There’s not one Christmas experience that is alike and while there can be the same event, the people are what make it fun. Diving deeper into how students and staff spends the holiday season meant taking a look into what traditions have been made over several years.
From traveling around the world, to baking cookies, to simply just spending time with family, holiday traditions can look different with everyone. For some it comes down to just playing a simple game with the whole family.
“We always play a game where we roll up money and gift cards in different layers of saran wrap and use mittens to unravel it,” freshman Finley McNew said. “After dinner my grandma goes to Target, gets all the gift cards and money then wraps it up. It’s the next person’s turn when they roll dice doubles.”
Games are definitely a big hit during the holidays. Whether it’s using things around the house or just your basic game of Monopoly, this is a common form of entertainment that will never go out of style.
“My family plays a round of every board game we have,” music director Jordan Newhouse said. “It started because we were on our phones during Christmas Eve and my mom got mad so she had my brother and I come up with something to do. We didn’t really want to commit to a game because we couldn’t agree on anything. Then I thought that since we had a giant cabinet for games we might as well play all of them. I had everyone grab their favorite board game and I added three more so we ended up having like 10 board games. Then we just did one round of all the board games, which takes close to an hour, and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
The holidays are a cheerful time for bonding and being with one another. As some families play games as a group, others have other traditions that have been carried on for years.
“Every year my competition cheer team watches American Cheerleaders together,” cheer coach Kelsey Chastain said. “It’s fun to see the new girls on the team watch it for the first time and their reaction to the movie. But even the girls watching it for their third or fourth time still enjoy it no matter what.”
No matter what’s going on, you can count on the holiday season to bring cheerful togetherness. So whether it’s twirling in a snow globe of nostalgia or decking the halls with laughter, having those yearly traditions with the ones you love form special bonds that everyone looks forward to for years to come.
