In a little less than a week, Christmas will have come and gone. It seems as if time flies at warp speed, but it also feels like the Christmas festivities started forever-and-a-day ago. Each year, the Christmas commercials start earlier and earlier. Some even begin airing before Thanksgiving. Some stores even start selling their Christmas merchandise before Halloween starts. Each year it feels like Christmas gets more and more commercialized, and because of that, it becomes overwhelming.

Melt butter in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium-low heat. Add brown and white sugar and corn syrup. Stir regularly, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pot, until the mixture begins to boil (about 30 minutes). Resist the temptation to raise the heat.

Jayme Pantekoek is an athletic trainer and owns a weight training company called Full Strength. Jayme has also formed an interest and gained a lot of knowledge about mushrooms and their mysteries. Here, she shares her passion with Breezes.

I, like many other teenagers, have asked myself the pestering question, “am I good enough?” more than I would ever like to admit. Now that I am a senior, I wonder this more and more as I stress over college applications. As I continue to go through this stress, I notice my peers experiencing similar worries. The future is unknown, which is a terrifying reality.

Throughout evolutionary history, being in a group has always been a huge survival advantage. Groups offer mutual protection and the promise of sharing resources. They foster the development of new ideas, and they create communities. It could be said with accuracy that each formed society has been created by another, but groups are also known for doing nearly everything together once they have established themselves as a group.

It’s been the elephant in the room for many public educators and students alike, and Breezes is here to address it. Last month, Betsy DeVos became the nation’s eleventh Secretary of Education, however, her qualifications fall short of her predecessors; DeVos, a billionaire, donated over $200 million to the Republican Party, which leaves many to believe that her massive donation granted her the position of Secretary of Education. Additionally, DeVos’ qualifications for such a demanding position are more than lacking, since she has never taught nor worked in a school system, public or otherwise.