The Falcon Press.The Christmas Edition 2013

Happy Holidays from e Lake!!!

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What Do You Really

Need?Sometimes we don’t see how good our life is compared to other people. We are always quick to say how bad we have it but none of us really stop to think about others. There are plenty of people all around us who have it worse than us but all we ever think about is ourselves. We are selfish and inconsiderate about the people around us we just think about what we want but we don’t take the time to appreciate the good things we already have. We are so blinded by the material things we want, that we don’t see that we don’t need all those things to be

happy. Everyone has lived without material things for years and are happy so why aren’t we? Technology has made such a huge impact on our society that we have gotten obsessed with it and is taking over our lives.

People are just thinking about when they are going to buy that new tv, cellphone, camera, computer, etc...Nobody takes the time to say, “I’m so grateful for the things that I have at this moment.”

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Nobody really thinks I’m so grateful for the food on my table, roof over my head, or this blanket keeping me warm. Everyone is so focused on their own life we don’t take time to think of those less fortunate. Our friends or family members could be struggling and we don’t even know it because they don’t like people knowing. There are so many people that struggle and are just grateful for the food on their table, while we cry because we don’t have that new Iphone. Our generation needs to appreciate the things we have now because what if days, months, years from now all of it is gone? There are so many things that we don’t need but we have them just because we can. It’s not a bad thing to want and have nice things but it’s just the

matter of cherishing it. We take things for granted so much we forget that it’s a blessing to just have a roof over our head. One thing we have to remember is material things don’t last forever but your family does. So before you go asking your parents to buy you something expensive and cool ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”

“I have learned that you can go anywhere you want to go and do anything you want to do and buy all the things that you want to buy and meet all the people that you want to meet and learn all the things that you desire to learn and if you do all these things but are not madly in love: you have still not begun to live.” By: Anthony Santiago & Alexis Mendiola

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"History Behind Christmas

Ornaments"

Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two

millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature.

We o!en lose sight of some of the wonderful things about Christmas with our busy hustle and bustle with all the parties and gi! shopping at Christmas. It is good to look back to the real reason that we celebrate Christmas to begin with. Spending time with family and friends,receiving gi!s,singing carols,helping decorate the Christmas trees,eating warm comfy food and celebrating the Birth of Christ is what Christmas is ALL about .In America, a Christmas tree hadn’t been used until Germans immigrated in the early 1800’s and brought the tradition with them. Americans at first thought using a Christmas tree was a

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Pagan tradition and didn’t want the tree as part of the Christmas celebration, but by the end of the 1800’s most American’s followed suit. The Christmas tree originated in central/northern Europe during the Middle Ages and was originally decorated with fruit and nuts. It is thought originally to have represented the tree in the Garden of Eden. Christmas Eve used to be celebrated as the feast of Adam and Eve, that’s why it had fruit on it. It formed the backdrop to a play which traced bible history from Adam and Eve to the birth of Christ, the new Adam. The fruit and nuts were then given to children.The plays were suppressed during the Protestant reformation but towns guilds kept the tree custom going. Later, people added candles (later still lights) to the trees,

replaced the fruit with glass baubles and the nuts with sweets.

We all know about Christmas decorations right? but yet some individuals don’t know the meanings or history behind these decorations and what they symbolize.Year a!er year, we pull out the boxes, put up the decorations, then take them down, and store them away for next year. If we take all the time and effort to make our tree look glammed out and have it done before Christmas, it’s going to be a lot more meaningful if you understand the history and symbolism behind those decorations. As we all know Christmas colors are red and green, but many people don’t know what they symbolize? Well RED symbolizes the BLOOD of Christ,offered in sacrifice of our sins and

