Written By: Isabela Pierry

With the holidays fast approaching, Wildcats around the school are gearing up for a season full of cheer, joy, and festive traditions. Students decorate the lounges, wear festive sweaters, and perform in Holly and Folly. But what about RCDS’s faculty members? The Rye Crop interviewed some teachers and coaches about their favorite holiday traditions, and their responses are showcased below.

Coach Smith 

My Mom collected Santas and one of my favorite things is unwrapping them and displaying them for the season. I also wear my Christmas tree earrings in preparation for the holiday season!

Ms. Linderoth

Looking at Christmas lights in our neighborhood brings my 3 year old son so much joy! His excitement is contagious and it has quickly become a highlight of our holiday season.

Mr. Benitez

My favorite tradition is the Three Kings Day celebration, also known as “The Epiphany.” I remember as a kid, finding an old shoebox to fill with grass for the camels to eat. I’d place it next to my bed, and by the next morning, there would be a gift from the Three Kings. The gifts could be small or big, but they always made me so happy and kept the magic alive for me as a child.

As I got older, while living in Puerto Rico, we had a celebration called “Promesa a los Reyes.” It’s a tradition where you make a promise to the Three Kings in exchange for help in tough situations!

Ms. Green

My family does a cookie/baked good exchange for the holidays, where everyone bakes their favorite item then leaves with a giant box of each of the treats! 

Mr. Heintz

We used to have an awesome holiday tradition: The Cookie Competition. We would work in pairs to bake cookies and then have our extended family and friends act as judges. The winners had bragging rights for the year. Julia had won three out of four years and was well ahead of the rest of us until Mrs. Heintz thought confections, cakes, and pies should be included in the competition. I vehemently disagreed (mainly because I knew I had no shot at staying competitive with such a broad spectrum of baked goods). We could not come to an agreement about the rules so the great tradition was abandoned. Currently, negotiations about bringing the competition back have been rekindled, but we have lost track of what the teams should be and Mrs. Heintz keeps bringing up confections and cakes. Julia wants to win (again) and Paul just wants to eat the finished products, but, alas, their parents can’t come to agreeable terms. C’est la vie!