From meaningful ornaments to traditional gift-giving and even hiking, the HHS administrators love the holiday season; each has special traditions unique to their family. The holiday season often brings good family time and busy, chaotic joy and laughter; however, that joy can take many forms.

Vice Principle Eddie Cunningham and his family love celebrating Christmas by all getting together on Christmas Eve and exchanging gifts with one another and playing fun games as a family. The overall purpose is to enjoy being together as a family.

Other traditions, much like Ms. Ganae Gaines’s family tradition of “Ornament Time,” don’t involve gifts but are still very meaningful. “Ornament Time” is a tradition that Gaines remembers her mother starting when Gaines was young. This tradition consists of building one family ornament each year and reminiscing on past years as they decorate each Christmas season.

“We each bring something unique to remind us of the current year to create one family ornament,” Gaines says. “Every year as we decorate the tree, we take time to tell those special stories attached to the ornaments, Gaines says.” She loves the tradition, as she says it reminds the family of how thankful they are for each other.

Dr. Latta Johnston’s family tradition is also a long-standing one. In high school and college, Dr. Johnston and his dad started hiking Big Frog Mountain in Chattanooga, where he grew up, every December 31st. Johnston doesn’t remember how the tradition started, but over the years, many of their friends and family have taken to the idea and gone hiking with the two of them. Some years Johnston and company spent the night atop the mountain.

“The coldest night I’ve ever spent in a tent was on top of Big Frog on New Year’s Eve,” Johnston said. “Our family still talks about how three of us almost froze in the snow while the rest of the family was warm at home,” Johnston said. He fondly remembers seeing the fireworks coming from the small cities surrounding Big Frog Mountain while at its peak.

The HHS administrators look forward to continuing these traditions this holiday season and to the general festivities. Be sure to wish your administrators a happy holiday season, and thank them for all the work they do for the school.