GREEN is the color of LIFE. The EVERGREENS also know as our Christmas tree in the middle of winter gives us HOPE that new life will come even a!er the cold winter. To a world that was dead too sin, Jesus Christ brings NEW LIFE. THE BALL ORNAMENTS: Represent the FRUIT on the tree. WREATHS: The CIRCLE symbolizes the ETERNAL nature of god. You trace the line of a circle, and it NEVER ENDS. Jesus Christ is the ETERNAL Son of God, without beginning and without end. CANDY CANES: Their shape is that of a SHEPHERD’s staff: to guide the sheep. This reminds us of the Shepherd’s who were the first WITNESSES of the birth of Christ. The COLORS Of The Candy Cane: WHITE symbolizes the Virgin birth and the purity of Christ, RED: symbolizes the blood of Christ,

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Christmas is all about spending time with your family/loved ones and enjoying every minute,second or hour spended with them, and it’s not always about expecting gi!s, because knowing that you get to be alive everyday is one of the greatest gi!s anyone can get. Merry Christmas!By: Erica Leyva and Alejandra Merida

offered in sacrifice for our sins. STRIPES: remind us of the marks from his SCOURGING in his Passion. CANDLES or LIGHTS symbolize the fact that Christ is the LIGHT of the World. He DISPELS the DARKNESS of sin. POINSETTIA FLOWERS: These are native to Mexico and Native America,and they bloom in the short days of winter. The shape of the bloom is like the STAR of Bethlehem. The colors are the traditional red and green. Flores de Noche Buena-Flowers of the Holy Night: In the Mexican tradition, a YOUNG GIRL wished to bring a PRESENT to baby Jesus, but had no MONEY. The girl, Pepita could only pick WEEDS along the road as she went to visit the Christ child. But as she neared the ALTAR in the church too present her Christmas gi!, the simple weeds suddenly

TRANSFORMED into the vibrant, beautiful Flores de Noche Buena. CHRISTMAS HOLLY: Prickly pointed LEAVES: Are a reminder of the drops of his BLOOD shed in SACRIFICE for the sins of humanity.THE STARS: Used as ornaments or as a tree topper symbolize the Star of Bethlehem that guided the wise men to the Savior. THE WOOD OF THE TREE: Symbolizes the CROSS of Christ as he died for our sins.ORNAMENTS ON THE TREE: Dec. 24 used to be observed on the Church calendar as the Feast of Adam and Eve. In the Middle Ages, there were religious plays called “Mystery plays”. They told story of Creation and Adam and Eve. A PROP for those plays was a Tree of Paradise: FIR tree with RED APPLES on it. These EVOLVED into our tree ornaments. The Christmas tree is

usually decorated with an ANGEL on the top to represent the ANGELS that were there at the birth of Christ to worship him as the Son of God and too announce his coming. The Christmas tree itself: Represents Christ’ Birth.

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WINTER ANIMALS

Arctic Fox: The average length of this cute little fox is 33.6in. This animal will eat any small animals it can find. They have beautiful white fluffy fur in the winter and brown in the summer time. Litters tend to average 5-8 kits even up to 25 which both mother and father raise. Its prey to polar bears. Their binomial name is vulpes lagopus. They have boring underground dens with generations of family. Arctic foxes can survive Arctic temperatures as low as -58 degrees. The average lifespan of an arctic fox is 3 to 6 years. Its also know as white fox, polar fox, or snow fox.

By: Angel Alvarado

Snow Leopard: kill animals up to three to four times their weight. They have long, thick fur that varies with the color of a smokey grey or a yellowish tan with white under parts. Snow Leopards were first described by a scientist named Schreber in 1775 as a illustration and assumed that the cat lived in Barbary, Persia, East India, and China. These beautiful

rare creatures are recently endangered for three main reasons such as: being poached for Asian medicines, poached for their pelt, and habitat loss. To learn more about Snow Leopards you can go to this website at http://animals.nationalgeo-graphic.com/animals/mammals/snow-leopard/

By: Tishmal Calac

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polar bears: polar bears roam the arctic ice sheets.They also very strong swimmers, they swim in the coastal waters.They have slightly webbed front paws which aid in there swimming. Polar bears have been seen swimming hundreds of miles away from land, such distance may have been obtained from floating on glaciers.

