West End students share Christmas traditions

Teacher Carol Payne asked her students in her Challenge Program at West End Elementary to write about their favorite holiday traditions. 

Hi, my name is Emma. I will tell you some of the things I do on Christmas. Every Christmas we put up a huge Christmas tree. Also my brother and I have one. We decorate it, and my mom and dad go to Walmart, the mall and other places to buy Christmas presents. We can’t go with them unless they are not shopping for us. And every Christmas I make cookies with my Easy Bake I got for Christmas, and we put out eggnog for Santa Claus. We also put out food for the reindeer. They LOVE it so much! Then we eat chili, mashed potatoes and green beans. Then we go in my grandmother’s den and look in our stockings to see what she got us, and we unwrap our presents she got us. Then we go home and go to sleep, and then I am the one to get up first, and I get everybody up. We open the presents and stockings to see what my parents got me! That is my family’s Christmas tradition. Emma Hamilton

My favorite holiday tradition is helping the poor get gifts for Christmas. Around Christmastime my grandmother, at her church, draws tickets for the needy people, and this year she drew for an 11-year-old boy. That’s how old I am. I hope he is going to be happy. If he is, that will show the true Christmas spirit. I will feel so happy. I will give him a couple pairs of clothes to wear. Another one of my favorite holiday traditions is to watch Christmas specials with my family. We normally watch the old Charlie Brown winter special and the old Frosty the Snowman video, too. I like doing that, because I feel like I am included. After we do that then we open our presents. I really like my family’s holiday traditions. Zac Rohner

Christmas has pretty much the same idea in every home: give and be given, but every home also does everything differently. What’s it like in other families? I’ll tell you about mine. We never use a real Christmas tree. It might catch fire and burn my home to ashes. We use an old, plastic, foldable tree. We also have an angel we use instead of a star. My sister always gets to put it on the "tree." Grrrrrrrrrrrr … And my parents take a picture of her putting it on every time! Grrrrrrrrr again … On Christmas Eve it’s really night time that everything happens. Every other part is like any other day. Dad always reads us “The Night before Christmas” right before bed. Mom baked cookies for Santa already. You know how hard it is to sleep as a kid when it’s Christmas? Really. My brother, Steven, and I both have Nintendo DS’s, and they have built-in alarm clocks, so we set ‘em for 7 a.m. We never go in until Mom and Dad let us, and they actually have to be awake. Santa never wraps his presents to us, so as soon as we walk in, we know what they are. Dad hands each person their wrapped gifts, and most of them are from him and Mom. Steven always asks for at least one video or PC game, and he always gets one, at least. The receiver of the gift must hug the giver after opening. You know what the living room looks like after "The Great Opening?" A mess! Of course we clean it up, play with presents, and have an amazing time with my family. Samuel Godfrey

We decorate our Christmas tree the week after Thanksgiving. Almost every Christmas we have gingerbread houses. After choir we made a huge gingerbread house at our church. We made a log gingerbread house. Christmas is another one of my favorite holidays. Matt Knauss

My favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas morning. My sisters wake me up, "Lauren! Lauren! It’s Christmas!" I leap out of bed and jump for joy. We run down the staircase, and we are so excited that we don’t even stop to say good morning to mom or dad. As soon as we get downstairs we check and see if Santa wrote us a letter and ate all the snacks! We check to see if the reindeer ate all the carrots. Then we fly through the living room to the stockings and pull them down faster than I could jump up in the air! We always are so anxious to see what we got. We always love what’s in them. One year I got toothpaste, and I didn’t even care! After that my parents wake up, and the minute they walk in the room you can hear a chorus of "Look what I got...Look what I got!" Next, my mom walks in the living room with the video camera, and we run to the Christmas tree. My sisters and I are chanting, "Which one is mine??? Which one is mine??" We find our gifts and say, "That’s just what I wanted! Thank you, Santa!" This is why I always look forward to Christmas morning with my family. Lauren Murphy

I like Christmas because it’s the most wonderful time of the year. I like candy canes, Christmas cookies, Christmas carols, and most of all presents. Nicholas Price

Every year, for as long as I can remember my family visited my Godmother Nina for Christmas. Her son Sandro is my best friend. We usually arrive to their house late at night. As we drive up to the house, we see that it is decorated with Christmas lights. My brother and I jump out of the car and run to ring the door bell. Sandro is already standing at the door in his furry slippers, waiting for us. We hurry in and the first thing we see is a beautiful Christmas tree. I love the fresh pine scent! I hear clinking and clanging from the kitchen where Sandro’s mom and Grandma are cooking festive dinner. They are baking delicious khachapuri. Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian meal. I love gooey cheese inside the soft flat bread. Yum! I can’t get enough of it. We run upstairs to play with Sandro’s toys in his playroom. Suddenly we hear a door bell! We rush downstairs yelling: Santa!!! Sandro yanks the door open...but nobody is there. I hang my head low but then I see...PRESENTS! Santa left us presents on a doorstep. We are excited and can’t wait to open our gifts. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. Christmas is coming, and I can’t wait to go to Sandro’s this year to celebrate! Michael Odintsov

Ever since I was little I’ve enjoyed all of my Christmases so far. In fact, I always will. I’ve enjoyed the tree, the star, putting the decorations up, the lights, the music, the merriness and happiness, the gifts, the Santa swap and the food. One of the things I like best is bringing joy to others. You should try it. It makes you feel good. You be nice, or else you’ll get karma. Karma is when you’re nice and then something good happens. When you do something bad, something bad happens. If you are bad all year you get coal, but if you are good you get presents. That’s karma. Bringing joy to others and helping others are the best things you can do for Christmas. That’s my favorite Christmas tradition. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Skylar Breeden

My favorite Christmas tradition is when we set up the Christmas tree. When we get the Christmas tree from downstairs pine needles fall out. Our Christmas tree is very old. Then, we get the ornaments. There are many ornaments. Crash! An ornament falls and breaks. We clean up the broken glass. Finally, we get to put on the ornaments. It looks great when we finish. Just one more thing ... the angel! We set the angel on the tippy top of the Christmas tree. "Meow!" The cat is under the special tree. I laugh. This Tradition is FUN! Have a very Merry Christmas!!! John Knauss

My favorite Christmas tradition is putting up the Christmas tree and putting the ornaments on it. The first thing we do in the morning is see what Santa brought us. Christmas morning Nana, Pops, Grandmother, Tim and Uncle Casey come to eat breakfast at my house. When we finish eating we show them what we got. We play with our toys. We go to Nana’s house, and our cousins come, too. We get lots of toys. We have lots of fun. Merry Christmas! Julia Cornwell

On Christmas Eve my family never opens presents, except for our Christmas pajamas that we get every year. Last year I got fighter helicopter pajamas that were made from silk. On Christmas Day we wake up around 2 a.m. to look from the balcony at all the presents. We have a big tree that makes the room sparkle! On Christmas morning if Santa didn’t eat all the cookies we eat the rest! I love doing that because I can really feel the Christmas spirit. Jake Hutchison

When I wake up I have to wait on my sister to wake up, and my dad and mom. When my sister, Ashley, wakes up we look first in our stockings, and then we open our presents. We read who the presents came from, and then we put our things in a pile. When we’re done we have to pick up our scraps, and then my dad takes us to our papa’s and grandma’s house, and everybody in our family comes. Everybody gets one, two or three presents. Christmas is my first favorite holiday because we get presents, and we celebrate with our family. Joshua Barnett

Hi, my name is Brianna, but you can call me Anna. My favorite Christmas tradition is putting up the Christmas tree with my mom and my brother, Paul. We always put the tree up on a sunny day. We put up the tree while my dad is at work. My mom waits until I get home from school to put up the tree. She never puts up the tree without me. We start after I finish my homework. First, we go to the shed to get the tree. The tree is very heavy, so have to work together. I go open the back door so we can get in. Paul holds the door so it doesn’t close while we try to get in. Now the hard part is over. We run back out to get the ornaments. Paul is still holding the door as we run in with the ornaments. He shuts the door after mom and I get in. Next, we assemble the tree. It’s very hard to assemble the tree. It takes FOREVER. Soon, I go to my room to get the porcelain ornaments while Mom puts up other ornaments. The ones from the shed go on bottom, and the ones from my room go on the top. It takes one or two hours to finish. Last, but not least, my mom puts the Rainbow Light Tinkerbell on top of the tree. It looks beautiful. When my dad gets home he says mom and I did good. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Brianna Lynn Cadle

