Holidays fueling new beginnings

In education, we have the gift of new beginnings. The beginning of the new school year, of course, after staff and students are rested from the summer months; but, we also have the gift of the beginning of a new year when we return to school after the holidays.

The countdown to the holiday season at the end of the first semester was, as usual, incredibly busy. This year, it seemed as though so many of our students and staffs — via their schools — were involved in activities to help others: countless cans of food collected; clothing drives and fund-raisers; food deliveries, many of them anonymously, to help those in need during the holiday season.

There also seemed to be more academic activities: spelling bees, geography bees, science fairs, and more. Elementary principals Deborah Westbrook (Lockwood Elementary) and Shalei Bennett (Zia Elementary) have been proactive this year in promoting spelling bees, and the enthusiasm at schools has been contagious.

The upcoming district event has been scheduled for Friday at Clovis Community College’s Town Hall. It’s amazing to see how excited students can become during a spelling bee; definitely worth attending.

Leading up to the holidays, there were endless colorful and fun activities taking place as well. The Arts Academy at Bella Vista built an entire gingerbread house city. Actually, to be more accurate, students and their parents constructed amazing structures of all sorts made out of all sorts of typical gingerbread house materials and more.

Some made their own gingerbread from scratch; some used graham crackers; there were gum drops, giant lollipops, colored candies, candy canes, and much more. The list was endless.

Not only were generic houses assembled, but one family recreated the school, complete with all the actual features. Principal Shelly Norris expressed great pleasure at the degree of overwhelming enthusiasm exhibited by her families.

What a great activity to share with the whole family. I just wondered when the town was dis-assembled for the holidays and taken home, if there was a tummy ache, or two, with all those tempting goodies.

Another activity held by the Arts Academy was “Books, Biscochitos, Luminaria, and Literacy” day. One whole day was spent enjoying books, cookies, hot cocoa, learning how to make a luminaria, and reading with students. Hourly drawings were held throughout the day with books as prizes. Even Santa and Mrs. Claus (who happened to be the principal's parents) arrived to visit the school and announce the winners of the Family Gingerbread Decorating competition.

Fueled with such fun-filled holidays, we’re off to a great start for the new year, another new beginning.

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools. She can be reached at

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