They live in some of the planet's coldest environments.They are coated in fur which covers a layer of fat, they have black skin which helps them keep warm, they are also covered in white fur which aids in the camouflage in the snow.They normally prey on seals. They weigh in at anywhere between 900-1600 lbs

By: Eugene Ulrich

Twas the night before Christmas, there was a

Reindeer: Reindeer are also called caribou. Caribou live in the north in almost continents of the world. Both sexes have antlers. With their thick fur to protect them from cold harsh winter, and hooves broadened to keep level on deep snow piles the Caribou stands four foot six inches in height. During the time in the summer they mainly feed upon tree saplings while in the winter they dig under snow to find lichens to munch on.

By: Timothy Renzullo

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The Day Aliens Destroyed Christmas.

young boy named Sean Ben Spooner, he was the most depressed child of them all. One night in Townsville a week before Christmas Sean met a gal by the name of Lizzy, she was the most punk of them all. Sean had never met a chick of that amount of beauty before, he was dumbfounded by her gorgeous eyes it was like she was from another planet. A few days have passed and he worked up the guts to ask her on a date to his favorite pizza shop

where he told her how he felt about her. Lizzy had no idea on what his intentions were so she went along with his sayings.Over the past couple days lizzy and seans relationship began to grow and they started to become a little more than just friends maybe beyond. On the day before christmas Lizzy had something to tell Sean.. He waited patiently and she had no idea on how to tell him for he might not understand. Sean could not bear to wait any longer so he assumed the worst and nearly took his own life. As he layed on the floor whimpering in sorrow she majestically appeared in his room and healed his emotions and told him what was going on.As she told Sean he

could not believe a word she said. Turns out their was an Armada looking for a lost alien princess. Sean was astonished to have heard and she had given him an option either to go to her home planet or be vaporized by the armada. On Christmas day his choice was made. He had no one to lean on and no one who care so he chose to flee with the princess. As a friendly ship approached his house she warned him to never speak out of place or he might as well be destroyed. When he entered he looked back at the miserable planet and wished them all a Merry Christmas..

Written by: Victor Hernandez, Adrian Lay, Shawn Sambula

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Holiday MoviesWhats up falcons we came up with some great movies for the Holidays so you can sit around with the family and watch a great movie with them or maybe just by yourself! Home Alone

which came out in 1990, This Christmas with Chris brown goes along with the song he had sung This Christmas came out in 2007 another Christmas that had

came out in 2007 is called The Perfect Holiday.

The perfect holiday is the perfect movie for you falcons it has action and comedy it will bring laughter to you. This is the movie that brightens your christmas spirit.

Santa clause had came out in 1994 and another movie is Frosty The Snow Man! I hope you enjoy the movies that we have and that you have a great time with laughter watching these movies!

-Jasmin Alvarez

Shanice Haynes

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PosadaOn December 16 till December 26 from 8 to 10 p.m.In recognition of the birth of christ they do a play and in the play they pray the third joyful mystery which narrates the nativity story.. Families get together to celebrate and give their home to statue. (Representing: Mary, Joseph, Jesus) a place to stay. They sing songs that relates on how they struggled until they are granted a place to stay for the night.The type of food and drinks are mole,posole, bunuelos, tamales, champurrado, A"er the rosary and the singing, games are played, pinatas are broken and fire crackers, candles, and the dancing begin. Every states have different traditions,

some do a dance( Folklorico dance) of the witch and the devil, they give out Aguinaldos which are goody bag that contain sugar cane, animal cookies, candy and fruit. The type of food and drinks are pan dulce, atole dulce, atole de masa, tejocote, caña, chocolate, rosca, menudo, ponche. The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lampshade. The final location may be at a church.

