By Alexandra Hulit –

The View –  

Sophomore Mikayla Schneider spends Thanksgiving in South Dakota, visiting her mom’s side of the family.

“While I’m there, the guys hunt, the girls shop and we eat caramel rolls,” said Schneider.

She spends Christmas surrounded by immediate family, including her older siblings who return home for the holidays.

“We open one present on Christmas Eve,” Schneider said, “…and we have a lot of nativity sets.”

With the holiday season almost upon us, students are celebrating in many different ways. Between Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays, there is no shortage of unique family tales to tell.

“We have Thanksgiving at my grandma’s house,” said sophomore Francisco Sanchez.

Sophomore Kilee Tucker cooks Thanksgiving dinner with her mom. “We also go around the table and say what we’re thankful for,” she said.

According to www.cozi.com, popular American holiday traditions include building gingerbread houses, visiting a tree farm to pick out a Christmas tree and attending holiday productions, such as the Nutcracker.

Freshman James Dickerson embraces his heritage over the holidays.

“We’re Norwegian, so we use a lot of advent calendars,” said Dickerson. “We also eat Norwegian food like roast beef in broth and beets.”

Sophomore Alaina Seid celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas. “We celebrate both because my dad is Jewish and my mom is Christian,” Seid said.

Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday that celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century B.C. During those days, she and her family open one gift per night and also receive gold coins filled with chocolate.

For most students, the holiday season is a time to embrace family.

“The holidays are a great time to understand what I appreciate,” said senior Ben Chang. “I stay indoors and spend time with my family.”

“Spending time with family is different during the holiday season,” said sophomore Skylar Endley, “because everyone is 10 times happier.”