With the cold weather comes the warm feeling that the holiday season gives us. For some, it might be shopping for gifts for their loved ones that makes the holiday season special, for others, it might be watching the first snowflakes fall that brightens their season, and for so many, family is what makes the holidays so happy.

 Freshman Miles Mayo loves to spend time with family during the holiday season.

“Being with family is the greatest tradition anyone can have,” Mayo said.

Students participate in many diverse traditions, from singing carols in the street to finding a pickle in the christmas tree.

Freshman Emmilyn Kelly spends special time with family every year.

“My family gets into one car and we drink my mom’s homemade hot chocolate and look at Christmas lights downtown!” Kelly said.

Although the holiday season is often associated with Christmas, Christmas is not the only holiday celebrated by our student body.

Freshman Ruth Smith loves celebrating Hanukkah with her family.

“One of the games I love playing with my family is dreidel, which is where you spin a dreid

el, or a top. It has Hebrew letters on it that correlate to an action in the game. Nun means you get nothing, Gimmel means you take all of the pot in the middle, which could be chocolate coins called gelt, nuts, or raisins,” Smith said. 

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday in which over eight days, eight candles are lit on the menorah, which represents the small amount of oil burned in the Second Temple of Jerusalem.

Sophomore Kayden Jones celebrates Danish traditions with his family.

“There is a Danish tradition where little creatures called nisse leave small gifts like candy in a sock you hang on your door,” Jones said.

Our

student body is so diverse in the way they celebrate the holidays, and we are lucky to be able to celebrate with each other in our traditions!