Vanessa Monreal

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Student Memories

New Years Resolutions

For Christmas all of our families go out to places where they have trees and we all get a tree and decorate it as a family put up the lights, decorations, etc. we also take family portraits and send them to our loved ones. And then we put our gi"s under the tree. And our whole family gathers together the day before Christmas at my godfathers house and we have a big family dinner and we help each other make food and all. And then we just all hangout and talk or gossip on everything til its midnight then we open up a few presents and then a"er that we just give thanks to everyone and we just go to sleep. Then the next morning we open the rest of the

presents and when we’re done we clean up and say thank you give hugs to our family members and then we all help make breakfast for the whole family and just enjoy the rest of the day. -Tatiana Baeza

My New Years revolution is to be become more balanced in life with focusing on different hobbies and not just messin around a"er

school. To just

dedicate more of my time to the things I love to do as well as the things I want to achieve.

My New Year`s Resolution is to eat less junk food and to eat a little more healthier.

My New Year's Resolution is to improve my grades keep them up and get my credits.

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Christmas Spirit

By: Angel Alva and Adam Yniguze

During Christmas time people Decorate their homes with beautiful lights. The reason why families do this is because it is to help “Santa Claus” find the homes of all the good little boys and girls. Another thing that families do for Christmas is they leave out a glass of milk and cookies for Santa, but they instead of leaving cookies for him they should try leaving a salad or some veggies because Santa is starting to get to big for some cheminees (that was a joke btw). But the most important thing of all to show your Christmas spirit.

Christmas Spirit

Remember when you were a kid in the month of December,and Christmas day was right around the

corner waiting for the perfect moments were the family gathers under the tree and opens their gi"s for one another. Spending time with your family on Christmas day is the best time of the year,well at least it should be fun to spend time with your family during Christmas time.What puts you in the christmas spirit?Most people say that its the weather that puts them in Christmas spirit,when the sweaters,jackets,scarves and other winter clothing comes out. The cooler weather,the count down by days till christmas and mostly decorations. Christmas makes family come together to decorate everything in the holly jolly spiritual way.People decorate their homes

to show the their hard work of caring about the holiday spirit.But its a known fact that around christmas time,food is the best way to celebrate Saint Nicks holiday. Every street, block or maybe even city spreads the beautiful aroma of home cooked feast that are brought together by the great holiday called Christmas.The smell that spreads quickly around your house that smells soo delicious,barely able to wait to eat for dinner..

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Finding Myself

My names is Anthony Alexis Santiago and I am seventeen years old, born on March 29,1996. I currently live in a small city named Perris with my two Parents & sister. We have lived in Perris for about six years now and we enjoy it very much. The city is very quiet and is slowly becoming more modern and is progressing. The community itself is very old and poor community but there

is always room for change but that doesn’t necessarily mean the community is a bad one.There are many stereotypical things people think about the Perris community, schools, people, etc. which frankly aren’t true. But I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. As of right now, I’m currently a senior at Perris Lake High School and I enjoy this school because it isn’t as overwhelming as other high schools. I must admit the things I heard about Perris Lake had me terrified to come to this school but I have learned to love this school way more than my previous. Perris Lake High School is a better

school in my opinion because the teachers and staff actually take the time to know the students; Considering the school is small. Many of the students at this particular high school take their education seriously and many keep their grades on check with grade logs. I never really cared for school until I had a reality check and noticed all I was doing wrong. I have matured a lot since I was younger and now I think of life in a whole new perspective. I know I’m still a child and I’ll make mistakes but thats all part of life. I’ve recently discovered what I really want to do with my life and what makes me happy; its

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being a writer. Life is a funny passage all it takes is one person to change your life. I’ve never considered being a writer because I never thought I was well-suited or worthy as the writers of today. I didn’t believe my writing was compelling until favorite teachers Ms. Young - my english teacher - and Mrs. Lannerhag -my journalist teacher - had total faith in my writing. If it weren’t for this high school I would’ve have never met the two teachers that believe in my writing more than I did. They have helped me realize that I can do anything I want in life and I can be just as good as any writer or maybe even better. I owe it to them because if they didn’t believe in my writing I would have never considered writing to be my future. I don’t think I

would have found my talent and career if it wasn’t for them and ill always appreciate them for that. I think life works out on its own, you just have to live and wait to discover who you want to be.

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Gaming Life Chose Me

Remember When The World Ended Last Year?

