Special Holiday Traditions

Davryn McDuffie

Sophomore Davyrn McDuffie and her family love to go to new places over Thanksgiving break.  

“My family makes sure to explore a new place with fall foliage. We all love adventure, so it is important to us that we travel and experience new things,” McDuffie said.  

Traveling and dressing up in holiday costumes and caroling for retirement homes are her favorite holiday memories.

“Even though our singing was not very good, those living in the facility were always very excited that we were there. Seeing the smiles on their faces is always one of the highlights of my holiday season,” McDuffie said.   

A McDuffie family tradition includes hosting a family barbecue.  

 “This is so fun because everybody is happy, stress-free, and excited for Christmas,”  McDuffie said.

Amy Byrne

French and Spanish teacher Amy Byrne says that Christmas at the Byrne household is packed with many fun and festive activities. 

Each year on Dec. 1, they start putting all the Christmas decorations on their tree. They decorate the tree as a family and each family member has personalized ornaments that they put on the tree. 

The Byrne Family also has an elf that visit them on the Dec. 1.

“She keeps an eye on the kids throughout the month and ‘spies’ on them from various parts of the house”.

Mrs. Byrne loves to incorporate baking in her holiday traditions. A French dessert that the family enjoys is Bûche de Noël.   

Olivia Schnel

Throughout the eight nights of Hanukkah, sophomore Olivia Schnel and her extended family come together to celebrate the holiday season.  

“My favorite tradition over Hanukkah is to teach my younger family members and friends, who have never played, how to play dreidel,” Schnel said.

The Hanukkah season brings back happy childhood memories  for Schnel including forced family photoshoots and festivities at school.

“When I was in elementary school, my mom would come and teach my class about Hanukkah and the reason behind the Menorah,” Schnel said.

 “It’s really nice to [celebrate] and make lifelong memories with my family,” Schnel said.