My family’s Christmas traditions are very exiting and fun. First, we have to take a very long trip of about 36 hours to Cuaracurio, Mituacan, which is in Mexico. We go there to see our grandfathers and grandmothers because we have a tradition in which we try our best to be with our family. We celebrate like this because for us the main thing about Christmas is that you should treat everybody the same, even if you don’t like them. When we arrive in Presious Cuara, we always go to my dad’s mom’s house first, which is connected to the temple. We go to the temple and give thanks to God for letting us arrive safely. After that the excitement starts! The very first tradition we have is called a Posada. In the Posada a boy from our pueblo dresses up like Jesus, and a girl from our pueblo dresses up like Mary. We walk behind them singing songs. When we arrive to where the Posada is going to be, we sit down and pray. When we finish praying, we go through a door in which a person is giving bags of candy to the people that came. The posada last for about 8-10 days. We do this because it is a way to celebrate Jesus and Mary. Another tradition we have is called a Castillo. A Castillo is like a type of big, skinny tower with lots of fireworks. At night they turn on the fireworks, and it looks beautiful. We have three or four Castillos. The last tradition we have is at the end of the year. First, we get ready and go to our grandfather’s house. At night we head on to walk with the rest of the people that are going to the parade. Usually everybody in the pueblo goes to the parade. We walk with bells almost all around the pueblo, and then we go to the place were the biggest Castillo is going to be held. We watch as they turn it on. After the Castillo is over we go to the temple where four people are going to carry two baby Jesuses. When they start to carry the two baby Jesuses covered with colorful blanket, we light some fireworks, ones you can hold in your hand without getting burned, to honor God for all the things he has done for us. At the end of the celebration we go to a house to eat. The celebration is so fun. These are the celebrations we have. For us they are so excited and fun. Everybody has different celebrations, but for me my celebrations are the best. Alejandro Cornejo

First we go to the living room to open presents. When we are finished we have a big breakfast. Next, we play with our toys until lunch. At lunch we clean the dish of milk and cookies that Santa had eaten. Then we eat the ham, carrots and some cake. Then we play with our toys until dinner. At dinner we eat the rest of the ham and turkey, salad,and cake. Then we go to bed. these are my Christmas traditions. Chloe Allana Tilton

"T’was the night before Christmas" is a very different tale if you read it in Cajun the way I do! It’s not really a different language; it’s just hard to understand. After that we go to one of my aunt’s or uncle’s houses for a Christmas party. My mom’s side of the family has done this since before I was born. We (AKA "all the kids") draw names to decide who to give presents to on Christmas Eve, but siblings have to wait until Christmas morning. When we get home we put baby Jesus in the manger and put out eggnog and cookies for Santa. Then my brother, sister, and I crowd into Sissy’s bed and watch a movie. After we wake up really early, we run to the living room to check out our presents from Santa and from each other. We especially want to see presents from Ma’e and Aunt Cathy. Then it’s clean up time! Skylar Chamness

On Christmas we like to get up early for breakfast. We normally eat pancakes. Then we open our presents. Then we go in the kitchen and write thank you cards. This year we are going to Utah to see my mom’s side of the family. I am excited to go to Utah. Emily Hutchinson

My favorite part of Christmas is the presents, putting up the Christmas tree, and decorating the Christmas tree. I will go toPennsylvania for Christmas for a week. I love Christmas. Ben Miller

On Christmas I go to my grandmother’s house. We call her Mim. We get presents because we were not there on Christmas Eve. Grandpa John has three Christmas trees. These are my favorite Christmas things. Anwyn Shanahan

Every Christmas our family comes to our house, and we all give presents to each other. Then we eat ham and turkey, and then we go to our aunt’s house. We celebrate Jesus’ birthday. Then we go back to my aunt’s house to open presents. Christmas is my first favorite holiday in the world.Jennifer Vazquez

First, my family wakes up on Christmas Eve, and we eat breakfast and clean up. Second, we make sure we have everyone a present. If we do, we gather them and ride around and go to visit the people whose names are on the nametags. By then it’s about lunchtime, so we eat lunch. Third, we go to my uncle and aunt’s house. We also eat, and we open presents there, too. After a little while we go home and go to bed .The next morning I wake up and scream, "It’s here! It is Christmas!" I open all my toys, and after that I usually play with my wonderful, fabulous TOYS. That’s my Christmas tradition. Brinsley Bagley

My favorite Christmas tradition is when on Christmas Eve we finish dinner, we wash the dishes, and after that, we open presents. We always invite my Maw Maw over for Christmas. My Maw Maw and I go wait by the presents until my parents get there. When my parents get there, we start to hand out presents. When I get my presents, I rip off the wrapping paper. After that, we watch a movie. Then I go to bed. On Christmas morning, I wake up and go get my brother up. His name is Stephen. My mom makes me cover my eyes when I go up there because the presents are right there. Then Stephen and I come downstairs. Then I open my eyes. I see all my presents from Santa! I look at my presents, and I like them all. After that, my mom makes a special breakfast. Then I play with my presents. Usually we watch a Christmas movie. Then my brother and I go outside to throw a football. When Christmas is over I always think about doing the same thing next year, but the only different thing I will do the next year is I will get different presents. Ryan Ward

My favorite Christmas tradition is when we put up the Christmas tree and put on the ornaments. Santa brings my sisters and me presents. We play with our toys. Then we have a family gathering. Nana, Larry, Mimi, Papa, and lots of people come. It is fun. Kaitlyn Murphy

On Christmas I love going to my aunt and uncle’s house. Mom and I make apple pie and punch. Then we load it up and get in the car. We drive all the way to Jasper. We pull in the driveway of a white house with a tan roof. I get out and hug my aunt. She helps by bringing in the punch. Then we all sit at the table and eat. The smooth, brown table always looks long at Christmas. After we eat, my cousin, Anthony, and I go play football in the back yard. When we come in, we wash up and go open presents. Afterwards the shine on the tree fades, and my mom, my cousins, and I leave. We all say goodbye. I tell Mandy bye, too. Mandy is a dog. We start on our LONGER drive to my grandmother’s house. There we open more presents. Christmas is always fun. Tamryn Watters

My favorite tradition is when I put Christmas decorations on my mom’s Christmas tree and my grandma’s tree, too. When I grow up I am going to carry on the tradition. My mom and I are going to decorate our tree. We already decorated my grandma’s tree. When I decorate my mom’s tree I bet it will be fun. We might get a real Christmas tree. I am looking forward to that. I hope we can do that. Here’s a question. Do you have a real tree? That’s my favorite Christmas tradition. Will Smith

Every Christmas we have a traditional party. No one has been naughty. Everyone loves Mama’s homemade cake. Jackson Shaw

Every Christmas eve we take time to finish decorating our house. On Christmas morning we have a big breakfast. Then we watch TV. Next we hang out and talk. It’s finally Christmas night! We open presents, and then play with them. Next, we get ready for bed. Christmas in my favorite holiday. Riley Wallace

Every Christmas Eve we go to my Maw maw’s house. We eat finger foods and drink eggnog and soda. Next, we gather in her tiny living room to open presents. Everybody gets at least seven to eight presents. After we open presents we go home. We put cookies and milk out for Santa. On Christmas morning we get up and open more presents. Next we cook for my Nana and PaPa. After that we go to my Papa’s mom’s house and play Dirty Santa. That is why these are my favorite Christmas traditions. I’m looking forward to another good Christmas. I hope Santa is good to me, and I hope Santa is good to you, too. Merry Christmas! Alex Harrison

