Mother’s Day, occurring on May 13th this year, has been known for being one of the most important holidays of the year; its a day to give back to all moms that support, help, and care for their children. Mother’s Day is just around the corner and many people have been planning surprises for their moms. Are you struggling to plan a special surprise for your mom? If so, here are some fun and caring ways to show your love for your mom on Mother’s Day.

Start with the morning: It is important that every mom wakes up to a nice, home-cooked breakfast. Start the morning by making breakfast for your mom; make something you are capable of cooking because it is always the thought that counts. Some common breakfast foods people have made in the past include pancakes, fresh fruit salads, and coffee. If you are not the best cook or cannot cook at all, go out in the morning to your mom’s favorite bakery and buy her favorite pastries or breakfast items. Also, stop by a coffee shop to pick up a nicely brewed cup of coffee. Be sure to also add a bouquet of flowers at the center of your mom’s breakfast surprise.

Afternoon fun: Today is definitely meant for relaxing and having fun for moms; in the afternoon, go out to a place you and your mom would like to go and enjoy a day together. Fun activities for mother-daughter outings include shopping or going to nail salons. Boys usually like to go out and play sports with their moms or watch a fun movie together.

Surprise! The perfect gift: The biggest dilemma of all would have to be the Mother’s-Day gift buying. We have all been looking through stores and online shopping for hours to find the perfect gift. Some recommended gifts that are both reasonably priced and loved by all mothers are brooches, scarves, wallets, and other accessories. Accessories are easy presents for Mother’s Day because they can easily be shopped for and can definitely put a smile on your mom’s face.

 Homemade presents: There are also some people who prefer making their own homemade Mother’s Day gifts. Some common homemade gifts include baking treats or even knitting a hand-knit scarf for your mom. Also, one of the easiest and most thoughtful gifts is to decorate an old picture frame and add a photo of you and your mom to it.

Mother’s Day is definitely a special day for all moms that work hard everyday and are a big part of our lives. To make their day even more special, follow these tips to put a great, big smile on her face.

We all have candy wrappers and stacks of construction paper lying around that can be made into eco-friendly, fashionable, and fun purses or pencil bags. These bags make great gifts for birthdays and Christmas and definitely look great with any outfit.

Creating a candy wrapper consists of three steps: folding rectangles that serve as the base to creating the purse and assembling strands of rectangles, to sew together. For this project, you will need construction paper, magazine pages, candy or potato chip bags, scissors, rulers, markers, and sewing equipment. Here are the steps to creating a candy wrapper bag:

Folding Rectangles

First, cut out strips of 18 cm by 10 cm from old paper, candy wrappers, or any bag that was once used to store food. Use different colors and designs to make your bag colorful.

Second, lets start folding! Fold the paper hotdog-style in half. Then open up the piece of paper and fold both sides in towards the middle. Then, fold both flaps together so that they create a narrow strand.

Fold the narrow strand of paper in half and fold both sides to the center where the crease was made.

Fold the two halves together to form a small rectangle.

Repeat this process several times to createthe base for creating the bag. Now that we have all the parts to makingthe bag, lets put them together!

Assembling Strands of Rectangles 
Take two rectangular squares and open one of the creases slightly

Slide the ends of the other rectangular square through the two holes and pull it through the other rectangle-make sure it is tight.

To add another square to this two-rectangle piece, open the creases on the other side and put the sides of the other rectangle into it.

Continue adding rectangles to create a strand of rectangles.

Sewing Strands of rectangles

First, find a needle and sewing thread.

Take the strands of colored rectangles and sew them together.

Once you have stranded all the pieces together, you can create different types of bags including pencil cases, purses, and clutches. To create a fancier look, add zippers and straps to your candy wrapper purse.

On Friday, March 9, the Mills faculty and staff organized the annual Course Information Day which is designed to help students learn about classes they might take in the future. Students filled the seats of many classrooms, paying close attention to teachers’ syllabi overview and scrutinizing the classes’ textbooks. Many especially attended the AP classrooms, hoping that the extra information they will hear can aid them in deciding whether the classes are right for them. Now, I couldn’t help but notice the huge amount of students rushing to the English hallway. Understandably, many freshmen—all intrigued to hear about AS English from both Mr. Jackson and Ms. Price—, sophomores—worried about Honors English—and some juniors who all want to know how hard AP English really is. Anyway, as a survivor of both AS English and Honors English, I wanted to help out Mills’ future sophomores and juniors by giving them some tips and tricks to ace their English classes next year! Here are ten ways to successfully survive AS/Honors English:

1. Ask students who are currently taking Advance Standing or Honors English classes: If you have friends in the advanced classes, then you should ask them how classes are and how they’re doing. You could easily get a good feel of the class from your fellow peers. They’ll give you the details—the truth itself—rather easily. Make sure to ask them how the workload actually is so you could prepare ahead of time and know if you could handle it or not.

