No matter when you celebrate it, Christmas is one of the best holidays, for many reasons, including the food, family, days off from school, decorations, and presents. Songs like Last Christmas, Santa Baby, White Christmas, and don’t forget All I Want For Christmas Is You, among many other Christmas songs are always playing on the radio. Movies like Elf, The Polar Express, The Grinch, Home Alone, and my family's favorite; A Christmas Story, are always streaming on TV.

  Although Christmas is technically on the 25th, most people start celebrating the Christmas season before then., Some people start celebrating right after Halloween on November 1st. Some people choose to start celebrating late, for example, after Thanksgiving or December 1st. Some believe that you shouldn't start putting Christmas decorations up until Christmas Eve while others  insist that Christmas music should not be played until December and some people play Christmas music all year long. 

There is not a single correct time to start celebrating Christmas. Whether it is on November 1st or December 25th, Christmas is all about spending time with your loved ones and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. 

Merry Christmas-Abigail

Ever wonder what your teachers do during the days where you aren’t at school, but instead enjoying the holidays? Well, surprise surprise, a majority of them are enjoying their own break with their own traditions like you might do as well! From just hanging out with friends and family to partaking in annual In-and-Out dinners, your teachers try to enjoy their holiday just as much as any other student!

Now to get to some specific interviews…

Mrs. Gierut - She spent her Thanksgiving in Julian, San Diego, a place very much known for serving apple-flavored refreshments! She enjoyed many delicacies, specifically pointing out apple pie and apple cider. 

Mr. Conaway - As a math teacher both teaching and studying in college at the moment, Mr. Conaway claims that he planned to have two busy breaks. He joined a study group for finals during Thanksgiving break, and later on plans to study some calculus over winter break. 

Mr. Booth - Whether it is true or not true, he has claimed that he will be doing one thing and one thing only; eating pumpkin pie in Salt Lake City. 

Mr. Martin - This PE teacher had a whopping forty-five guests over Thanksgiving! He and his extended family dined on some deep-fried turkey, tamales, and pretty much a bit of everything. He went to Ensenada, Mexico. During Christmas, Mr. Martin plans to spend some time with both sides of the family. As a fun tradition, he and his family have been enjoying some In-and-Out for a remarkable twenty-five years straight!

Mr. Joline - During Thanksgiving, he planned to spend some time with friends and go Christmas shopping. With the spare time not having to worry about grading, Mr. Joline also plans to spend some more time with his dog! He claims to use these days to learn ballet, practice his professional and original wrestling skills, visit his family in Japan, discover a new extinct species, invent a time machine, be the first person on Neptune, and wash his luxurious toupee… Wait what-

Mrs. Mullen - She plans to watch some football with her family, and simply enjoy some time off by relaxing. 

Mr. Ebel - He has plans to go to Reno, Nevada for his son’s wrestling tournament. Aside from that, he plans to simply chill during his days off from work. 

Mrs. Magdaleno - She had a Friendsgiving during Thanksgiving break and will spend Christmas Eve with her family. She plans to enjoy delicious food throughout the holidays.

Ms. Hartley - During the holidays, she plans to travel to the warmer Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and spend time with family. In Cabo, she plans to get a tan, eat delicious food, and read new and exciting books. On New Year's Eve, Ms. Hartley participates in the New Year's tradition of staying up and watching the ball drop. 

            Dr. Rowcliffe - She plans to visit a 560 acre farm in Solvang and hike around there with her family for winter break. She also looks forward to relaxing, eating delicious food, and spending time with family.

I walked to the classroom one day only to be greeted by the ghost of my favorite historical figure…President George Washington, who was hovering right above my teacher’s chair. I was first confused yet shocked! I have never seen a real ghost before. Especially not of the Founding American Fathers! Although, what was Washington’s ghost doing, especially on the day before Halloween during the daytime? Either it was the pungent smelling almonds I found in the school hallways, or I am just going through another one of my occurring hallucinations. He kept on staring at me as he hovered over my teacher’s chair, which reminded me of his famous Lansdowne portrait. There was something in his eyes which gave me a worried feeling that I was not supposed to be here. I tried to find the correct words to say but I continued to stutter until I quietly said with a shy smile, “G-greetings, Mr. P-president.” All of a sudden, he suddenly disappeared with a blink of an eye. I rubbed my eyes in an instant to make sure I was not seeing any figments of my imagination. I sighed with relief but as I looked up, the sun was gone. There was now a bright, round moon in its place. I felt as if I was seeing things, but I then heard a mysterious eerie sound, “Whoo-oo-oo…” As I turned around, my relief and reassurance all vanished just like Washington’s ghost. Before my very eyes, I saw many of my dead relatives and former favorite celebrities roaming the school halls. My heart was beating faster than a fast moving subway train on a busy New York day. My heart then came to a sudden halt. I did not feel like I could contain and hold myself any longer, so I wrapped my arms around my shaking body. I then realized that I could not…feel my body any longer. Then a sudden thought hit me, “I am not going crazy! No! No! I can't even feel myself! And…if I can see ghosts, then…I am just like them. A ghost.”

