Every year now for 43 years, Holiday Festival has become a staple to the school. This joyful day around Christmas has made a huge impact to the faculty and students at the high school. Everyone seems involved and is always in a great mood. Holiday festival is a day where the teenagers from Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland get to give back and help young children who don’t have the opportunity to get everything they want for the holiday. Everyone tries to make this day the best it could be for the children. All the little kids get to be together and do countless activities until its time for them to leave. The humble children are all so grateful and will never forget the fun they had on this day. Also all who took place in holiday festival to put a smile on one of the child’s face will always remember what they did. Holiday Festival will always have a special place in the heart of students.

For those of you who do not know what this day is, let me explain. This day is all about giving to the little children who are not as fortunate as the rest of us. The students that sign up as an escort for the special day are assigned a child and the student basically buys them gifts and walks them around the school for fun activities throughout the day. When the children come into the school, they immediately feel a special vibe with all the decorations. At a set time in the day the students are called to go to their assigned rooms to meet their child. It might be awkward at first talking to someone you know absolutely nothing about, but once you get to know your child for a little bit and break the ice everything gets better.  When the gift opening comes around, it’s an amazing feeling to see the child you were assigned put a smile on his/her face when they open their gifts. The children are all very humble and appreciate everything they get for this holiday. It’s always great to know you are making a child’s holiday the best it could be. After gift opening, the escorts get to bring their child to different stations around the school. For example, you could take pictures with Santa, make stuffed animals and also bring the child to a fun bouncy house in the gym along with many more fun activities. Most of the children only wanted to be in the gym to play with their friends and run around. Towards the end of the day it’s amazing to see your young child, who was barely speaking to you when you first walked in to that classroom, be so comfortable with you and treat you like someone he or she has known for a while. Then, when the children are leaving and saying goodbye it puts a great feeling in you to see them with the biggest smiles walking on to their bus.

Overall, this day of the year is one that someone would never forget. The student will always remember the great deed they did for the child who couldn’t have as much as the rest of us. This day will always be one of the most significant days here at school.