2. Do the summer reading: Yeah, I’m dead serious. If you honestly want to do well in an advanced English class, then you should do the summer assignments. Read the books. Take notes (and highlight the whole book if you have to). I suggest reading a couple of weeks before school actually begins, and just reviewing your notes (and maybe some other study guides, shhh!) a week before you go back to school. This way, you’re not bombarding your brain with a ton of information from various books right before school. You wouldn’t want to mix our friendly rafter Jim and ex-preacher Jim Casy now, would you?

3. Get your own copies of books you’re going to be reading: This is probably one of the most important things you can do to succeed in AS/H English. Having your own copy of a book allows you to highlight, take notes, and doodle on the text, which means you don’t have to do it on binder paper and work with that mess. Actively reading is done much more easily if you have your own copy too, and that will be your ultimate reading strategy. Most of the books are also under ten dollars, and even though some of them might be pricy for you, having your own copy is definitely a cheap investment for an A on that reading quiz!

4. Take notes—lots and lots of notes: Like I mentioned above, you’re going to need to actively read. It is simply vital to take notes, highlight, and annotate while you’re reading. It will help. Even if you’re not the type of student who reviews their notes (though you really should), simply the process of taking good notes will help you retain more information and comprehend the text better. These are four ways you can succeed in the advanced English classes! Stay tuned and look for more tips online on www.millsthunderbolt.org or on the next issue!

How to Choose a Sunscreen

School is almost out, and harmful summer rays are on their way—how can you best protect yourself? Sunscreen is the obvious answer, but how do you tell the difference between types, ingredients, brands and how do you know which one is right for you?

Step 1: Sunscreen vs. Sunblock

Sunscreen. Sunblock. Which one? When choosing sunscreens it is important to realize the difference between the two. Sun block offers immediate relief and acts as a wall to deflect harmful rays from your skin.  It does not protect against UVA rays, which along with UVB  rays are the two types of radiation that have been linked to skin cancer.  Sunscreen acts as a screen and filters out the harmful parts of radiation so that your skin can absorb the good parts. Sunscreen takes about 20 minutes to take effect.

For a quick bout with the sun, sunblock should suffice. For any prolonged exposure past 20 minutes, use sunscreen.

Step 2:  SPF

SPF or Skin Protection Factor refers to the level of protection the sunscreen offers from UVB rays, not UVA rays. For example, SPF 15 means you can stay in the sun 15 times longer than normal until your skin starts burning. SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB rays while an SPF of 50 blocks 99%. Ideally, choose the latter and realize that any protection beyond SPF 50 is not necessary and could be a waste of money.

Step 3:  The ingredients

Micronized zinc oxide, and titanium dioxide. These are the two main ingredients that you should check for.

Step 4: Get “broad spectrum”

Look for sunscreen that contains Mexoryl which is a relatively new agent that protects against both UVB and UVA rays.

Step 5: Be dubious of duds

Bold claims like “natural,” “all-day protection” and “blocks all harmful rays” are often not true and should put up a red flag telling you: “Be wary of me, I talk myself up because I know I can’t protect you.” Lastly, don’t forget to check the expiration date.

Important Tips:

1)      Dermatologists recommend a teaspoon of sunscreen for the face and a shot glass full for the rest of the body.

2)      There’s no such thing as a truly “sweat-proof” or “waterproof” sunscreen, so reapply often if you’re sweating or swimming.

Using newspaper as gift wrap is a great eco-friendly way to spice up any present. (Photo Credit: greenteadesign.com)

Wrapping presents can be a chore, especially during the holidays when there are piles of gifts to be wrapped in the same exact way. Personalizing birthday or holiday gifts with gift wrap that matches the gift recipient’s personality can make wrapping presents fun and interesting again!

1. Start with your canvas. Begin by selecting a base to wrap your present with. This can be a ordinary roll of wrapping paper or any colored piece of paper. To be a little more eco-friendly, try using paper bags from grocery stores flipped inside out or newspapers. If the item you are wrapping is not a box, a small piece of patterned fabric and ribbon can make for simple wrapping.

2. Decorate the base. If you selected a simple base such as a single colored wrapping paper or a brown paper bag, use stamps or stickers to create your own pattern and design. You can also cut out the letters of your recipient’s name or a message and glue them onto the paper so you won’t need a tag later. Three-dimensional accents often make great gifts even better: a fresh flower picked from your backyard glued to the center of the wrapping paper is an unexpected, but beautiful gift decoration.

3. Add a tag! If you didn’t use the cut-out letters idea above, a tag is usually necessary to let your gift recipient know who the gift is from or who the gift is for. Gift tags can also serve as another blank canvas for you to expand your creativity. Instead of using a typical paper gift tag, bake a sugar cookie and use frosting to write your personalized message on it. Put the cookie into a small clear bag and tie or glue it to the gift. Not only is the tag practical, it’s also edible and delicious!

