Alex Carr's The Jaguars' Spot column for Wed., Dec. 02, 2009

Only three weeks until FREEDOM!

          Hi everybody. I hope you all had a great break, I know I did. So how long until the next one? Three weeks! Since Christmas break is so near let’s all do a really great job for these next few weeks. Time off feels better when you know you’ve earned it!

Get ready for Winterfest:

          Coming up December 18 -- the Friday before Winter Break begins -- VCHS will hold its annual Winterfest where all the clubs on campus setup tables in the quad in hopes of raising tons of money by getting students to buy tons of food from them.

          And what a delicious ton of food it is from doughnuts to root beer floats to full plates of Panda Express! You can eat hearty for only five or ten bucks. Just keep in mind, the best stuff goes fast. Oh, yea ... remember those gold cards I keep telling you all about? Well, all the gold card holders are released from class TEN MINUTES EARLY, meaning they get first dibs of all the good stuff. (Panda Express ... wink, wink!)

          Winterfest is actually very similar to Club Rush, which happened at the beginning of the year, but it’s even better because the clubs’ main concern is to sell you food not try to get you to join their club. A big note to clubs: Make sure to get signed up for Winterfest NOW! Time is running out and you want to be there to get your share of the expected $2,000 that is raised!

          VCHS freshman Taylor Krikava says he’s really looking forward to Winterfest. “I’ve heard a lot about it from the upperclassmen and its sounds like it’s going to be really cool.” Winterfest really is fun, and a win-win for clubs and students alike.

Don’t leave these kids hanging!

          Remember, the Children's Hospital Teddy Bear Drive is still going on and we need more teddy bears! Bring in whatever you’ve got laying around the house, just so long as you live at Toys R Us! That’s because they have to be in their original retail packaging.

          And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a teddy bear. You can also bring in just about any other toy you think a kid might get a kick out of. You have the power to make sure some child will have his or her spirits lifted at what has to be just about the toughest time of the year to be stuck in a hospital bed. Deadline is Friday Dec. 11.

Tell me about it!:

          At this time I would like to formally give thanks for Thanksgiving break. I don’t know about you guys but it really hit the spot. And not just me:

          VCHS sophomore Sierra Hegle told me her family went all the way down to San Felipe, Baja California. It’s been a family tradition of hers and 14 other VC families for years. They had a huge shrimp-a-palooza feast for Thanksgiving.

          Sophomore Laura Glennie told me she went to Arizona with a few other friends and families to go camping and wakeboarding in a river.

          Got a great item for this column? Tell me about it! Catch me on campus or go to my web page and shoot me an e-mail (www.carrfamily.com/alex).