My favorite Christmas memory was on a very fine Christmas morning when I woke up, and I was so very sleepy that I even forgot that it was Christmas morning. I went back to sleep again, ignoring Christmas morning. When it was 12 p.m., my little sister jumped on top of me with her pajamas, and I shouted, "HEY! What was that for?" I asked my little sister. "Hello, it’s Christmas morning, Mayko!" my little sister told me. I was very concerned because I woke up the right time to open my presents. I went to my living room, and I saw 34 presents under the Christmas tree! I was very happy that Santa Claus brought presents for me and all my family. All my family and I ran to our Christmas tree. We opened our presents. I opened my presents, and I got a Play Station 2. My sister got a dollhouse, and so did my little sister. My dad got a soccer ball for Christmas, and my mom got a wonderful dress for Christmas. We all had more presents to open. My dad said, "What are we waiting for?" "Let’s open our presents!’ my mom told us. So we all started to open our presents. We all had very much fun opening our presents. That is my favorite Christmas memory. Merry Christmas, everyone! (Feliz Navidad) Mayko Calmo

When Christmas comes we get some cookies from my nanny’s house. We eat some food, and then we go home. When we get home we get out the milk and cookies. In the morning I always go in the kitchen to see if Santa Claus ate the cookies and drank the milk. After I check to see, I go wake my mommy, and then we go in the living room to open presents. My mommy brings the camera, too. She gets a trash bag to put all the wrapping paper in. After we are done opening gifts, we go over my nanny’s house and everybody is there. Then we open more presents there. Next, we eat and maybe play some games, and then we leave. I always have a FUN Christmas with my family. P.S. I LOVE Christmas!!!! DeMya Bryan

Do you have a family tradition? Well, I do. Let me tell you about my family traditions. What we do is we go to Tennessee to see my grandfather. We travel about four and a half hours to get to his house. Before we leave we have to pack very warm clothes to wear because it is cold in Tennessee when it is winter. When we get to Tennessee it is almost always around noon, if we leave at about 7 in the morning. Then, when we get there, we unpack our stuff. Next, we eat lunch, and our cousins come over. At about 6 p.m. our cousins leave. Since we like to go to Tennessee on Christmas Eve, the next day is Christmas! That night we put out cookies and milk for Santa, and we go to bed. The next day when we wake up the cookies and milk are gone! One time I stayed up till 12 a.m. But, too bad for me. Santa came after 12 because I never saw him. On Christmas day Abby (my sister) and I go feed a horse named Spike. We do lots of other cool stuff. About two days later it’s time for us to leave, so we pack our bags and go home. Now you know my Christmas tradition! What’s yours? Caroline Young

Every Christmas morning we get up and give each other gifts. Then we go to Grandpa’s house. The whole family eats biscuits, gravy, fried chicken, sausage and bacon. Then we gather around the tree, and one of use give out presents. After we open all of the presents we play with them. After an hour we take all the wrapping paper and throw it away. There are 11 of us, and we get more than one present, so that’s a lot of paper! We load it all up and go home and play with some and put the rest up. Then we wait ‘till next year! Nic Bray

My favorite Christmas tradition starts out with getting the tree! We walk around a big field that’s filled with Christmas trees, looking for the perfect tree. When we finally find it a man cuts the tree, and we take it home and set it up. When it’s finally Christmas Eve we have hot cocoa and go to bed. When we wake up we eat, and then we open all the presents and look in our stockings! I play with my toys all day and have a great Christmas! Lily Chesnut

On Christmas Eve we always go to my great grandma Bowen’s house. We get together on my mom’s side of the family and have an early Christmas. My mom and grandma make dressing, turkey, cranberry sauce, and rolls. Once we are done eating we go in the living room and open presents. After that McKenzie, Dayton, and I go in my grandma’s yard and play football 1 vs. 2. Next, we say goodbye to everyone and drive home. When we are going home we ALWAYS go to Cracker Barrel. When we get home we give our dog its regular bone it always gets for Christmas. Before we go to bed we ALWAYS open a present on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we open our presents and go to Nanny’s house. We get presents from our Nanny, and my cousins come over and play. These are my favorite Christmas traditions. Bo Crick

My family on my dad’s side always trades names, but on my mom’s side we get numbers. On my dad’s side we write down what we want for Christmas and give it to the host, and then he or she will give them out during Thanksgiving. Then they have to buy a present for that person. On my mom’s side on Christmas we get numbers and get the present that has that number on it. It is always fun to see who has whose name. Blakely Herod

Every Christmas Eve I go to bed really late. About the time I lay down, I hear the attic door open right outside my bedroom door. It creaks so loud it is practically impossible not to hear. In the morning I wake up extremely early. I mean, we’re talking 6:30 in the morning! That is very early for a 9-year-old boy. Well, every Christmas morning I sprint into the family room. It is filled with presents! My parents say that I have to wait for everybody to get up before I can open my presents. They say it would he unfair for me to open presents when everybody is asleep. When everybody wakes up, we eat breakfast. We have egg and cheese biscuits. Then we go to the family room and open our presents. We each take turns so each of us opens one present at a time. The next place we go is my grandmother and grandfather’s house to have lunch. My whole family that is on my mom’s side is there. Everybody brings a dish so we can have a buffet. There are appetizers and desserts. After lunch we all sit down around the Christmas tree and open our presents. After that my family goes with my step dad to his sister’s house. She has mac and cheese, rolls, meat, and all kinds of stuff. After dinner we all go to the Christmas tree and open our presents. The next day I go to my dad’s house in the morning. I eat breakfast there. It might be breakfast burritos, or it might he bacon, eggs, toast, and cheesy grits. If I can go to my papa’s house then my presents will be there. But if I can’t go there, then my presents are at my dad’s house. The last place I go is my dad’s mom’s house. She cooks dumplings and fried liver. It is so good. After lunch we open our presents. Last year I got a thick sleeping bag and a laptop. I have a big Christmas!! Matthew Hines

Every Christmas Eve my family, including my cousins, gathers together to do something called "Secret Santa" and "Santa Trade." The kids do Secret Santa, where you write your name on a piece of paper and put it in a basket. You then shake the basket and take out a name, and whoever’s name you get you give that person a present. Next comes the Santa Trade, where parents always just buy presents. They don’t know who’s going to get that present, but they still buy one. Once they buy the presents they gather together to start. First, parents pick out a number. If they get the biggest number and don’t like their present they can trade with whoever they want, but if you have the lowest number you can’t trade with anyone unless they trade with you. If you get the lowest number you are likely to get the WORST present! I can’t wait until this Christmas Eve and hope it’s as good as other years. I love my Christmas traditions. Erick Luna

On Christmas my family loves to decorate the house, and we have a great feast with turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy. I like the steamy ham. We also love to get a lot of presents, and all of us get together so we can love each other. All of our pets get some presents, too, like bones, sweaters and blankets. I think Christmas is the best holiday, because I love it. This year is going to be the best Christmas ever. Irvyn N. Rivera

My favorite Christmas tradition is when my mom, my sister, and I put lights in all the little houses that we collect. We have this stair-like table, and we put the houses on the table. On the bottom part it is like the first Christmas. On the second one is like the Middle Ages Christmas. And finally on the top is like our present-time Christmas. In the small houses we put little lights in them, and it makes them glow. On Christmas Day right before we open our gifts my mom, my sister, and I put little lights in the houses, so it’s like we’re traveling through time. After that my mom, my sister, and I go get three statues for each part of the display. The first one we put is on the bottom part, so we put a baby Jesus there. On the second we put a middle-aged Jesus statue and on the top one we put a grown up Jesus. Then we all sit down and open our gifts from oldest to youngest.Kimberly Santacruz

I like all of my family’s traditions, but the one I like the most is the one where my sisters, my brother, and I try to guess what we got from Santa Claus. Each year when we try to guess what Santa brought we always get it wrong. This Christmas I’m going try to guess right. We always sit around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and try to guess what we got from Santa, and then on Christmas we open them to see if we were right. I really like this tradition because it’s really fun trying to guess what Santa brought us. Sergio Vazquez Santillian

