On Dec. 2, Gunnison Valley High School students began their “12 Days of Keeping It Real.”
Eight years ago, the school started this activity to focus on twelve attributes of Christmas, one each day for the twelve school days leading up to the Christmas break.
“We do the Twelve Days in conjunction with the Sub for Santa program that provides Christmas for around 125 families in the Gunnison Valley,” said Melissa Judy, assistant principal.
On day one, the students focused on the word “light.” The student government decorated the commons area with lights and Christmas decorations along with a large advent calendar. Each day the new word is displayed along with a short video to introduce the word, its meaning, and the event or activity associated with it for that day.
Other attributes that have been celebrated are laughter, love, music, family, tradition, joy, warmth, giving, friendship, believing and magic. Students have enjoyed Christmas treats, games, movies, ugly sweaters, and will finish it up on Friday, Dec. 17 with a visit from Santa himself.
Activities throughout the twelve days help students see the true meaning of Christmas and do good things for the community. Bulldog students write letters to someone within the school to tell them how much they are appreciated, and blankets are made by the students and then given to local charities.
