Emma Issagholian and Mouli Kukreja
As we near the end of December, the one thing that is on all of our minds is the holidays. No matter what you celebrate—Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or the New Year—the one thing many of us share is traditions. Many of us, around this time of year, are always trying to find fun and cute new ways in order to create memories with our loved ones. That is why we went around Dozo to find out what our student and staff—Judges and Judgettes’—favorite holiday traditions are.
7. Ms. O, Spark Counselor
While many of us are focused on what to make for the family dinner gathering or if our gifts for our loved ones will get here on time with Amazon Prime, Ms. O’s favorite tradition is receiving gifts from her grandmother.
She told us that, “Growing up [her] grandmother would make holiday baskets for every single holiday between Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, [etc.]” and as the years have gone on, that holiday basket from her grandmother has continued to be given to her.
Ms. O also goes on to say that despite being an adult, she still very much enjoys and looks forward to this tradition that has been created in her family and knows “That’s something [she’s] going to do when [she has] kids.” Hearing her delightful backstory and excitement about each year’s upcoming festivities, Ms. O surely put us in the holiday mood.
6. Jaylen Petty, Junior
Despite everyone’s worries about what the holiday dinner is going to look like, the only thing the Journalism Program’s very own Jaylen Petty was looking forward to was getting to spend time with his family.
When we asked the junior what his favorite holiday tradition was, Petty immediately responded that his favorite holiday tradition was, “Making gingerbread houses with [his] family and spending time with them.” This heartwarming statement not only made us look forward to being with our loved ones, but Petty’s statement also made us hungry for some gingerbread cookies. Gingerbread house contest anyone?
5. Mr. Georgatos, Assistant Principal
We know what you all must be thinking, “Nothing else anyone says can be better and be more true than those holiday traditions.” Well, we have found one of the most touching favorite holiday traditions ever. When we spoke with Mr. Georgatos, the assistant principal of social studies, music, and Naval sciences, he told us a few of his favorite traditions and at the base of all of them was his family.
Mr. Georgatos told us that his wife his Italian and he is Greek, so every year on Christmas Eve they celebrate with Italian style food and on Christmas Day they go Greek food all the way. Some of Mr. Georgatos’s favorite things to eat, particularly on Christmas Eve, are “clams, shrimp, [etc].” He even told us that his late father-in-law “used to make homemade clam pizza. It was really good,” he explained.
He even discussed with us how on New Year’s he and his family enjoy doubling down on some Greek delicacies. One of his favorites is honoring St. Basil with “a cake, we call it St. Basil’s cake. . .and somewhere in the cake there’s a coin. Now what you do is, you cut pieces of the cake, you cut one for Jesus, you cut one for the Virgin Mary, you cut one for the house, and then you cut one for every person in the house from oldest to youngest and supposedly whoever gets the coin in their cake, in their slice of the pie, gets good luck for the year, so I love that.”
Although Mr. Georgatos has only been able to receive a coin in his slices of cake only once, we still have hope for him and his future. The best part of our interview was not when this AP told us about his favorite traditional holiday food, but it was when he discusses with us how he “Just love[s] Christmas. December makes me happy and what we do is obviously opening up gifts and everything like that, but the more important thing is just spending time with your family.”
“I just love anything where you get to just spend time with your family ’cause I’m with my wife and my kids so I have a good time. My favorite tradition is probably Christmas Eve, just doing that,” he revealed.
This heartwarming response made us truly happy and filled us with the holiday spirit.
4. Shamar Mills, Junior
As we went around both buildings, we found that another favorite holiday tradition was also from the Journalism Program. Shamar Mills, a junior at Dozo, told us that his favorite tradition is, “To watch certain movies by myself that make me feel nostalgic for the holidays.”
“They don’t have to be a holiday movie necessarily, but if it reminds me of Christmas then I’ll watch it. Like Iron Man 3, I would sit down and watch that by myself or stuff like Lego Ninjado. Just sit down, feel nostalgic [and] remember what it feels like to be younger,” he expressed.
As teenagers, we can relate and agree to nothing more than what our fellow Dozo Judge said. There’s truly nothing like resting and watching a good movie or show that reminds you of the holidays.
3. Anonymous Students
As we embarked on our journey one student that we encountered stated that her favorite tradition is having “matching pajamas with [her] family. We always get a new pair every year.”
Many other students we spoke with said that their favorite part of the holidays is opening gifts with their families and eating family dinners. One student, however, went into a little more detail saying that since she is Colombian, the number 25 is quite significant to her family and that the holidays offer her a special time to reunite with her relatives, enjoy a nice meal, and open gifts together.
Another one of the more detailed responses we received was from a student who said that her favorite holiday tradition is to celebrate Christmas because her favorite season is winter, her family gives her good presents and money, and that the holiday just truly means a lot to her. She also discussed with us how she really enjoys celebrating the holiday of Eid, “which is a kind of a religious holiday for Muslims, so we have two Eid’s every year. It is so special to me because usually families just sit together, [but] it’s very precious because there is a reunion.”
All of these responses were a great way to get insight into what the students of Cardozo really enjoy doing during the holidays.
2. Mrs. Biramian, English/ENL teacher, Yearbook advisor
Another Cardozo staff member that many of us know is Mrs. Biramian, or known by most of the students as Mrs. B. She happily discussed with us that since she got engaged, she has developed many of the holiday traditions she now keeps up with every year. “Since I got engaged, my now husband and I used to go see the tree around Christmas,” she said.
She goes on to explain that since buying a home with her husband, they have been hosting Christmas and they even set up a hot chocolate station on the fireplace. We also were informed of the rundown of her holiday festivities and how Christmas holds an even more special place in her heart after getting married.
Mrs. Biramian said, “Christmas Eve is typically at my house and Christmas Day is typically at [her husband’s] mom’s house because it’s his birthday so we celebrate both Christmas and his birthday. We get him a cake every year, he gets to have an Oreo cheesecake. So we have an Oreo cheesecake every Christmas. Every year I [also] buy tickets to either a Broadway show or Christmas spectacular, usually Christmas Spectacular as his gift because I get a gift too. I get to enjoy the show, so every year we do that and we usually do that during the week of Christmas. We go see the tree, then we’ll go see the show.”
Not only does Mrs. B get to celebrate one of the most magical times of the year, but she gets to enjoy some delicious dessert, a nice show, and extremely important special times with her family, celebrating her husband’s life.
1. Mrs. Gutterman, English/Journalism teacher, “The Verdict” advisor
Last, but certainly not least, we were able to interview Mrs. Gutterman, who tied everything together and ended our holiday journey off with a bang. When we asked her what her favorite holiday traditions are she stated that, “For the holiday, we get together with the whole family and I get to see my niece and nephew and my grandma.”
“My family doesn’t always get to see each other all the time since we are all really busy, so the holidays are when we get together and see each other,” she explained. “And, with my newborn, this holiday season is extra special.
This wonderful feeling of gathering with family, especially around this time of year, is something many of us enjoy, and just like Mrs. Gutterman, some students and staff are unable to see their relatives all the time. That is why the holidays are such a joyous and wonderful way to bring everyone back together again and allows everyone really enjoy the end of a year and the beginning of a new one.