As the winter holidays approach, and the people of Warrenton, Va., are putting up their holiday decorations, the staff over at Fauquier High School (FHS) is getting ready for their own holidays. Each staff member has their own traditions they observe with their family members throughout the holiday season. These traditions can create happy memories for teachers outside of school and bring extra joy to the holiday season.
The holiday season is something that Shauna Shiff looks forward to. Shiff teaches English 11, AP Seminar and AP Research. She celebrates Christmas at home with her family. The Shiff family decorates for Christmas with an authentic Christmas tree and lights around the outside of their house.
One tradition of the Shiff family is that before Christmas, they go to a pet store and pick out toys for their cats and a dog. “I think my children are more excited to buy the pets gifts than they are to buy gifts for each other,” Shiff expressed.
A unique tradition Shiff has is making homemade candy to give to her family members. The candy that Shiff usually makes is chocolate truffles, almond brittle and cranberry nougat. Shiff’s holiday traditions bring something her family looks forward to every year because they provide comfort and joy.
During the holiday season, Aaron Sova, who teaches world history, celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah with his wife and his son. During Hanukkah, the Sovas light the menorah each night and say the Hanukkah prayers. While Sova and his family celebrate Hanukkah for eight days, on Christmas day, the Sovas go over to his side of the family, then they go to Christmas mass after exchanging and opening gifts. Getting to introduce Sova’s son to both of these holidays is really special to him.
A unique tradition that Sova and his wife have is what they call “Christmas foolery.” Christmas foolery is when Sova and his wife come up with a theme that is a play on a classic Christmas saying, and the Sovas make decorations to match the theme and place them all over Sova’s parents' house to mess up their elaborate Christmas decorations. Sova's parents have no clue what the theme is until they figure it out.
One of the examples of the Christmas foolery includes the time when Sovas took a bunch of little plastic frogs, stuck Nerf darts in them, and hung them from the ceiling, calling them “mistletoads.” The Sovas decided to keep up this tradition because “the first year, watching my mom try to figure out what the theme was, and when she got it, she burst out laughing,” Sova started. “It made the whole ordeal worth it.” Sova finished. Sova and his wife have been doing this for about four years now and have many more years planned out.
Austin Siebel, who teaches English 11, Photojournalism I and Photojournalism (yearbook) II, III, and IV, loves the holiday season. Siebel’s family celebrates Christmas and decorates heavily, putting up a tree and other greens and wreaths. The Siebels have a bunch of nutcrackers all over the house. Outside, Siebel put up lights around her home to create more festive cheer.
On Christmas Eve, the Siebel family goes over to Siebel’s parents' house to celebrate Christmas with them. Siebel has always cherished this time of year, saying, “It's the feeling of anticipation on Christmas Eve as a child that I relish.” Siebel continued, "As a parent, I tried to create that same environment of anticipation for them.” Siebel enjoys celebrating Christmas with her family and creating new memories.
Each of the teachers at FHS has their very own and unique traditions shared with their friends and families. These traditions can showcase how teachers can bring light and lasting memories into their holiday celebrations. Even if the traditions are small or large, they each hold a special meaning to these teachers' hearts and can make the holidays even better for some. The holiday season is a time to revisit the traditions and memories that make it special for many.
