Winter Break: What Are Students Doing?
December 17, 2020
Winter break is coming up soon, starting December 18! Glasgow students and families are doing different activities to fill the time, some of these include: baking, sleeping, watching movies/T.V. shows, playing outside, and celebrating holidays. Some of these activities may already be safe, but for others, people are finding ways to make them safe including precautions such as wearing masks, and social distancing when around people.
Students at Glasgow have filled out a form asking them what their plans are for over the break. Students mostly said they would sleep, watch movies/T.V. shows along with playing video games, baking/cooking, and spending time with their families. Here’s a list of some more activities students are doing over the break:
- Relaxing – sleeping & reading
- Being on a screen – watching TV, playing video games & and spending time on a phone
- Doing outdoor activities – playing outdoors & participating in sports
- Doing crafts, drawing, & bullet journaling
- Music related activities – playing an instrument, listening to music, & singing
- Traveling
- Spending time with family & friends
- Cooking/baking
- School work/clubs
These are the activities Glasgow students will be doing over the break and you can try them out too!
Students are also celebrating a variety of holidays over winter break, some of these include Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ōmisoka, and New Years. These holidays come with fun traditions. Some activities people do during these holidays include:
- Making holiday crafts
- Baking/cooking holiday foods
- Giving/exchanging gifts
- Shopping for gifts
- Family gatherings/feasts
- Caroling, and watching holiday movies
All of these activities and traditions are fun ways to spend the break, but ever since the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine started, people have had to change the way they do normal everyday things, in order to stay safe. Some daily safety precautions to practice are wearing masks when around people, following social distancing guidelines of 6 feet, cleaning surfaces daily, and washing hands or using hand sanitizer. Some of the fun holiday activities, like having parties, traveling, or hosting big family gatherings, aren’t as safe as they used to be, so staying away from those activities entirely is the safest option. But just because you can’t travel or have big holiday parties, doesn’t mean you still can’t do things with your family or have other experiences. You could have a small gathering with a couple of friends, while social distancing, and wearing masks, that way you can be safe while seeing friends. You can also go on hikes, walks, and do other safe recreational activities. Shopping in stores can be a fun experience, but shopping online for gifts is the safer option.
Even though we are more confined to our houses this year for winter break, some of our family traditions and activities may look a little different, but we can still enjoy many fun activities with our families!
Brooke Ehmann - Jones (she/her), an 8th grader at Glasgow MS has been a writer for the Panther Post since the 2020 school year. She has lived in Northern Virginia all of her life and plays on a soccer team, loves playing music on her saxophone and the piano, enjoys reading, writing, cooking, and painting, and loves spending time outdoors on the many hikes she and her family have been on. Brooke is also very passionate about the environment and enjoys learning about nature, and volunteering to protect it. She has two cats at home, and loves traveling to national parks with her family.
Riya Vlcan is a 6th grader at Glasgow MS. She is Indian and European but was born in Arlington Virginia and has lived here her whole life. She has many hobbies and activities that include sports like softball, soccer, dance, ice skating, and many more. She also loves to read and write along with traveling all over the globe! Riya loves music as well. She plays two instruments, the cello and ukulele, and is learning how to play the piano. She also loves to listen to music. Her favorite musician is Taylor Swift. She’s always up and about doing something, but she also loves just spending time with animals especially her 2 year old cat Mika!
