Religious Diversity: KHS Student’s 2020 Holiday Plans

Winter break is a great time to unwind and spend time with family. Celebrations for popular holidays such as Christmas, Channukah, and New Year’s occur around this time. However, students at KHS have their own unique traditions and approaches to the holiday season. We interviewed a series of students to see how religious background and COVID-19 will be affecting this year’s plans. 

Name: Jefferey Guimaraes

1. What’s your religious background?

 I’m agnostic, but my family is mostly Christian.

2. What’s your favorite holiday?

Tough choice – I love the feeling of New Year parties and the day after, and I suppose that’s a holiday!

3. What are your plans for this year’s winter break?

 Either work or spend it at my dad’s. Slim pickings this year.

4. Do you think the timing of winter break is biased or an inconvenience?

Well, not inconvenient, considering the entire purpose of winter break is to allow people to celebrate Christmas and New Year. Biased, maybe, but I don’t see how that’s necessarily a bad thing.

5. How do you typically celebrate the holidays?

Same as every other day off – staying home, except this time with pie!

6. How have your plans been impacted due to the Pandemic? 

 They haven’t. See (5).

7. If you’re having a family gathering/ visiting family or friends this year, are you anxious about it? 

 Although I might do that this year for a change, I’m cool with it. Everyone’s keeping their distance, playing it safely and sanitarily (?)

8. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Seeing the Hershey’s Kisses and “M&Ms meet Santa” ads on TV. To me, when those come on, that’s when you know it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

9. What foods do you and your family make/eat around this time?

We don’t tend to cook much, but I like buying those frozen pies from Whole Foods. I tend to eat an entire one in the span of a day, so I avoid buying them throughout the year.

Name: Christian Orinono 

1. What’s your religious background?

 My family is Catholic, while my brother and I are atheists.

2. What’s your favorite holiday?

It’s probably a tie between Halloween and Christmas.

3. What are your plans for this year’s winter break?

I don’t really have any plans this year. I’m just going to stay at home and chill.

4. Do you think the timing of winter break is biased or an inconvenience? 

 No, not really, it’s the same as any other School Break.

5. How do you typically celebrate the holidays?

I typically just spend time with my family.

6. How have your plans been impacted due to the Pandemic?

My plans really haven’t changed due to the pandemic. Would probably be the same plans in a non-pandemic environment.

7. If you’re having a family gathering/ visiting family or friends this year, are you anxious about it?

Yes, especially on my dad’s side since they seem to not have a sense of urgency for this pandemic.

8. What is your favorite holiday tradition? 

 I wouldn’t say my family has a tradition per se.

9. What foods do you and your family make/eat around this time?

We usually make some Peruvian dishes, and we’ve recently picked up cooking ham as the main dish.

Name: Taha Touil

1. What’s your religious background?

My family and I are Muslims.

2. What’s your favorite holiday?

Thanksgiving

3. What are your plans for this year’s winter break?

I have no plans.

4. Do you think the timing of winter break is biased or an inconvenience? 

 I think the timing is correct.

5. How do you typically celebrate the holidays?

I don’t.

 6. How have your plans been impacted due to the Pandemic?

 My plans haven’t been impacted.

7. If you’re having a family gathering/ visiting family or friends this year, are you anxious about it?

I’m not having a gathering.

8. What is your favorite holiday tradition? 

I Don’t celebrate anything during the winter.

9. What foods do you and your family make/eat around this time?

Nothing special. 

Name: Nicole Gallegos

1. What’s your religious background?

Me and my family are Catholic.

2. What’s your favorite holiday?

My favorite holiday is Halloween.

3. What are your plans for this year’s winter break?

I plan on skateboarding.

4. Do you think the timing of winter break is biased or an inconvenience? 

I don’t find the timing as an inconvenience at all.

5. How do you typically celebrate the holidays? 

We eat a lot of food like tamales and open gifts at 12 am on the 24th, but we also do this tradition where the women in our family cradle fake baby saints in our arms for a while.

6. How have your plans been impacted due to the Pandemic?

The pandemic ruined my whole social life and I haven’t been able to communicate with friends as much I could.

7. If you’re having a family gathering/ visiting family or friends this year, are you anxious about it?  No one is visiting us this year.

8. What is your favorite holiday tradition? 

Eating food with my family as we rarely ever get together and spend time with each other. Eating with da fam’ we legit never eat together and jazz.

9. What foods do you and your family make/eat around this time?

 We make/eat tamales, arroz con leche, rice and beans, shrimp, sometimes turkey, and cake. 

Name: Claudia Żmuda

1. What’s your religious background?

My family and I are Roman Catholics.

 2.What’s your favorite holiday?

 Ironically, it’s Christmas.

 3.What are your plans for this year’s winter break?

 I’m going to spend time safely with my family and study.

4. Do you think the timing of winter break is biased or an inconvenience? 

Both in some cases. I do think the timing of the break is biased since it’s centered around Christian Holidays, while other religious groups have school throughout the duration of their holidays. It might also be considered an inconvenience because of the way the system was built so long ago and there wasn’t as much religious diversity. 

5. How do you typically celebrate the holidays? 

I prepare by going to church every Sunday. The week before Christmas, I go to Church Sunday- Wednesday for preparation. On Christmas Eve/Day I go to Church at 12 am for the birth of Jesus. 

6. How have your plans been impacted due to the Pandemic?

I won’t be able to see my entire family, unfortunately, but I am happy that I will see some of my close ones. 

7. If you’re having a family gathering/ visiting family or friends this year, are you anxious about it? 

Yes, I am scared about the chance of catching COVID-19, but I’m going to be cautious. 

 8.What is your favorite holiday tradition?  

My favorite holiday tradition is opening gifts on Christmas Eve with my family and seeing all of their reactions.

9. What foods do you and your family make/eat around this time?

Around the Holidays we eat whatever we want unless we’re giving up a type of food for Advent, but on Christmas Eve we eat many foods like pierogies, fish, kasza while avoiding meat.