Christmas at School

What did you do to celebrate Christmas at school? Were you ever in a Christmas Pageant?

I really don't remember very much about Christmas celebrations at school. I believe we had parties in the lower elementary grades right before we let out. We sang a few Christmas songs in music class. By the time I was in middle school, I was in the band so we were part of the Amory bands Christmas program each year. In high school, we had all the area Christmas parades in which we marched. (I played piccolo in marching band.) It was terribly cold at times because in order to be able to move my fingers on the keys, I had to cut out the finger-tips of the gloves. However, we never had to do this.

I don't think the schools ever had Christmas pageants. Those were left to churches in the area, and yes, I was always in the pageant. I was usually the main angel because that one had the biggest part to memorize, and I had those lines "down pat."

Nowadays, Christmas in the world of higher education usually means food. We bring food for parties for various groups. We have a catered meal for all of us faculty members. We sometimes have white elephant exchanges. We exchange small gifts--usually either baked goods, candies, ornaments, or similar items. I take the college girls who work in my department out to the Designer Moments Tea Parlor for a little more elegant lunch than they would get in the college cafeteria. Most of all Christmas means that a much-needed break is coming! We need time to recover from the fall semester before beginning the spring one.