Every year, we put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. My mom, my sister, and I decorate the tree and set up all of our ornaments. My dad sets up the Christmas village. We put out wreaths on our front windows. We hang stockings by the fireplace. They were made by my grandmother. I usually open gifts from my parents on Christmas Eve and presents from the rest of my family on Christmas Day after lunch. On Christmas morning, I wake up extra early. Then I wake up my mom. She always tells me to go back to sleep. That’s not possible for me. Once I’m awake, I’m awake. Nothing’s going to change it. I keep looking at my toys and keep trying to wake my mother up! One tradition we have is that we have an Advent Christmas tree that we add ornaments to every day until Christmas. This year, I have my own- a Lego Advent calendar. I get to build something every day! Matt Boyd

Every Christmas my family has many traditions. A few days before Christmas we go to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit my grandfather. We finally get there after four hours of sitting in the car. Once it’s Christmas Eve, my mom lets Caroline and me open one present. While we are opening our presents, my mom starts baking cookies. Once the cookies are done we eat a few. After eating the cookies we put two cookies, two carrots and milk near the fireplace for Santa. When I was little I used to try to stay up and catch Santa. Then on Christmas Day we open our presents, and then we empty our stockings. On Christmas our friends Marty and Danny come over, and we exchange presents. Since our friends are coming over, we have to clean up my grandfather’s messy living room. We come back home a few days after Christmas. Then our dad drives us around, and we look at all the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. Twelve days after Christmas we take down the Christmas tree. I can’t wait for this Christmas! Abby Young



My family has many holiday traditions. Every year we go to Alabama on Christmas Eve to eat and open gifts. The rush getting ready to get there is such a hassle, but I have to do it. I dress nice and warm for the half hour drive. When I get there it is all hugs and hellos. The lines are long because there are so many people and so much food to choose from, and it takes forever to get everything. Then my cousins and I open our gifts from each other. The grown-ups play a game called Dirty Santa. That is a game where you buy random gifts, and you get to steal other’s presents. Sleepy, my dad and I get in the car and drive back home. We listen to Christmas songs, and we just talk. When we get home I am tired so I head straight to bed. The next morning my mom and my dad watch and take pictures of me opening presents. I can just see the red and green wrapping paper and bows fly across^-the room! My tree is right beside my window so it always catches my attention because I can see the reflection of the lights and shiny ornaments against the glass. The house is quiet while everyone looks at the reaction on my face. Afterwards I head to my mom’s family’s house. I eat there, too, and I have a blast with my four and five year old cousins, Chandler and Austin. Many people have traditions that they may like or dislike. I happen to like all mine and have a fun following them. I hope many more are brought into my family. Aaliyah Lewis

Every December my family has many Christmas traditions. Here are a few of them. Our first tradition is that we go to our church a few days before Christmas for the Christmas nativity. I am always the littlest angel because I’m only ten. Since I’m the littlest angel I’m usually only out for fifteen minutes, but you can stay out for the full thirty minutes. If you want to see the Christmas nativity, drive by Trinity United Methodist Church on Shorter Avenue anytime during the week before Christmas, starting at about seven o’clock to nine o’clock. If you do you’ll see the Christmas nativity. Another family tradition is that on Christmas Eve my grandmother and grandfather come up for Christmas. We go to the candlelight service. The next day we open presents and celebrate Christmas. On the twenty-sixth my grandparents usually go home, and on the 27th we go up to their house in North Carolina to have Christmas with my mom’s side of the family. Then we stay up through New Year’s so we can have our usual New Year’s party. It’s always a blast. I love the Christmas season! Ally Campbell

My favorite family traditions lay in this letter. One of my favorite things to do is bake sugar pecans with my mom. I love to eat them. They are brown with a sugary coat. I also like to play with the leftover wrapping paper. It is so colorful like parts of rainbows shooting through the air. I hear laughing and screaming. One thing I love to do, and everyone else who gets gifts, is go play with them! Another thing I do is go visit family. The trip there is so long! Just kidding, since it’s only 45 minutes, but it seems longer because I’m accepting gifts. I walk in the house that smells like pine and has a small tree with lots of gifts under it. After opening the presents more paper is flying through the air. Then we decide which ones we will keep there and which ones I will take home. It is a hard decision, but once it’s made, it’s made. Then we eat things like chicken and sweets. Next we have to go to visit more family who are fifteen to twenty minutes away from this place. The drive here isn’t very interesting. It isn’t really in the country, but it’s not very busy, either. When we get there we go straight to the presents, but by then it is time for some food. Again! We eat basically the same thing, but not as much. Afterward we hope it’s time for presents, and you would think since the same thing happens each year we would know it’s not time for presents yet, but we don’t. Then the grown ups talk while we kids jump on the trampoline, because we don’t have any family members that get snow. I mean like snow-snow. You know. when the snow lands on the ground and doesn’t melt! Oh well, but the time still passes quickly, but not quick enough. When the time finally comes we run inside and grab our presents and start ripping away. We aren’t allowed to throw paper here, but it is getting late by now so we need to go home in time for Christmas, and not just Christmas Eve, like today. We always make it home in time to eat a small snack if we can and then go to bed. I dream dreams about Christmas and all the presents I will get. I can hear them being set down, but I don’t get up. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Then I go back to sleep. Before I know it, Christmas is here! We eat breakfast and sugar pecans. Present time is now. We open our gifts and the past seems to repeat itself. Again we are laughing, screaming, and throwing paper. After the whole day of playing, right before I go to sleep, I realize how much I’m glad to have my family because without them I wouldn’t have gotten the gifts, and without the gifts Christmas wouldn’t have been very good, but it still would have been a kind of Christmas. I know I am happy and thankful. Hope you have a good Christmas and to all a good night. Kaitlyn M. Broadaway

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to eat ham like a pig on Christmas. I go to my Nanna and Pappa’s house and stuff myself with all I can eat But, to get to Nanna and Pappas we have to drive for two hours in the middle of the night! It is awesome on Christmas Eve at my house! I stay up………..not at all! I go to bed early, like 8:30! I dream of Bakugan and baseball stuff! I love Christmas morning! Our family wakes up at 6 am to see what Santa got us. We have a 10 o’clock breakfast, and then we head to Hanna and Pappa’s house for more presents! After lunch, we go to G’MAMMA and G’DADDY’S house for more presents! Dinner is always awesome on Christmas, including turkey, ham, and dressing. Then, we just go home. Our family traditions may not be like yours, but all I know is that they’re really fun!! Andrew Tallant

My Christmas begins with dinner of honey roasted ham, with a side of fresh biscuits and green beans. Then, we will have cherry pie for a Christmas traditional color, and it also reminds us of the Shepherd’s pie. Afterward, we will go to my church for the Christmas Eve program, where we will discuss the importance of Jesus Christ, our Savior. When we leave we will look around for Christmas lights. We always find a house with great, glittering lights. There we might find reindeer in the front, waving from side to side making a magnificent scene. Many small decorations will be scattered about, but the greatest one will be the sleigh, glowing red. When we go home we will sit around the tree and read the story of baby Jesus. By doing this, we will honor that He was born. Later, we will open one present of ours to represent that Jesus was born this night. Then, we will go to our beds and go to sleep, but we will be very eager for Christmas tomorrow! Charlotte Roberts

My favorite Christmas tradition is on Christmas Day. Once I wake up, if no one else is awake, I will go to every room and wake everyone up. Once everyone is awake, we go to the living room and start to open presents. I always start with the biggest gift because I can’t wait to see what is inside. We take turns opening presents because my mom doesn’t want us to see two presents at one time because it wouldn’t be fair to my sister and everyone else who gets presents. Once we’re done opening presents we eat a big dinner. After that my mom drives us to my grandmother’s house to eat a big dinner. There isn’t a specific meal we eat; we just eat various foods. We look forward to eating at her house because it is very good, and we never know what we’re going to eat. That is my favorite Christmas traditions, and we love doing it every year. Cage Floyd

Every Christmas I wake up my brothers, and then we wake up my mom and dad. Then we open presents all morning. Then at night we eat dinner. Jax Bray

On Christmas morning we open our presents and play with the toys. Luke Corbett

On Christmas we go to my grandmother’s house. Next, we go to see the lights. Last, we throw a party. Finally, we go to sleep, and the next morning it’s present time. Jaymon Lee

First look: New iPhone games from Electronic Arts

On Thursday, EA Mobile unveiled three new games that are coming soon to an iPhone or iPod touch near you. Though no release dates have been set yet, look for theses titles in the coming weeks.

