Christmas in the Parking Lot- On December 12th we had Christmas in the parking lot and being a part of FCCLA I was closer to the middle! We had a bubble machine acting as snow and were giving out candy to the kids who drove by. The people there helping were allowed to get hot cocoa to stay warm with the choir signing down on end! At the beginning of the line, a group of middle schoolers were doing karaoke. 

Cheerful Pickup- The cheerful Pickup was on December 10th and the results of the pickup were excellent! We had a total of 6-8 trash bags full and cleaned up all down National Ave.  We were shown on News 10 and were giving out hot cocoa to all that came!

Mr. Richards has been teaching for 10 years. Mr. Richards teaches business classes and is the DECA sponsor for our school. He likes to read books and spend time with his grandkids. He went to Terre Haute South Vigo High School. He likes to go to the zoo and go on picnics. He has three daughters and two grandkids. West is like family to him. He likes the Colts and the Cubs. He is part Irish and part German.

Mr. Richards

Photos by Sara Callecod

Christmas is right around the corner. This gives us time to spend with our friends and family. Here are some activities that you can do with your family over Christmas break:

• Baking and decorating cookies.
• If it snows, you could go sledding.
• Watch Christmas movies.
• Drink hot cocoa or eggnog.
• Have a party!

These are just a few of the ideas that you could do over Christmas break with your family and friends.

             Have you ever wondered where candy canes came from? Have you ever noticed how it’s only been shown at Christmas? Candy canes are cylindrical sticks with patterns, usually stripes, resembling a walking stick. In 1670, a choirmaster in Germany handed out these sugar sticks to his young singers to keep them quiet during the Living Creche Ceremony, a celebration on Christmas Eve. In honor of this celebration, he bent them to look like shepherds’ crooks. The candy canes would be all white. Candy canes spread all over Europe and America. Candy canes made a debut in America in 1847 in Wooster, Ohio. A German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard would decorate his trees with candy canes. The first red and white striped candy canes were made at the beginning of the 19th century. The peppermint flavor also started to be in candy canes around that time. 

Sources:

Who Invented Candy Canes? – HISTORY

https://www.history.com › news › candy-canes-invente…

By Lorelei Elkins and Lynnleigh Kyle

  ~ Finally, the Christmas season is here and you think about spending time with your loved ones and family too. You enjoy every December’s beautiful moments to interact and rejoice in your cherished moments with family and relatives. Without any further ado, let’s describe detail by detail about family traditions. 

~ What are family traditions and why do they matter? Family traditions are traditions that are celebrated each year to strengthen family relationships and family generations. Let’s take a look at why family traditions matter anyway. They matter because family traditions can change family well-being and identity.

~ What if your relatives cannot travel during the holidays? There is a simple solution to this problem. You can host video calls for your family and relatives if they are too far out of your state, or they can’t travel over the holidays. It gives you the experience to meet your family and relatives even if you are not physically present during the holidays. 

 ~ What are different ways of celebrating family traditions? Most activities are creative and joyful while some are fun and memory-related.

Let’s list some family activities you can enjoy during the holidays:

• Go ice skating.
• Make yummy hot chocolate.
• Decorate the tree with special ornaments.
• Send Christmas Letters to any of your loved ones.
• Make Christmas deserts, or build a gingerbread house.
• Wear an Ugly Christmas sweater.

Sources

“38 Best Christmas Traditions 2022 — Top Classic Holiday Activities.” Good Housekeeping, 27 October 2022, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/g23601545/christmas-traditions-kids-family/. Accessed 14 December 2022.

Cossey, Lisa. “The Importance of Family Traditions – Youth First.” Youth First, 12 November 2019, https://youthfirstinc.org/the-importance-of-family-traditions/. Accessed 13 December 2022.