The whole month of October, I’ve been hearing whispers coming from the abandoned house on my street. One night, I decided to follow the voices inside, just to find something that haunted my dreams for years to come.

You see, a couple months ago, my grandmother went missing from a city bake fair, with nothing left but a single strand of her hair. My whole family was thrown into a frenzy, calling the police, putting up missing signs (although I tried to tell them Grandma was not a dog), and even calling the local news station. Meanwhile, I was just in shock. Who would want to hurt my grandmother?

So as I stepped into the doorway of the abandoned house, my mind went through a whirlwind of flashbacks, from the second we found grandma missing, to the days that followed.

It was pitch black inside the old rickety house. I could barely make out the city of spiderwebs spun between each board and crack on the walls. Broken windows were poorly boarded up, allowing the cold October winds straight through. Although it was the middle of the day, the house was gloomy and quiet, I could even hear my heart beating out of my chest.

Creeeeeeeeeaaaakkkk

  Something from the top floor landed with a thud, followed by a bone rattling wail. Spiders scurried from their hiding spots, rushing out the doorway, scrambling over my feet. 

Usually someone in their right mind would rush out of the house, screaming their way down the street. However, I pushed on, walking right towards the broken ladder I originally mistaken for another support beam. 

The wood splintered with each step I took, and finally, I reached the top floor.  Thuds and panting rang through the silent house as I heaved myself onto the wooden floorboards, into a room almost identical to the bottom floor.

“You shouldn’t have come here.” an old voice croaked through the room. “Only those who stay away live.”

I whipped around to find a haggard old woman hunched on the floor. Eyes fixed right on me and a wrinkled and scarred hand reaching towards my arm.

I screamed when I realized who it was, my missing grandmother! 

Her face no longer resembled the sweet smile I remembered, but inside an eerie frown. Huge bags of skin dropped from her face and one of her eyes was missing. A long black cloak, torn at the edges drooped over her, barely showing her horrid face.

With no time to think, I jumped down the ladder, rushed out the door and down the street, never to return to the old house.

Years later, I still have nightmares about my grandmother’s face and the old house. The thought of it sends chills down my spine. And even after all these years, I still hear the howling wail of my grandmother, calling for me from her haunted house.

We took a field trip to a local museum, but my friends and I got left behind. We were stuck there for the night and the spookiest thing happened. It was a normal October day, and my friends and I were excited because today we were going on a field trip. We didn’t know where we were going but they said it would be fun. Once we arrived, my friends and I were not expecting for us to go to the museum. They said it would be fun, not boring. Well, we went on cause it’s not like we could just leave. But soon enough something caught my eyes, the dinosaur section. My friends and I thought we would just go take a peep then we would join the group again. But once we got there and looked for a second, all the lights turned off! Apparently we had been in there for HOURS! We weren’t scared, at first… until in the dark we could see faint RED EYES. No one had told us about THAT. The eyes seemed to get closer and closer AND CLOSER! Luckily the museum director gave each of us a flashlight. Anyway, we turned on the flashlight and… AAAAGGGHH, shrieked my friends and I, for there was the dinosaur fossil but ALIVE!! We sprinted as soon as it moved. We ran so far that we decided to hide in the bathroom. We hid in the stalls quietly hoping THAT THING doesn’t get us. We heard a loud ROAR, IT WAS GETTING CLOSER and CLOSER to where it was right outside the bathroom. It sniffed, trying to get a scent but it left. My friends thought that the coast was clear but I warned them not to leave but they didn’t listen. They peeped out and took a few steps. But one of them stepped on something triggering a noise which the dino heard, it was coming right back and it knew where we were. The dinosaur fossil came IN THE BATHROOM! So we waited for the right time to slip right behind it. We ran and ran and ran and ran and you know what's coming, more running! We realized the sun was coming up and we noticed that the dinosaur freezes when the sun is up so we hatched a plan. We lured him to his exhibit and he froze and we left and lived happily ever after.