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Spore Creatures

Spore Creatures is an adaptation of the creature phase from 2008’s evolution simulator, Spore (). But thanks to some impressive graphics and an accelerometer-controlled top-down display, Spore Creatures looks to be a game carefully developed for the iPhone platform.

The producer for Spore Creatures, Kam Zambel, sat down with me to demonstrate the gameplay of this evolution simulator. The developers worked hard to create an open world environment for players to explore with their unique critters. The dedication to open-ended gameplay isn’t limited to the 20 levels for your creature to scavenge, hunt, and discover, but also to the game’s iconic creature creator. Thanks to the iPhone’s touchscreen display, manipulating the creature’s body is only a pull, pinch, or flick away. Kam explains that with 45 creature parts and five different character traits to level up (offensive, defensive, socialization, movement, and perception), the combinations for unique creatures are virtually infinite.
The game begins when your creature makes its first tepid steps onto land. You’ll have to eat creatures smaller than yours to stay alive and collect their DNA to evolve. You can befriend creatures or attack and eat them; each strategy has advantages and disadvantages. You’ll also encounter puzzles that will unlock new areas to explore or allow you to defeat “epic creatures” you’ll encounter in certain areas. During the demo, Kam showed that in order to get past a boulder, her creature needed to develop legs and pull the rock away.

Throughout gameplay, you can evolve three times and reach new zones. You’ll encounter new parts to attach to your creature and develop its skills. The zones are varied too, from beach areas to forests to icy tundra. Each has its own unique creatures to encounter.
While Spore Creatures lacks multiplayer, EA is confident that the customizable abilities of the creatures (thanks to Spore’s innovative Creature Creator) and the wealth of things to explore will keep players interested. Spore Creatures will be compatible with all versions of the iPhone and iPod touch.

The Simpsons Arcade

Few cultural icons have the staying power or lasting impact of The Simpsons. Inspired by the 1991 arcade title and featuring the voice talents of the television show cast, The Simpsons Arcade for the iPhone and iPod touch is steeped in authenticity and reverence for the source material.
The game is a side-scrolling beat-’em-up, much in the style of the original arcade game. Steve Robert, producer of the Simpsons Arcade, explains that getting the characters and settings right was a top priority. To that end, Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, and the other main voice actors all reprise their roles from the series for the iPhone game. When you hear Homer yell “D’oh!” it’s the actual voice of Homer, Dan Castellaneta. EA worked with Michael Price, one of the writers for the show, in order to ensure the game was as true to the series (and funny!) as possible.
The plot is something straight out of a Simpsons episode. You play as Homer, who by chance runs into Mr. Smithers while he is in possession of a special donut. Mr. Burns needs that donut and employs half of Springfield to stop Homer from getting to it. Homer, for his part, just wants the forbidden donut.
Each of the six levels features an iconic environment like the Springfield Mall, Krustyland, and Mr. Burn’s compound. As Homer, you’ll confront iconic bosses, mini bosses, and NPCs straight from the show. On the first level in the streets of Springfield, you’ll see Moe idly standing on the side of the street outside his bar. Snowball II runs past you at one point and you’ll eventually do battle with Chief Wiggum and Mayor Quimby (both of whom have been bribed by Mr. Burns).
As a brawler, Homer has a full range of attacks at his disposal, including punches, shoulder charges, belly flops, etc. Just like in the original arcade, you can pick up weapons and interact with the environment to a limited degree. The controls are simple too: there’s a touchpad D-pad in the corner and a couple buttons on the right. According to Steve Robert, you can earn extra lives and continues by finding trophies hidden throughout the levels and beating the minigames sprinkled through the game.

But what of Bart, Lisa, Marge and Maggie? Well, they’re in the game, as well. Though not as full playable characters, you can find tokens throughout the game that will call on them to aid you in battle. If you’re in a tough spot and confronted by a ton of enemies, finding one of these tokens can clear the stage quickly. Bart rides in and jumps on Homer’s back, shooting from his slingshot and taking out enemies. Lisa uses her jump rope and Marge and Maggie grant Homer improved fighting abilities and temporary invulnerability.
From my initial look at the game, The Simpsons Arcade for the iPhone looks to be an authentic and fun brawler. While we’d love to be able to play as the rest of the family, it’s understandable that EA wanted to keep the game focused. During the demo, the combat was well balanced, the environments great, and the references to the show numerous. If you’ve ever wanted to play as Homer on a donut-obsessed rampage, this is your chance.

Need for Speed Shift

Need for Speed Shift, the hotly anticipated sequel to Need for Speed Undercover, looks to offer more gameplay, more replayability, more content to unlock, and improved well, everything. From the stunning visuals to the extensive track and car lists, the game is sure to make every gear head happy.
Nikhil Dighe, associate producer for Need for Speed Shift, showed a preview of the game. The first thing you’ll notice is that this is probably the best looking game you’ve seen for the iPhone. The cars look realistic, the roads are beautiful, and when the soundtrack is thumping, it’s a really fun game to play.

While the game is designed to work on every generation of the iPod touch and iPhone, Nikhil admitted that the game runs best on the iPhone 3GS. Hopefully it will run better on some of the older model iPhones than Command and Conquer, another high-end EA title that really needs the 3GS's improved processor.
There are three modes to choose from: Quick Race, Career Mode, and Multiplayer. The “meat” of the game is in the Career Mode, where you can unlock three cities, four tiers, and twenty-eight events. Like the console games, unlocking content is based on earning stars. You may be able to earn several stars on the first track just by finishing first, but other stars (like leading from start to finish) will take time to unlock and keep you coming back for more. That’s why Nikhil believes Need for Speed Shift will offer more replayability than Need for Speed Undercover.
There are 20 licensed cars to earn, though you only start with two in your garage. The soundtrack is a big focus of this iteration of Need for Speed, including 20 licensed tracks from a variety of artists and unique, authentic sounds for each car’s engine. Not only can you see a realistic car, but you can hear what it’s like to drive it as well.
You can customize your car both visually and technically, offering a selection of kits and assists to improve your car’s performance and look.
But what is it like to actually play the game? We got a chance to race Nikhil in head to head multiplayer. The multiplayer mode allows for players to connect over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. If players have the same access point over Bluetooth, up to four can play at a time. Otherwise, it’s limited to two players. Details on what kind of online multiplayer is available have yet to be revealed, but hopefully you can just hop in to a race against a random player online quickly and easily.
During our race, I switched between a cockpit view (which shows damage via a cracked windshield) and a third-person perspective that allows you to more fully see the racetrack (no car damage, however). The visuals were gorgeous and I really appreciated the arrows that helped novice players navigate (otherwise I would have never made some of those turns). I preferred using the iPhone like a steering wheel via the device’s accelerometer; it had just the right amount of sensitive and responded beautifully.

I’m not much of a racing fan, but Need for Speed Shift was a heck of a lot of fun to play. With the soundtrack blaring, the engines revving, and hairpin turns through some truly realistic courses, I can honestly say I’ve never played a more intense (or fun) racing game on the iPhone.

11W Weekend Update: Sponsored by Gall

Ugly sweater (ahem, not vest mind you) season is in full effect, and with it comes the last (tear) quasi-traditional week of sport’s best regular season. While many of the games in particular we look at are as prefabricated and contrived as the material used to sew that only-wear-once conversation piece you’ll be rocking as Egg Nog becomes seasonal, who the hell cares? Extra college football including 5 games involving multiple ranked teams playing each other? Please and thank you.

