For centuries, people have been creating their own Christmas traditions. Whether it is making figgy pudding or decking the halls with holly, Christmas traditions are a large part of the holiday season. For JC students and teachers, this is no exception.

During the winter season, many members of the JC community have their own traditions with their families or friends that make the holiday season special.
Junior Grace Griffin shared that her favorite Christmas tradition is “going to the Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving and cutting down our family’s Christmas tree. It really puts me in the Christmas spirit and is a fun thing for me to do with my family.”
Science Teacher Andrew Ketchum also shared some of his favorite holiday memories and traditions. He said his favorite memory was “decorating our Christmas tree when I was a kid. . . We had these bubble lights, and we would put on those bubble lights; we also had these ornaments from my grandparents.”
Science Teacher Shane Lawler shared that his favorite thing about the holiday season is spending time with his kids and smelling the air outside.
Mr. Lawler commented, “I love sledding, and I get to do it now because I have kids which is awesome.”
He added, “I just love how it smells outside — you know how you can smell chimneys and stuff?”
JC also has many international students and teachers from other countries with their own special traditions and favorite parts about the winter and holiday season.
Junior Jeannot Basima, who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that his Christmas traditions are slightly different than the traditions in America.
First of all, he said that in the Congo, there is no winter. There is only spring and summer, so they celebrate these “winter holidays” in the heat.
Jeannot also said, due to his not celebrating Thanksgiving in his country, that he and his family use Christmas as a holiday to feast. He said, “Pretty much Christmas is like our Thanksgiving because all the people from everywhere come to one place and just eat a lot of food.”
World Language Teacher Giulia Beccarelli was born in Italy.
She said, “We don’t have Santa Claus; it was Saint Lucia. On December 13th, Saint Lucia brings you gifts, and my grandma would say that she saw Saint Lucia dressed up.”
No matter what traditions the students and teachers at JC celebrate, the school never fails to come together during the holiday season.