As the food gets passed around the table, cheery smiles and thoughts of thankfulness fill the heads of the exuberant family. Traditions of festivities and fun keep the aura of optimism present throughout the holiday season.

   With the holiday season coming up, many families are celebrating in peculiar or even traditional ways. Some of the holidays celebrated throughout the student body include, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a class clown favorite, April Fool’s Day.

“My family celebrates any holiday that we can participate in,” graphic design teacher Lindsay Kelly said. “We love hosting people at our house and finding any reason to have fun and enjoy each other’s company.”

As Thanksgiving approaches, students struggle to contain their excitement for the time off spent with loved ones. Stomachs growl and mouths water as all the food is being cooked.

“My family is super southern– we’re from Louisiana– so we have Cajun holiday traditions,” sophomore Emma Cook said. “We’ve had this tradition forever that all the men in the family eat these boiled pork fats called cracklins in my grandpa’s bucket of grease. It’s absolutely disgusting, but it’s just what we do.”   

 “My family stays over at my grandparent’s house Christmas Eve,” junior Caroline Colliver said. “My grandpa dresses up as Santa and passes around our ‘teaser’ presents.”

Christmas, for many, is a time for laughs and joy among family members. The traditions keep family members on their toes throughout all the months leading up to Christmas.

“My family is very large,” Colliver said. “We all split up into 12 groups of about 2 or 3 people each and act out ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. It’s quite the show and it’s something we all look forward to each year.”

     Christmas isn’t the only holiday keeping the festive cheer alive. Many jokesters and their family members participate in April Fool’s Day.

   “Each year, my family spends the whole last week of March planning pranks to pull on each other,” sophomore Jude Ratcliffe said. “One of the family favorites is tying a rubber band around the kitchen sink hose to spray whomever is using it.”