Two months back, reader Wil recommended we reawaken the tradition from Weekend Update’s predecessor that was listing the games we featured’s spreads as well as throwing up some random guestimates at how those puppies would actually play themselves out. Incomprehensibly to all, the results have been frighteningly not awful. Following last week’s results, your honorary 11W gambling enabler is now 52-17-1 (~75%) for an abbreviated 2009 slate. After the first 8-0 week against the spread of the entire season, all that’s left to wrap up this season is a perfectly symmetrical 0-8. Feast your eyes on championship weekend:

NATIONAL GAMES

Thursday – #14 Oregon State at #7 Oregon (-10.5) – 9:00 p.m. (ESPN)
The game imploring Buckeyes everywhere to call in sick Friday morning takes Oregon and Oregon State’s traditional end of season “Civil War”, and turns it into the opposite side of the Ohio State-Iowa Rose Bowl play-in bracket. In turning Oregon from laugh riot to laudable, Chip Kelly’s turned the Ducks into quite the late season buzz team, leaving many tOSU faithful keeping their fingers crossed for a Ducks v. Bucks New Year’s Day treat. The Beavers are no slouches in their own right, though certainly considerably more under the radar so to speak. Despite an impressive showing against the BCS’ most consistent (and arguably best) conference this season, the Beavers are still virtual unknowns in many Buckeye fans’ minds. The brothers Rodgers and venerable head coach Mike Riley lead a team into Eugene that despite being unranked, have finished each of the last 4 regular seasons in both Top 25s. While Oregon State will reward those bold enough to stake their children’s college funds on their covering, expect the Ducks to emerge Rose Bowl parade bown, 34-29.

Friday – MAC Championship Game: Ohio vs. Central Michigan (-10.5) – 8:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
Our loyal readership of OU students and alum can finally feel the love; Frank Solich’s Bobcats’ trip to Ford Field garners our modest viewing recommendation and gets them their first play on this site since the 2008 too close for comfort contest. Standing between them and, well, a return trip to the very same venue for the Motor City Bowl as MAC Champions are Butch jones’ 10-2 Chips. LeFevour is no stranger to these parts, as the senior gun slinger’s accrued 2788 yards, 25 TDs to just 5 picks and a 71% completion percentage to boot to go along with 650 yards and 14 more TDs on the ground in the closing sonnet of a brilliant MAC career. The future pro-bound Tebow of the state that shall not be named should find a worthy adversary in Ohio’s big play defense. The ‘Cats forced 35 turnovers this season and enter the MAC Championship Game with a +14 turnover ratio. Despite a tremendous season from CMU, the Bobcats find a way to bring a title back to Athens, taking the MAC 35-31.

#5 Cincinnati at #13 Pittsburgh (-1.5) – 12:00 p.m. (ABC)
Depending upon who you ask, this is either UC head man Brian Kelly’s last, or far from last game as the head coca of the Bearcats. A rather distraction heavy week for Cincinnati lead them to Pittsburgh, where the 2-loss Fightin’ Wandstaches wait eagerly. Much like the Thursday night Pac 10 contest, this one is a defacto conference championship and will determine the league’s BCS representative. Vegas too clearly has inside information the most of us aren’t privy to (or just really love them some well groomed mustaches) as Pitt inexplicably enters this one as one and a half point favorites. While this one has all the makings of the classic makings of an underwhelming Wandstet let down game, Bill Stull’s had far too great of a season for the Panthers to let his season end with the kind of performance he put up in Morgantown last weekend. As per usual, Vegas is onto something: Pitt (you read that right) wins this bad boy 35-25.

SEC Championship Game: #1 Florida vs. #2 Alabama (+5) – 4:00 p.m. (CBS)
It takes a real man of inspiration to be able to make fun of two teams in a single statement, but Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin did just that earlier in the week simply stating “Florida has better players, but Alabama has better coaches.” Duly noted, sir. While an unwatchable 6-3 win by either team would arguably be the Pareto optimal outcome for this one, any result where by which the Tebow child is uninspired will be a win for selfish Buckeye fans everywhere hoping the keep Archie’s stature as two time Heisman trophy hoister as an individual historic occurrence. I went the entirety of the season thinking this game was Alabama’s to lose, though given the way the Gators looked the last 2 weekends, I’ll be awfully hard pressed to concede they drop this one. That being said I’m going against all instinct and assuming the last 3 Gator opponents were conveniently their 3 worst defensively, and giving Bama this one, 16-10. Steve Addazio, eat your heart out.

ACC Championship Game: #10 Georgia Tech vs. #25 Clemson (EVEN) – 8:00 p.m. (ESPN)
If the above doesn’t clear up exactly what Coach Paul Johnson brings to the table, tune in for his awesome off with Clemson young gun Dabo Swinney. Georgia Tech won a zany come from behind affair earlier in the season, and before being completely out physicaled for the entirety of an evening by Georgia last weekend, were the hands down favorites in this one. After Clemson also did us no favors laying an egg to the Gamecocks (even after a C.J. Spiller opening kickoff return for a touchdown), we’re looking at just the second pick ‘em of the games we’ve profiled all season (and the second in as many weeks). In situations of uncertainty and relative parity, there’s no other choice except to default to the oracle that is Phil Steele. His outcome : 1010110101010101011011000001010101010101. Or in our language: Clemson 31 – GT 24.

Big XII Championship Game: #3 Texas vs. #23 Nebraska (+13) – 8:00 p.m. (ABC)
The most lopsided on paper prompts us to remind you of Big XII Championship Games past: unranked Texas shocked then #3 ranked 2-time defending champion Nebraska 37-27 in the inaugural Big XII Championship Game in 2003. 1998 saw 10th ranked Texas A&M keep upstart #2 Kansas State from their first ever title game berth, winning 36-33 in 2 OT in a truly all-time classic. 2001 brought more high drama as championship bound with a win #3 Texas couldn’t overcome 4 Chris Simms turnovers losing to #9 Colorado 39-37, also in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And who can forget 2003’s completely illogical 35-7 dismantling of season long #1 Oklahoma by #15 K-State. So factoring in all the dumb small sample size superstitions again we have no AP #3 ranked teams having ever won a Big 12 Championship Game, the Longhorns 0-1 in DFW Big XII title games, and the Horns just 1-3 in Big XII title games all-time. Easy Nebraska victory? If only Zac Lee and the Huskers weren’t rolling into town with the 92nd ranked offense in the FBS. Colt McCoy’s final in-state game as Texas’ quarterback ends the way so many of his NCAA leading 44 wins do, with another Texas W. Horns take it 24-13.

BIG TEN GAMES:

Fresno State at Illinois (EVEN) – 12:30 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
The Big Ten’s still playing games? I’m as shocked as you are, and it can’t bode well for Zooksters to be facing A PICK ‘EM game against 3rd place in the WAC Fresno State. Pat Hill’s 7-4 Bulldogs roll into Champagne with Illinois desperately seeking to end the season 4-8. The Bulldogs did go into Madison and take Wisconsin to OT earlier in the year, plus played Cincinnati tough falling just 28-20 in the nasty ‘Nati. In fact, it’s difficult not to like the Bulldogs given their only other losses were to Boise State and WAC 2nd place Nevada. Despite every fiber in my being wanting the Big Ten to represent in this one, it’s hard not to take the (gulp) better team. Fresno ends the Illini’s season rocket launcher style: 34-13.

Wisconsin at Hawaii (+11.5) – 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
The Badgers get a jump start on bowling, playing a 13th game (and all intents and purposes pre-bowl) against Greg McMacklin’s Warriors. In a potentially must win to save his job game for McMacklin, the Rainbows’ still potent offensive attack will have to jump out to an early advantage if they want to hang with the superior athleticism the Badgers bring to the table. With superstud sophomore running back John Clay already announcing he’ll be back next season, the Badgers go into this one with few questions other than what will the final margin of victory be. Hawaii goes down (though no word whether or not Wisconsin does any kind of pre-game dance) as the Badgers crush all in sight, 45-21.

