a limit of being within 15 miles of

the school. The area limit is given

because public schools also provide

bus transportation to these students,

which LLA obviously does not.

When asked about how time

and traffic factors into his 12-40

minute morning commute from

Highland to Loma Linda, Darryl

Magno (12) said, “The earlier I get

up and leave, the less traffic I have

to drive through.” Traffic plays a big

role in what makes these students’

commutes so complicated. Travel

times can range from 30 minutes

to almost an hour and the times

only get longer as traffic thickens.

Another complication that

some students suffer because of the

distance is the strain on activities.

Usually, students end up tired

and sleep deprived because they

end up working into very late

hours. Others also find that the

distance can complicate attendance

to sport practices and games.

Academically, some students,

like Elissa Giang (10) who travels

25-45 minutes from Yucaipa, find

it hard to be able to get homework

done in a timely manner. “I get

home really late, so I have less

time to do homework before I

have to sleep,” Giang said.

Distance also affects the social

aspect of students lives as they find

it harder to spend time with friends

or even to stay in close contact with

friends at all. Even school social

event are a hassle. Marshay Horne

(11), who travels 23 miles from

Upland, finds it hard to attend

school events because the start times

are late for her and if she were to

attend, she would end up coming


home at a very late time. With the

distance comes some sacrifices.

For the students who live far

away, complications are something

to be expected, but those who live

far away also see some benefits to

their distance from school. Scotty

Weber (11), a resident of Pomona, 35

minutes away, finds that “living far

from school is like being in a separate

world,” and that it is enjoyable to

not see certain people all the time

or be within “the school area.”

With all of these issues that

come with living far away one

might question “Why come to

Loma Linda Academy at all?”

For the Shenouda sisters, Marina

(11) and Alex (9), their parents chose

this school as “Being one of the best

private schools for education,” says

Alex Shenouda (9). The reputation

of LLA as a high-education level,

private, Christian school appears

to be the number one reason why

so many students are willing to

tolerate the distance and attend this

school. The second highest reason

for attendance is that it is within the

parents work in the area, so it is not

a hassle to bring their kids to LLA.

Not only do parents love

LLA, but the students as well.

Horne said, “I like it here. People

are very nice and the school has

a good learning environment.”

Traveling from 30 minutes to

an hour every day just for school

seems like a crazy idea. However,

students still enjoy coming to LLA

despite the sacrifices they make.

by: ViCToria iCoPhotos By: Elijah Hickman


“We’re going to ask you, “How do you view God?...Because that’s perspective,”Jason Frias (12), codirector with

Thomas Rauser, said during

the introduction to “Reality

Check: Perspective” program.

Since their start in the fall of

2006, this was their second full

length presentation. Their first was

in the spring of 2010, which was

a play of the

entire Gospel of

Mark, word for

word.

The first

meeting about

the idea of

a full length

production for

Perspective,

was last year

in September. They team started

writing the skits and poems in

November, and a few of the skits

were revamped renditions of skits

that Reality Check performed a

few years ago. After months of hard

work, long rehearsals, and lack of

sleep, the night had come.

The Perspective performance

was on March 14 at 7:00 PM. The

first skit was called “The Lucifer

Dilemma.” Marc Caballero (12)

played the role of God in this skit

and Aaron Ebuenga (12) played

Lucifer. The scene, set in Heaven,

started off with Lucifer talking

to himself. It moved on to a one-

sided conversation between the

audience and Lucifer. Then God

came into the scene and He and

Lucifer begin their conversation.

Lucifer: “I'm Lucifer I

can understand anything!”

God:

“Except how

deep my love is

for my creation."

One of

Reality Check’s

original skits

that many

people liked was

"The Lazarus

Alternative."

It was a skit that entertained the

idea of Lazarus deciding not to

come out of the tomb when Jesus

raised him from the dead. What

if Lazarus struggled with trusting

Jesus and had questions about God's

plans, like so many of us do.

The possible crowd favorite

of the night was the touching yet

comical "Little Billy." It was their

fifth skit in their line up, and it

was about a little boy named Billy

(Aaron Ebuenga, 12). He was five

years old and in kindergarten at

a Christian school who loved his

teacher, Teacher Lily. One day he

had a substitute, Mr. Carter (Marc

Caballero,12), who was the teacher’s

husband. Billy gave him a hard time.

Regardless of what the

substitute tried to do to make Billy

happy nothing worked. He even

suggested singing some Sunday

school songs, like “My God Is So

Big,” but nothing was working.

Later on in the skit Mr. Carter

revealed that Teacher Lilly had cancer

and that is why she hadn’t been

feeling well. He explained that the

Sunday school song was a favorite

of his wife, and it gave them hope.

The skit was the perfect mix of a

touching message and humor. There’s

no way to know about every problem

that everyone may be facing. They

don’t need to be judged, they need

kindness, and to be reminded that

they always have hope in Christ.

As well as the program went it

success was not just a coincidence

it came after many nights of the

Reality Check team staying at school

whaT do you see?


for up to six hours rehearsing the

skits. The actors sacrificed time and

effort is displayed for everyone to

see when they perform well. What

many may not realize is that the time

and effort put in by the Tech people

and everyone behind the scenes is

revealed as well. Jonathan Thomas

(12) worked with the tech behind

the scenes. “Coordination between

tech aspects like the lights, spotlights,

mics, and behind the scenes people

was the most difficult part.” Tech also

started planning months in advance

for this night, even with help it still

took four days just to set up the stage.

Jason Calvert, campus chaplain, said

the Reality Check team he is “proud

of the directors and cast, for hard

work, creativity and dedication.”

The hard work was worth

it. Students that went to the

performance were impacted greatly

and in many different ways by

the skits. Moriah Perkins(10) was

impressed with the writing and

the execution of the skits. “What

really impressed me was how each

skit represented how our faith

influences our outlook on life.

Our perspective,” Perkins said. The

people in Reality Check hoped

that everyone in attendance walked

away with the theme of the skits. “I

hope that they experienced God’s

love and grace in a deeper and

more intimate way,” Calvert siad.

Ana Ceballos (12) said “I really

hoped that it changed something

for them. Even if it’s a small thing.”

Tania Magallanes (11) said,

“I hope that we actors were so

convincing that the message was

conveyed. I hope they changed

their perspective of themselves,

and that they’ll remember the

plays and allow it to actually

change them. For many of the

students in attendance the program

made an impression on them.

Emiley Mejia (11) said,

“Refreshed view of the stuff

that I already knew. Like a

different perspective on the

basics that I already knew.”

The Reality Check team may

never know the full extent of the

impact that their performances

had on many that attended that

night. It changed many peoples

view that they had of others,

themselves, and God. In the

end that was the goal, to change

your perspective for the better.

by: Tahira ashley

Loma Linda Academy Mirror '13-'14 I5

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Transcript of Loma Linda Academy Mirror '13-'14 I5