On Dec. 4, 2024, the HHS Book and Cinema Club hosted its annual Christmas event. It was a total hit among the kids and there was fun to be had all around with stations scattered across the first floor of the school, each with a different activity. The event was themed after Twas’ the Night Before Christmas since the 200th anniversary of the book’s release was last year. Originally, the work was released anonymously as a poem in 1823 under the title “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” and was later claimed by Clement Clarke Moore in 1837. 

Brittany Williams  (12) said: “It’s nice to get some Christmas cheer from the kids.” 

Even the adults who attended thought it was great, for instance, HHS’ Tamara Pullum, who described the night as “Family. Friendly. Fun.”

This year, the event had around 10 total activity stations. One would see (and even smell)  the first station when they walked in the door, which was the hot cocoa and popcorn station, one of the most popular spots that night. It was attended by three members of the club, which was sometimes still not enough to keep stock, but the workers found it fulfilling. 

The next station in line would be the face painting, a most creative and fun attraction, followed by the craft station with foam crafts donated to the club last year. Next in line was possibly the most important station, a reading of the book. A student would periodically read the book to a room full of kids, listening intently to the story as a bit of a break from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the event. 

After this, the game station had a bean bag toss and stickers as prizes to boot. Following this was the reindeer food station where kids could take some oats in a baggie and add glitter as well as little shredded paper “carrots” to spread outside for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. While simple, this activity was one of the favorites of the night, run by a few students, including long-time member Sydney Atchison (12) who had a large hand in creating the very idea of this station. Because of this, she took pride in her “craft.”  “It made me proud when even the parents thought my idea was good. I got to create everything and include my own ideas; it was really fun,” Sydney explains.

Though it is a hard act to follow, the next station was rather popular as well. The movie station was practically self-run and was able to maintain itself easily throughout the night. Getting towards the end, the second to last stop was typically the book pick-up. 

While the kids loved picking out a book, the sponsors and club members loved to see their enthusiasm for reading, knowing that for many of them, their own passion for reading similarly started at an early age. One longtime reader, Isaac Jeralds said: “It’s great to be introducing them to books, it’s almost the whole point of the event.” 

Finally, at the end of the event, the kids would visit Santa Claus. This year was the first year the event had a Santa, who was played by HHS’ very own principal, Jeff Johnson. He brightened everyone’s evening with his presence and found it to be a great experience. “It’s been amazing,” he said at the end of the night with a glowing smile. The club members and sponsors involved loved it too, finding it rather fun and heartwarming to see their principal dressed as Santa Claus. 

In arranging the event, the Book and Cinema club members worked, planned, and collected materials for everything months in advance. The sponsors of the club and the event, Mrs. Wheaton, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Jackson spent a lot of time and effort to put together the event. Ms. Johnson, a key part in the creation of the event, says: “I thought it was fun to see the kids outside their regular classroom setting.”  

All of the sponsors, in fact, found it to be even more fulfilling to not only see the guests having fun, but their students and peers as well. All in all, everyone created a great event for the community, a wonderful atmosphere, and a memorable experience for those involved.