Winter Break Traditions

High School students all have 5-6 classes a day of academics, not including clubs or sports on the side, but what do these individuals do over a 3 week break? Obviously there is Christmas and New Years over the break, meaning there will be traditions that will be followed and families coming together, but what plans are set for the holidays?

Traditions of Redwood Humans

When Christmas and New Years come around each year all families have some sort of traditions. Kellie Montemayor, ’20, has many traditions for the holidays. She believes that family during Christmas and New Years is the most important factor because it allows her to feel “supported and relaxed” along with giving herself a break from the stress of school.

On Christmas Eve, Montemayor’s family gets together at her grandma’s house in the morning and makes “tamales all day, to prepare for Christmas the next day.” She expresses that tamales have been a tradition every year for as long as she can remember.

For New years, she goes on to tells me that she ” stays up all night” watching the countdown to “ring in the New Year” with her siblings and parents. Kellie always starts off her New Year with positive thoughts and goals in order to anticipate a better year than before.

Sarai Mata, ’21, has similar traditions to Montemayor. However, she adds that her family stays up till midnight on Christmas Eve watching movies, only to wake up in the morning and go to church. She continues to say that her favorite dinner for Christmas Day would have to be “tamales or pazole.”

Getting Away from Visalia

Other students have completely different Break activities by getting away from Visalia and going out of town or out of state.

Peter Nunez, ‘2,1 has a family trip to Hawaii planned for Christmas of 2019. He expresses his family members decided that “Christmas on the beach would be a great experience,” and overall give them a break from Holiday stress. Nunez continues by saying a tradition he has every year is staying up till midnight on Christmas Eve to “open one present,” then going to sleep and opening all other presents Christmas morning.

Ayana Sutton ’21 has plans to travel all the way to Trinidad with her mom to visit her family for Christmas.

She expresses that the traditions involve ” a dance called reggae” which is Christmas music with a island beat. Her family in Trinidad simply wear “shorts and T-shirts” when dancing because Trinidad is humid all year round making it feel like summer.

Sutton says that the years she doesn’t travel to Trinidad she buys a miniature “pom tree” and decorates it with ornaments, in order to make it feel more like home (Trinidad). She also adds that her Christmas meal every year involves Tri-Tip, then later that same night she attends the “midnight mass.”

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