The months of November and December often get hectic as people prepare for the holidays. School clubs pack their schedules with holiday activities like decorating, donating, fundraising and managing food drives.
One of the clubs that celebrates the holidays is the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). For the holidays FCA has a party than involves giving gifts, cookies and going caroling.
“As Christians, the holidays are a time for happiness and we are going to share it with others in FCA, which I think is great for the group because it helps us connect with each other,” senior Scott Coulson, a member of FCA said.
In addition to parties, clubs also prepare for the holidays by giving. Senior Women volunteer at the St. Louis Food Bank to provide help for those in need. One member is senior Molly Porfidio, who has worked seven hours.
“There are people out there that are a lot less fortunate than some of us and it feels good to help them,” Porfidio said.
Senior Women provides help at the food bank by sorting meat and other foods into boxes. On Thanksgiving they fed a Thanksgiving Dinner to the homeless people in the shelter. They brought food and drinks while talking to them and making sure they had everything they needed.
“I learned that everyone isn’t as fortunate as we are and we can’t take for granted what we have,” Porfidio said. “It made me grateful for everything I have and all the opportunities I am given.”
Clubs also get involved during the holidays by making festive decorations. The decorations that are seen throughout the halls during the holiday season are put up by the National Art Honors Society (NAHS). For Thanksgiving, they decorated the colts in the history commons to look like pilgrim turkeys. For the winter holidays, they painted winter scenes on the windows. This is an annual tradition for NAHS.
“I love how it really sets the cozy winter mood every year, no matter what holiday you celebrate,” senior Emily Walters said. “It’s a fun thing that we all love doing and we hope everyone enjoys the paintings.”
Holiday cheer is also spread by Project Help, a club which focuses on charity work throughout the year. During November, Project Help collaborated with Student Council in a month of giving. This series of events was composed of a food drive, with all items donated to Circle of Concern, as well as the Soldier Boxes that each classroom could contribute toward. For the Soldier Boxes, students collect a variety of items including personal hygiene products and send them to the troops overseas. Project Help also holds an event called the Phase II Party. During this get-together special education students are invited to pick out toys and create crafts relating to the holidays to bring home to their families.
“This event is beneficial for the special education students because it allows them to be independent in making their own choices by choosing gifts and deciding who to give them to,” senior Jeanha Choi said. “In addition, it teaches them to be kind and giving to others.”
As the Vice President of Project Help, Choi helps plan this event. It is an annual tradition done by Project Help.
“What I am able to experience each year is how these students are no different than us; having a joyful time finding gifts and celebrating the holidays with the people we love is the same for everyone,” Choi said. “The happiness and excitement is just as great for them and it’s a blessing to be able to provide them this time to just be independent and giving to others.”