Welcome back to another page of “Gaming Life Chose Me”. Being the third official installment, we’re not really gonna celebrate this lame feat. What we can celebrate is Christmas instead! Aren’t we all ready to load up our game consoles and PCs with some games you got for Christmas? I know I am!

Can you believe it?! Ecco the Dolphin (Pictured Above) is coming back! Get your 3DS’ ready by December 13 for the 3D remake of Ecco the Dolphin. It’s a game with a dolphin. It’s ok if you think that’s lame. I’m not saying you're wrong, I’m just saying you need to get your “view on life” checked. Anyways, that's all we have room for. We'll be ,where is never snows, on Page 19!

Have you been waiting for some new Borderlands 2 DLC (Downloadable Content) like I have? Well if you were then

our waiting is almost done. Don’t know exactly when but December is the month the DLC “How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day” will be available for download. That title most likely implies that the DLC will be sort of “Christmas” themed. Can’t wait!

Been wanting a really good racing simulator that has been around since PS1? Well it’s time to shi! gears from “waiting” to “buying” because Gran Turismo 6 (Pictured Top Right) is coming out on the 6th! Like all GT games, the graphics this time around are gonna be top notch. Especially if you have a next-gen console.

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Christmas Around the WorldIn Peru nativity scenes with Retablos inside are very popular. When priests were first taken to traveling they would carry small altars around with them for festival days. These gradually developed into portable boxes with saints above the altar and scenes from everyday life below it. Now the retablos depict Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, with

local people crowding around.

In Japan, Christmas is known as more of a time to spread happiness rather than a religious celebration. Christmas Eve is o"en

celebrated more than Christmas day. Christmas eve is thought of as a romantic day, in which couples spend together and exchange presents. In many ways it resembles Valentine’s day.In Greece on Christmas Eve, children, especially boys, o"en go out singing ‘kalanda’ (carols) in the streets. They play drums and triangles as they sing. Sometimes they will carry model boats decorated with nuts painted gold. Carrying boats is a very old custom in the Greek Islands, if they sing well, they might be given money, nuts, sweets, and dried figs to eat.

In my home, here in Cali, my family traditions are coming

together with loved ones and close friends,

having a big Christmas Eve dinner, staying up till 12 O’ clock midnight to open gi"s and also give thanks for our blessings. Then Christmas morning we have tamales with champurrado for breakfast. Our saying is “If you didn't get any presents, at least you still got to unwrap something”. A"er, we come together and chat about memories and look through picture albums and old family videos. -Celia MartinThe best gi" of all is coming together to

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celebrate a special time of the year with friends and family. It’s the gi" that keeps on

giving!! :)

What my family and I do for Christmas, we usually celebrate it on Christmas eve and we wait till 12 to open presents. We wear matching shirts and we have a family feast. The best thing to do on Christmas is hanging out with your family and thats exactly what my family and i like to do. My brother comes and sometimes even his girlfriend,and we like to chat about things that we remember when we were little. I like Christmas the best because it brings families together and

you feel the Christmas spirit. Another thing we like to do is take photos and eat tamales. Yup I enjoy Christmas the best because i get to see the people i love. <3 :) -Leah Gomez

There are many Christmas Traditions, yet the only thing that matters is spending time with your family and coming together to enjoy this holiday. Also, remembering all the times and moments when you were little, waiting for the time to open presents. How excited you were when your cousin would come or when you shake your predents to see if you can figure out what it was. Yet the best thing about Christmas is when we would eat! The food and family whom you have not seen in a while. Those are the times you remember as a child and now each year

when Christmas comes around you remember, planning to spend it better. So if you got Christmas traditions thats great! So i hope you fun this Christmas, and to all a goodnight! :)

BY:

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Holiday Tunes

Music is always part of the holidays. Music complete the holidays by giving Christmas spirit and heart. Music is a part of everyone and this kind of music has extra spirit.

