Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Students, teachers, staff, administrators and guests pack the Kimball Junior/Senior High School Student Center for the annual Holiday Festival, which was held on Friday, Dec. 19. The annual gathering includes a family style meal for all those present. Earlier in the day, the students watched a movie together and prepared for the festival. It is held annually on the last day of school prior to the Christmas break.
Students, teachers, staff, administrators and guests pack the Kimball Junior/Senior High School Student Center for the annual Holiday Festival, which was held on Friday, Dec. 19. The annual gathering includes a family style meal for all those present. Earlier in the day, the students watched a movie together and prepared for the festival. It is held annually on the last day of school prior to the Christmas break.
Those at Friday's annual Holiday Festival joined in singing various Christmas songs prior to and after the family style meal.
Decorations such as this tree adorned the walls of the student center for Friday's annual Holiday Festival.
The student center at the high school was packed, Christmas decor was everywhere and the murmur of excited children about to go on their winter break filled the room at the annual Holiday Festival Dinner held at the Kimball Junior/Senior High School on Friday.
Roughly 300 students, teachers, administrators and guests were present to partake in the holiday meal prepared by the school's cooks.
"It's generally either ham or turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and dressing," Principal Eugene "Mo" Hanks said.
The Holiday Festival has been a tradition at the school for more than a decade. In the past, students would each contribute to the dinner. That is no longer required and now the school's kitchen staff makes the food. However, the students can still bring desserts for the individual groups they are seated with.
In addition to the students, those who attended include administrators, teachers, school board members, cooks, custodians, secretaries, bus drivers and members of TeamMates.
The student center was full and the meal was ready for everyone. In order to determine which table was allowed to serve themselves first, all were encouraged to sing a round of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." The students and adults alike did their best in belting out the well-known favorite tune.
Eventually, everyone present was digging into the delicious holiday dinner provided while they engaged in conversation with those surrounding them.
"It's really an impressive thing to see 300 people partaking in a homestyle holiday meal," Hanks said.
The Holiday Festival takes place on the last day of school before the winter break, which lasts two weeks. The day is spent having students clean out their lockers and setting up for the holiday festival meal. The students help decorate the student center. This includes setting up tables and chairs, and also includes decorating the windows in the student center. The students then watched a movie in the auditorium, and the meal began after its conclusion.
After the meal, one final Christmas song was belted out by those in attendance. The final song is a sendoff for everyone heading to the Christmas break. The students helped pick up after the festivities and were then released for the break.
Hanks said the reason why the meal is an important tradition is that it is sometimes the only big holiday celebration some of the students will participate in.
"Some of these kids won't get to have a big holiday feast like this at home. Some of them really won't do anything for the holidays and so it's nice that we get to do this for them," Hanks said.
Hanks added that it is just a nice thing to participate in.
"It's a nice occasion, I really like hearing everyone sing the songs and just see them all together like a big family," he said.