Holiday break is a beloved time of year for many people. The ability to stay home from school or work, spending time with family, making gifts for others, and even just relaxing makes the wait worth it. Considering Holiday break is a time that many individuals look forward to, I’ve decided to interview a few people from each grade, as well as a few teachers, on what they’re looking forward to doing over their break.
When interviewing Madison Gough and Athena Nowland, two freshmen at Amherst High School, on what they would spend their time doing, Maddie replied back with, “chilling at home.” During her Holiday break she’s mostly ready to sit back and relax, while also visiting her grandparents house for a small get-together. Although Maddie works at Camp Bandy, a facility that includes boarding, training, and grooming for dogs, she still isn’t too excited to work. On the other hand, in Athena’s case, being home with her three sisters is all about chaos. During the holidays, she’s going to celebrate Christmas with her family at her grandma’s house, and open presents on Christmas day at theirs. While Athena is staying home for their own version of a New Years party, she is still very excited to eat snacks, try out new presents, and spend time with her family before the break is over.
Between Oakley Franson and Ila Culver, two sophomores I interviewed, their Christmas break looks completely different from one another. During this break, Oakley is “very excited for Christmas” this year. Some of her plans include traveling to Minnesota to not only visit and hang out with her Dad’s side of the family, but also one of her friends that recently moved there, as well. While Oakley is out traveling, Ila is ready to stay at home and create amazing Christmas presents for friends and loved ones. While many find making gifts troublesome or stressful, Ila finds the utmost joy in crafting special, handmade presents in order to show how much her friends truly mean to her.
Although the sophomores’ plans sound like fun, the juniors at Amherst High School might have something just as excited planned. After interviewing both Emma Henke-Pomplun and Kyle Peterson about their plans, it sounds like they’ll have a lot of fun. This year, Emma has a lot of visiting to do. She’s excited to have small gatherings with her step dad’s family, her grandma, and even some friends. After Christmas she’ll take the time to relax without homework and even “try out all the new presents” she’ll get. While Kyle is also preparing to spend multiple Christmases with family, he’ll not only celebrate his birthday, but also his friend’s birthday. While Kyle’s birthday is on December 25, he can’t wait to open his presents and have dinner at a place of his choosing like always.
While it’s most senior’s last year at home before college, Christmas is a very sentimental holiday. When interviewing both Julez Peterson and Shelby Peterson, two seniors at Amherst High School, they both had similar answers. One of the main traditions during Julez’s holidays is “having Christmas parties after Christmas because everyone’s doing something different.” While it might not come about as an ideal celebration, it’s one Julez looks forward to every year. A few other fun activities she can’t wait to accomplish include not only sleeping, but especially watching the second seasons of Arcane, which is an animated show on Netflix she hasn’t stopped talking about ever since it came out. While Shelby and Kyle Peterson are siblings, their Holiday breaks will be a bit different. Although Shelby will have multiple parties to go to, as well as hanging out with many different family members, she’ll spend her minimal free time fulfilling most of her hobbies such as “drawing, writing, reading, and playing video games.”
Finally, when it comes to teachers, not only do their plans for the holidays sound interesting, but they are both planning activities for their kids, as well. The three teachers I interviewed include Ms. Kaycie, the high school and middle school art teacher; Mrs. Slattery, one of the high school English teachers, and Mr. Lynch, another high school English teacher. While Ms. Kaycie does have children, it doesn’t make her holiday break any less exciting. One thing she and her family are planning to do is travel to Milwaukee to visit some family members.
“[We have] New Year nachos because it’s a family tradition, and I love alliteration,” said Ms. Kaycie.
When talking about Mrs. Slattery’s plans, she’s in for a very festive break with her family of five. One of her main goals this year is not only keeping her children alive, but also watching The Muppet Christmas Carol with them. Some extra activities Mrs. Slattery plans include skiing, “which Josie is very excited for,” celebrating Christmas, and grading research papers.
In Mr. Lynch’s case, he and his wife, Mrs. Lynch, the elementary gym teacher, plan on spending Christmas with both sides of Mr. Lynch’s parents, as well as Mrs. Lynch’s mother. Even though they want to relax for the rest of their break, they might end up going to a friend’s house for New Years.
While Holiday break is something multiple people look forward to, everyone has a different plan. Whether that plan includes staying home, crafting presents, or spending time with family and loved ones, each person has something they’re excited to do this year. After interviewing different students and staff members from Amherst High School about their plans for this year’s winter break, it’s easy to see that many can’t wait for this exciting and festive time to occur.