• Spanish- Feliz Navidad 
• One of the most played Feliciano’s and recorded Christmas songs in the world. It was also part of a 1970 self-titled holiday album. 
• French- Joyeux Noel 
• Also the name of a 2005 war drama film based on the Christmas true  of December 1914 
• German- Frohe Weihnachten 
• Italian- Buon Natale 
• Italians wish this to all from the cashier at the grocery store to your closest friends.
• Portuguese – Feliz Natal 
• Romanian- Cracium- Fericit 
• Russian-  Schastlivogo Rozhdestva 
• They celebrate the season with books, crafts, and recipes. 
• Swedish- God Jul 
• Norwegian-God Jul 
• Danish- Glaedlig Jul 
• Finnish- Hyvaa Joulua 
• Finland has a special puff pastry dough they make each year to celebrate.
• Icelandic- Gleoileg Jul
• Polish- Wesotych Swiat
• Dutch- Vrolijk Kerstfeest
• Croatain-Sretan Bozic 
• Czech- Vesele Vance 
• No one turns their light on in their house on Christmas Eve to tell the first star that appears in the sky. The dining table should be set for an even number of places because it is believed that odd numbers bring bad luck. 
• Hawaiian-Mele Kalikimaka 
• They greet each other by saying Mele Kalikimaka on Christmas Day. Mele Kalikimaka literally means the first Christmas in Hawaiian. Protestant missionaries arrived in Hawaii from New England in 1820 and widely spread the adoption of Christmas. 
•   Turkish- Mutlu Noeller 
• Muslim Turks don’t go around saying Merry Christmas to each other, but if you are a Christian of any denomination, it is perfectly ok to say Merry Christmas. In Turkish, that would be Mutlu Noeller.  

Source: https://www.mondly.comhow-to-say-merry-christmas-different-languages

        Do you know what you’re doing for New Year’s? Well, you could have a party with all your family and friends or have a karaoke night and watch the ball drop in New York City. If that doesn’t sound exciting, you could have a movie marathon of all the new year themed movies. Travel with family or to family and make a time capsule with them about all the good memories from this year. If there are a lot of children in your family, you could go and buy a party popper or eat s’mores around a bonfire with all your friends and family.

           Maybe you want to be more creative than that. You could make a floating lantern at night or get balloons and write your favorite food or snack on it and release it outside. You might just want something easy to do for New Year’s like fireworks and sparklers for all the adults and children. Sometimes you are not an outside person and want to stay indoors. You can create art with glow paint or use glow sticks to make crowns, glasses, bracelets, necklaces, and other exciting creations. I wonder what other strange ways people celebrate the New Year!

https://bestthingsin.com

Germany started a Christmas tree tradition we now know. In the 1600s brought decorated trees to their houses to celebrate Christmas. Evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands symbolize eternal life.. The Christmas tree was shown to England in the early 19th century. The tree was popularized in the 19th century by Prince Albert.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 PG

How the  Grinch Stole Christmas is the perfect movie for the whole family. It has become a classic Christmas movie over time with its popularity. This is a live-action version of the Grinch. Even though this version of the Grinch is live-action, it still has a fun, almost cartoony feel. The Grinch is played by actor Jim Carrey. He does a fantastic job as the Grinch. This version of the Grinch shows the Grinch’s backstory and why he hates Christmas so much. This is a great classic that’s hard to pass up.

Elf 2003 PG

The movie Elf is a great movie. It’s goofy and silly. The movie Elf is about a toddler who accidentally ends up at the North Pole and is raised by elves. When he grows up, he finds out he’s a human. He goes on a journey to New York City to find his real father. Actor Will Ferrell plays the part of Buddy the elf extremely well. The movie is very original which can make it more entertaining to watch instead of the same thing over and over. I personally would definitely recommend this movie.

Spirited 2022 PG13 

The movie Spirited takes a fun twist on the original movie Scrooge which was made in 1936. This movie is fun and exciting. The singing and acting are good. The movie has a great cast. The actors fit their roles very well. The visuals in the movie are great. The movie is about each Christmas eve the ghost of Christmas present choose a person to be visited by three ghosts that help them become a better person but this season he picked the wrong person. This person makes the ghost of Christmas present rethink his own past. I definitely recommend watching