Though some of the ideas above may seem like a lot of work and over the top for just the exterior of a gift, remember that simplicity can also be unique, just be thoughtful and aware of your recipient’s unique personality.

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Don't give into the temptation of sleep! [Photo Credit: instructables.com

We’ve all been there—you took too much time playing video games, surfing the web, or watching TV, and now it’s nearly midnight and you haven’t even started your homework. You silently curse yourself in your head for not getting started earlier and grudgingly start typing your huge English essay due tomorrow. Sleep doesn’t seem like a possibility tonight, and even though pulling all-nighters isn’t a very good habit, they do come up once in a while. Use these ingenious tips to help you get through your long night.

Fill your body with nutrients. And by “nutrients” I mean caffeine. If you are planning for a long night, put a few (twelve or so should be enough) energy drinks of your choice into the fridge so they’ll be nice and cold when you need them. Make the most out of them by rubbing the cold cans over your entire face before drinking for an quick-wake up call. Supplement your energy drinks with lots of cold food: salads, sushi, sour candy, and smoothies are all great choices.

Manipulate your environment. This is one of the most important tips to pull a successful all-nighter. Turn off the heater and open your windows to turn your room into an instant igloo (this works especially well in the winter months). Make sure you leave all the lights on; it will keep you more awake.

Give yourself breaks. If you don’t allow yourself to take a break every few hours, you’ll burn out. Watch a funny or random Youtube video, play a quick game (quick is the keyword here), or draw. Do something fun for about fifteen minutes and get back to work. Do not, I repeat, do NOT go on Facebook. One quick “check to see if anybody else is online” will ruin your whole night.

Get up and get active. You can also use exercise as a break as well. Do jumping jacks and sit-ups to work up a bit of a sweat or just get up every hour or so to walk around—don’t worry, the energy drinks will make sure you’ll be getting up frequently to go to the bathroom. Better yet, set up a obstacle course around your house with stools, pillows, and other household items and see how fast you can get through it without waking up your other family members.

So you’ve taken the plunge and decided to try and pull an all-nighter. Don’t worry, it’s not too hard as long as you have the right resources prepared. With the all the great and extremely effective tips above, you’ll be finishing that essay and acing your test in no time! Pun intended—you probably only have a few minutes to sleep before waking up and heading to school anyways. Good luck and no matter how tempting it may be to lay down for two quick seconds to take a nap…just don’t do it!

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and every guy has a special someone he would like to ask to be his Valentine. Here are some tips for a romantic and fun night with your Valentine’s Day love:

Pick Up Your Date with Chocolates and Flowers: Every girl loves having a dozen roses and chocolate in her hand on Valentine’s Day because it makes her feel special and proves to her that you are a gentleman.  If she isn’t a big fan of chocolate, substitute the chocolate for her favorite sweet treats.

Dress Nicely: Dressing nicely is an important step to winning a girl’s heart on Valentine’s Day; just make sure you don’t over-do it. Dress in semi-formal a nice pair of khakis and a button up shirt.

Plan a Nice Dinner: Dinner is an important part of a date because it’s an opportunity for conversation and time to get to know each other better, laugh, and talk in a peaceful environment. First, plan a dinner at a restaurant that you’d both enjoy and feel comfortable eating at.

After Dinner: Going home after eating dinner would make the date bland and uninteresting, so plan an activity to go
to with your valentine after dinner. Common places include the movies, ice skating, bowling, and mini-golf.

By following these tips, you and your date will have a memorable Valentine’s Day together filled with romance and fun activities. Be sure to have a fun night filled with laughter and fun conversations, and try to eliminate any awkward silences. Valentine’s Day comes only once a year, so make your holiday worthwhile this year by setting up a date with your lover!

Now that we are all refreshed and ready for the
home stretch of this school year, here are some tips to start off the new semester in a good direction:

Clean and Organized Binders: The most important part of school is having
materials organized for better studying in the future. Clean out unnecessary
assignments from last semester and toss them into the recycling. Make sure to
keep previous notes in files for possible use on future finals and midterms.
Once you’ve cleaned out your binders, remember to replenish your supply of
binder paper or graph paper.

Don’t get lazy: Make it a goal this
semester to set your priorities first before doing leisure activities such as
watching television, listening to music, and others.

Talk to teachers: If you did not get to know your teachers well
last semester, remember to get to know them better this semester and ask
questions when you need help with homework.

Time Management: Have you ever had that feeling of fatigue and
inability to concentrate when up at 1 in the morning doing homework? Try this
year to sleep earlier and save yourself from a tiresome night by finishing
homework before going on facebook, twitter, and tumblr or texting.

With these tips, you will definitely feel more
confident in school this semester. Besides school, remember to have time to put
schoolwork aside and let out stress through your favorite hobbies.