Bringing home the bacon - pigs in The Peaks

The pigs are squealing loudly and lustily, it may be the wet weather up here in the hills outside Sheffield, it could be the low cloud base or it might just be the sight of their owner approaching them carrying a cordless drill. Is this some new form of humane slaughter? Max Freeman looks down at his Black and Decker, ‘Oh I forgot I were carrying this,’ he laughs. ‘I’ve been in the barn building ‘chickenopolis’, our architect designed hen house, I should have left it in there.’

They charge to greet him, lovely brown and white porkers who clearly enjoy their free range life in the field, rooting about and generally having a piggy good time. Max plays with them like dogs, rubbing their stomachs and flapping their ears. It seems a shame to eat them, yet Max is no romantic but he is considerate. ‘When the time comes,’ he explains, ‘we use an abattoir that’s just a mile away so the pigs don’t suffer any undue stress from transportation and we round them up gently and quietly and give them bananas, which they love. We stay with them all the way and we have a deal with the abattoir that our pigs don’t have to hang around when they get there.’

So how did a man who works ‘in the chip and pin industry’ come to be farming pigs up here high above Sheffield. “Well Jack, whose farm this and whose family has been working it at least seventy years, grows sileage for a living,' Max says fending off an amorous pig as he does so. ‘My house is not far away and Jack and I like to go out to the pub every week and what we really like is a big old breakfast the next morning. Now we tried many places but the best breakfast we found was at The Milestone down in Sheffield. We talked to the guys who run it and we got talking about local produce and next thing we’re buying rare breed pigs to raise up here for The Milestone to serve on their menu.’

‘We feed em on old fruit and veg,’ he elaborates as he clambers back over the fence. ’It’s what the supermarkets can’t sell because it’s just gone past its human consumption date. The pigs don’t mind that. They root around to pick it up, which is natural and what they like, and they get their water from a spring on the land. As you can see they’ve got all this space to wander about which is exactly what a pig should have.’

He has twelve pigs in this field, which slopes and drains well, so the pigs don’t have to live up to their little ears in mud when it rains. 'Mind you when it’s hot, they head straight for the puddles to cool down with a mud bath,’ he points out as he waggles a particularly friendly pig’s head. ‘We only fatten pigs here right now, but we are bringing back some old derelict stone barns to life where we should soon be breeding pigs ourselves.’

‘What we’re doing here is fairly unique in the area,’ he says as we walk back to the main buildings. ‘A lot of people say there’s no money in pig farming, particularly the way we do it and that may be true but we’re not in it for the money.’ With that he picks up his drill and heads back to building his chicken coop for the free range chickens they intend to start farming soon. ‘We could have bought a chicken coop off the shelf,’ he says. ‘but it’s better to do it yourself isn’t it? It’s more fun!’

By now I’m pretty wet, back in Sheffield the weather was fine and I didn’t think to pack a mac, here in the Peaks we have climbed almost into a cloud and it’s bracing to say the least. I’m happy to get back in the car and descend back down to town for an appointment with the restaurant where all these little piggies all end up.

A gastronomic waypoint

The Milestone at Kelham Island, isn’t really on an island at all. The area, close to the water was once a steelworking spot and a brewery location but suffered like so many other parts of Sheffield with the loss of the steel business.

Today though it’s bouncing back. Fresh new flats carved from old buildings stand next to remnants still awaiting renovation. A glossy new museum has been created and from a pub once known as The Ball Inn and founded in 1833, a brand new gastro destination, The Milestone has been created.

Upstairs an open kitchen shows confidence and chefs working fast and hard to create gastro-pub style dishes from locally sourced produce. The ceiling has been cut back to reveal funky wooden beams of a size and weight that any London architect would love to have available for his loft conversions. Downstairs the lunchtime crowd is beginning to thin out as I sit with the two owners Matt Bigland and Marc Sheldon for a cup of coffee and a chat.

The blackboard has a tasting menu advertised for a very reasonable £34.95 with ‘proper’ food like ox tongue, smoked garlic ravioli, squid with a raisin and beetroot puree and venison to follow. What’s not to like about that? The guys have worked hard and cleverly to create a place that’s fresh and vibrant and in touch with its location.

They don't believe in buying in products which can be made – such as fresh bread, pasta, ice cream, piccalilli, chutney, puddings, salad cream – and the resulting busy restaurant is proof of the wisdom of that approach as well as of keeping a close eye on what customers really want.

‘We bought it in 2006 and it was still a rough area,’ Matt tells me, ‘we had prostitutes on the doorstep even in mid afternoon! But we saw the area was on the up and we wanted to get somewhere affordable for our customers as well as us and this was in our price range. It had been derelict for the previous 15 years, it had been a pub until World War 2. Then some developers wanted to turn it into apartments but the council wouldn’t allow that and so basically it just sat and did nothing until we turned up.’

‘We both like great things and cheap things like mackerel and braised pig head,’ Marc adds, ‘we try and introduce new dishes like that and we got good feedback from it. My granddad liked pig’s head back then and now it’s come back full circle this classic food. Once the head’s been broken down you wouldn’t recognise it,’ he laughs as if he can see what I am seeing in my own head, which is something Indiana Jones-like and scary.

And of course they know these pigs pretty well. ‘Yes as you’ve seen we are very close to the producer but even so free range pigs aren’t cheap. We could get pigs that have lived in cages much cheaper but they’ve had no life and we aren’t going to do that. What it does mean though is that we have to make sure nothing is wasted from those pigs. Our chef does his own butchery, and he learnt from an expert, and we’ve all mucked in when we’ve had  a few pigs arrive. It’s so important to use every last bit of your produce, it saves money and gives chef more options. We make black pudding, trotter stew and all that sort of thing.’

The two of them make my mouth water with talk of properly sourced, decent sausages, crispy bacon rind, proper crackling and all the rest. They have a real love of food that is honest and tasty and even if they wanted to do fancy nonsense they know their customers would soon put them right.

‘Oh we serve a big meal here definitely, this is Sheffield after all, if we didn’t fill ‘em up that’s what they’d remember, no matter how good the meal was taste wise. If we don’t send out a bowl of vegetables with the main courses, people aren’t happy,’ Matt laughs, ‘you’ve got to listen to your customer.’

‘We keep our prices as low as we can, downstairs especially,’ Marc adds, ‘the main dishes no more than £12 average and that’s what puts bums on seats. And we don’t waste time with things like fillet steak, instead we put bavette steak on. It’s a cheap cut of steak but one of the very best for flavour, ask any Frenchman. It’s got to be served properly rare and you can’t slice it like butter like you do with fillet, but every bit you get off onto your fork is packed with taste.  People say ‘Oh I don’t like rare steak’ but you convince ‘em to try this and then they love it.’

It’s an equally rare combination – pig farm and restaurant going together like sausage and chips  - but it clearly works. Many restaurants boast of sourcing local but this is real symbiosis between producer and outlet. Trust canny Yorkshire men to deliver the goods and bring home the bacon.

ANOTHER FRIDAY IN THE SCHOOLTEACHER ARCHIVES

Here's a story from my earliest days of teaching the Cartooning Class.

*

Sometimes there are bad days.

It happens. Some days the kids just aren't interested. Some days the school isn't backing me up the way they should. And honestly, sometimes I'm just a bad teacher.

But for the most part I'm lucky. The cartooning classes I teach are, after all, in a subject that almost every kid in the world has at least a passing interest in; and the school bills me as “a REAL working cartoonist,” which gives me an extra celebrity edge that I abuse relentlessly, even though the truth of the matter is that I am only an occasional advertising and illustration artist. All this means that I have a far easier time of it than your average public school teacher. Yet even I have days that are so frustrating I want to go home and bang my head against the wall and scream, “Why the hell do I even bother?”