This Christmas by Chris Brown released in 2007Silent night by The Temptations released in August 1980Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer written by Johnny Marks in 1949White Christmas by

Elvis Presley released in the late 1960sWe Wish you a Merry Christmas by Ray Conniff released in 1962Someday at Christmas by Stevie Wonder released on November 27th, 1967

Jingle Bells by James Lord Pierpont released in 1857I’ll be home for christmas by Bing Crosby released in 1943Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee released 1958Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland released in 1944Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Maury Laws released on December 14th, 1970The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole released on September 22nd, 2005

Hey falcons we have found some great Christmas songs that we would like to suggest so you can listen to. Here are some of the songs, some of them are oldies and some are popular singers that are around now.

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Donald Glover,AKA Childish Gambino has a new album coming out on December 10 brilliantly named Because The Internet. Though we’d already heard a couple of songs from the LP – “Worldstar” and “3005″ – I didn’t have much else to go on; but because the internet, I now know that Chance the Rapper, Azealia Banks and Jhené Aiko all appear on the LP, which boasts the above creepy animated GIF as a cover. Check it out.

Glover first came to attention for his work with Derrick Comedy

and for subsequently becoming a writer for the NBC comedy series 30 Rock. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as college student Troy Barnes, on NBC'sCommunity and for his rising career as a stand-up comedian and rapper, respectively. In 2011, Glover signed to Glassnote Records, where he releases music under his Childish Gambino moniker. A"er releasing several albums and mixtapes himself, he released Camp, his first album for the label, on November 15, 2011

written by Gabriel Cisneros

No Blues is the fi"h studio album by British indie rock band Los Campesinos! The album was produced by John Goodmanson and the bands guitarists, Tom

Campesino. Los Campesinos! first gained notice in the major cities of UK. Not till this album did they really start getting recognized by Americans. While lead singer Gareth Campesinos may write the same type of lyrics he always has, his vocal style matches the band’s more consistent and mature sound better than it ever has before on No Blues. No Blues is sure to be their most popular and recognized album by Los Campesinos yet.

Written by Ayden Bryant

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Lamborghini Veneno 2013The lamborghini veneno is a $4.5 million dollar sports car its also limited edition and was a show piece based on the lamborghini aventador for lamborghini’s 50th anniversary. Only three cars were made and were all sold. The car is a two seater and a top speed of 221 miles per hour. Its one of the most exclusive cars in the world. Its about ten more times expensive than the lamborghini aventador and is fully street legal it debuted on the 2013 Geneva Auto show. The roadster gets a 6.5 liter V12 engine that churns out 750 horsepower. The engine is mated to a seven speed IRS transmission.all the exterior parts are made from carbon fiber. The veneno also

has no roof and a total weight of 3,278 pounds and this results in power to weight ratio of just 4.38. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds. BY:Gabriel Jimenez

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Tucker Sedan

The Tucker Sedan (aka The Tucker Torpedo), was an american automobile designed by Preston Tucker in 1948 straight out of Chicago, Illinois. A"er World War 2, The public wanted brand new car designs, but the 3 main Detroit automakers had not developed new models since 1941. Studebaker was the first to release an all new postwar car model, but Tucker decided to take an all new approach and design something, innovative, safe, and modern. It featured a water-cooled aluminum block, flat 6 rear engine, disc brakes, four wheel independent suspension, fuel injection, seat belts, a padded dashboard, and more. These designs are designs

that shaped the cars of modern day. A perimeter frame surrounded the car for max crash protection, as well as a roll bar integrated in the roof. All the controls were easy to reach and near the steering wheel as well. The windshield was made of shatterproof glass and was constructed to pop out in the event of a crash to protect the passengers. These cars were eventually outsold by the major car companies of the world, but every one

of the companies have adapted several aspects of the Tucker Sedan to themselves even to this day. These cars are now very limited and there may be only as many as 50 of them in the whole entire world, with most of them being in museums. A Tucker Sedan in present day would sell for approximately $1,200,000. This car is responsible for many of the safety add ons cars have today and is a huge part of history.

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WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND

A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR!

Congratulations to those seniors who will be

graduating this December.We hope you achieve

all your goals in the future & succeed in life !! -

Perris Lake Journalism Team .