Happy Holidays everyone! Winter break has started, and everyone can start celebrating the winter solstice in his or her own way!

Here at Carlé we celebrated this most ancient of festivals by holding a gift exchange that we like to call White Elephant. This is a game of greed and giving, in which all students bring a gift to school. When the game starts, each student gets to take the gift they wish from another student. No one knows who will have each gift in the end.

The earliest human civilizations on earth first created celebrations such as the ones we have today as a way to keep people's spirits up during the darkest and coldest time of the year. This can be a dark time of year for some of the students that attend here, so like our ancestors before us, we use the exchange of gifts to bring joy to them.

Our teacher, Verna, has organized the White Elephant gift exchange every year, for the past five years. She thought it was the most fun way to exchange gifts among students. Verna said this about the White Elephant: “It's lots of fun! It gets everybody in the Christmas spirit before Break.”

Sustainability awards have been given out, and with them free certificates for products from our own in house design business Pegasus Promotional Products. Some students use these certificates to make Christmas presents for their family and friends.

We have been doing community service for the Lake County Land Trust. Students have been helping to fill and address many envelopes, and they have been doing an exceptional job, too.

Nick Perry has now presented his portfolio, meaning that he is now all set to graduate. Congratulations Nick!

The student of the week was Jamila Parker. She has always been a great student, as well as a wonderful designer in our business. She recently took over the directorial duties during our morning bulletin. She also is very willing to volunteer whenever help is needed.

All of the designers here are working on a Plaque for the State Teacher of the Year award ceremony in

February. The student who makes the plaque chosen by the foundation will be able to put it on their resume that they were the designer of the Teacher of the Year plaque. This is a great opportunity for our designers.

That is all for the last Carlé Chronicle of the year! Have a very happy and politically correct Winter Solstice!

Atlee Erickson is a junior at Carlé High School.

{mos_sb_discuss:2}