The crisp cold winter air blows in your face, the shops covered in red and green decorations memorize you and the sweet smell of peppermint mocha fills the air. This can mean only one thing: it’s Christmas season.
With Christmas being full of traditions, Willis decided to add one more for the elementary-aged kids. Christmas in the Barn was hosted on Friday, December 8th, 2023. Various clubs and organizations brought out their best holiday spirit wear and games to welcome the Christmas spirit.
This marks the second year Christmas in the Barn has been hosted since COVID . Marketing teacher Cheryl Gehovak brought this back.
“The idea of Christmas in the Barn came from Mrs. Gehovak. She came up with the idea and we hosted it for several years until she retired and COVID came,” CTE director Travis Utecht said. “Last year we brought it back and we plan to continue this tradition as long as I’m around.”
Many people in organizations are participating in Christmas in the Barn because of the benefits of good community relations.
“I’m doing Christmas in the Barn because it’s a really good community event, and it allows kids to interact with the community,” senior Breanna Keelan said. “My group, Spanish NHS, is doing face painting and making balloons. It’s a great opportunity to showcase our amazing clubs to our younger audience who will one day be in our shoes.”
While many clubs hosted activities like face painting or balloon animals, other groups got more creative.
“Law enforcement is doing Ident-a-kid,” senior Landon Franks said. “We give the kid a second ID with their fingerprints and name or other information in case of an emergency. We want to help the community but also make it fun and this activity is special because it makes sure the community is safe. That’s what matters the most at the end of the day.”
Traditional christmas activities were also present during the event where children could write to Santa.
“DECA helped set up and manage some of the games,” junior Roxana Castellanos said. “We also are helping kids decorate their ornament by coloring and writing letters to Santa.”
The best part for kids at Christmas in the Barn was seeing christmas characters such as elves.
“The best moment I had was participating in the snowball fight with all the kids,” senior Brad Lottinger said. “I chose to be an elf because of the Christmas spirit and fun I had walking around.”