Part of the problem is the public school system itself. The system is geared not to teach kids, but to, well, storethem. Average class size in the middle schools where I teach is somewhere between twenty-five and thirty kids. In addition to that, there's no way to sift out the smart kids from the slow ones, which means if you try to go too fast, you lose the ones that can't keep up, and if you go too slow, you lose the ones that already get it and want to move on. Trying to really teach anything in those circumstances is almost impossible. So what ends up happening is you play to tie rather than to win, you settle for not actually losing ground with kids rather than trying to gain any. You resign yourself to the fact that your classroom is largely a holding tank, a glorified day care for working parents, and you treat the actual act of teaching as being the equivalent of putting a note in a bottle and tossing it in the ocean.

And in recent years we have seen the effects of things like video games and television on young people's attention spans. There is simply no getting around it any more; despite all the apologists' angry protests to the contrary (and I love cheesy TV shows as much as the next guy, so don't yell at me about this) but facts are facts. The ugly truth is that a modern schoolchild's attention span is geared towards the two-minute music video. If you want to capture their interest you had damned well better be AT LEAST as interesting as the flash-bang-noise of the media monster that is relentlessly bombarding them all the time outside of the classroom. When I start my classes each quarter I have roughly ten minutes, that first day, to get the kids on my side. After that, well, forget it, game over. Ten minutes is my window.

In a weird way, it's almost like being a stand-up comic, or even a stage magician. The skills are roughly the same, working a room, keeping their attention, getting them to fall into your rhythm and timing the same as any other audience. You have to have a sense of showmanship.

A lot of teachers can't or won't acknowledge that. Which brings us to problem number three – the teachers themselves. The public school system, in many ways, is harder on them than it is on the students. It used to be expected that a teacher was working in collaboration with parents, but in recent years parents simply aren't available. Many are divorced, many more are simply working long hours, and there are quite a few who should have never been parents in the first place. Teachers are required to pick up the slack for all of these. . . and we handicap those teachers by overloading them, paying them less than your average cocktail waitress, and then blaming them when kids turn out to be ignorant sociopaths.

So you get burnout. The bad ones stay, protected by the union, just marking time. The good ones leave, for the most part. They go into other fields, or they transfer to private schools with smaller classes and bigger budgets.

But some of the good ones stay. They do it for the corniest reason of all – idealism. They never admit it, not even to each other, but they believe in the job and the kids and the nobility of the profession. You'd never know it to hear them talk – in the teacher's lounge, or after hours, they will shrug and sneer and grouch off about the workload and the damn kids and that stupid son-of-a-bitch of a vice-principal, but they are the ones that, more than anyone else, are shouldering the burden of making sure that every kid there has a shot at some kind of a future.

So when I'm having a bad day, those are the ones I seek out.

*

It had been the worst day I'd ever had teaching in the last five years, and it was only my second day at Madison Middle School. I was tired and hoarse and cranky and I had a headache that could stop a train.

And to think I'd thought that the job had sounded like FUN when they offered it. Come teach the cartooning class you do at the art studio as part of the after-school program, they'd said. Eighteen bucks an hour, ten hours a week, we'll buy all the supplies. It had sounded like easy money – after all, I'd been teaching this same class at the Alki Art Studio for four years now, and a semester at Gatzert Elementary before that; how hard could it be?

But in my easy confidence I'd overlooked two things – at the art studio, I had the luxury of working with kids who wanted to be there so bad they'd had to persuade their parents to spend cold hard cash to put them there; and, more importantly, I had vastly underestimated the difference between working with elementary-school kids and middle-school kids.

At Madison I was dealing with teenagers, not little kids. All the tricks and gimmicks I had evolved to grab and hold the interest of my younger students were useless – worse, they were corny. I'd realized, sickly, that I was going to have to learn a whole new way of doing my job, and I had no grace period to do it in. These kids had put me on trial for my life within thirty seconds of my walking into the classroom, and I was failing the test miserably. After just two days I was grimly sure that the only words I'd be uttering to my students for the rest of the semester would beSHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!...and the hell of it was, I couldn't even get them to do that.

This afternoon the day had culminated with one kid kicking a desk over, another one telling me that his parents were going to sue me, and – this was the worst – four more tormenting a little girl so relentlessly over her artwork that she had burst out crying and thrown her drawings in the garbage. That last one had hurt the most, it was too painfully close to what I'd endured from other kids at that age...and I hadn't seen it, hadn't been able to stop it until it was too late and Kamaria was in tears. What the hell kind of teacher was I to let that happen?

I'd been sitting at the front of the room, cradling my head in my hands, still cursing myself over that when Veronica Egidio returned to the classroom. It was actually her room – she taught in there during the day, and then went out to coach soccer while I borrowed if for my cartooning class. I envied her the luxury of having an activity where kids were SUPPOSED to run around and kick things. Maybe I should ask her to trade.

“Rough day, huh?” Ronnie asked, grinning.

“I suck as a teacher,” I told her, bluntly.

She burst out laughing. “Oh, come on now.”

“I'm serious.”

“If you were that bad you wouldn't care,” Ronnie pointed out cheerfully. “Trust me. There are teacher here that reallysuck, and you never see them looking as depressed as you do. They just plain don't give a damn. You've met Mr. Aziz, haven't you?”

I had to smile at that. I had, indeed, met Mr. Aziz.

“Tell me,” Ronnie went on. “What happened, anyway?”

So I told her. “It's not the kids, not exactly,” I finished. “They're mostly just being kids. I think it's me. I'm just... I wasn't READY for this. I got spoiled at the studio. The most I ever had at the beach studio was eight kids, I think. I've got THIRTY-TWO up here and every day it's all about riot control, they're kicking my ass. I've got about six in there that are tearing up the place so bad I end up ignoring the other twenty-plus that really WANT to be there.”

Ronnie leaned back and grinned at me. “Welcome to public school,” she said, laughing. “Try Special Ed sometime. When I started here it was the only thing open, nobody else wanted it, and after my first week I knew why. I thought I was going to need a taser.”

“I could have used a taser today, that's for damn sure.” I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Got an aspirin?”

“Are you kidding? I eat 'em like candy.” Ronnie fished a bottle of ibuprofen out of her purse and tossed it to me. I caught it and dry-swallowed two of them.

“Look, you're taking this way too hard, if you ask me,” she said. “You don't have to do everything yourself, you know. If they're really that bad, just kick 'em down the hall to Dr. Moreland. It's his job, he's the vice-principal. Let him handle the rough ones.”

“I know.” I sighed. “It's just... damn it, Ronnie, I don't want to run my classroom like a Turkish prison. And if I bring Moreland in on it – you know how he looked at me at the orientation meeting, he thinks the whole art-class thing is a farce anyway. He's already sure I'm some dope-smoking beatnik who's just in it for the money. If I go crying to him now, after just two days of class, he's likely to just shut down the whole program.” I scowled. “And anyway...”

“And anyway, you don't want a bunch of thirteen-year-old kids kicking your ass, do you?” Ronnie smirked.

“Well... that too,” I admitted. “I just... goddammit, I want to be good at this. I know I can do it. I just can't get control of the room long enough to find a starting place, you know?”

Ronnie considered this. “Here's the thing,” she said. “You've got to pick your fights. Middle-school kids, it's all about bargaining and negotiating. You let them have one, they'll let you have one. Give in on something once in a while and you'll be amazed what you can get back in return.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I can see that – but Jesus, Ronnie, I can't let them get away with bullying and kicking stuff over.”

“Well, that's when you send them to Dr. Moreland. But if you're not going to do that --” Ronnie thought a minute, then her eyes got a wicked gleam. “Well, then you have to fight dirty.”

“Fight dirty?”

Ronnie shrugged. “Well, when all else fails, I scare the hell out of 'em.”

I blinked. She was serious. “You're not kidding, are you?”

“Hell no I'm not kidding. Look, here's the thing.” Ronnie jabbed a finger at me for emphasis. “Half the trouble with these latchkey kids is that nobody ever holds them responsible for anything, they're on their own all the time. You let them know that there's real consequences if they cross the line and they'll quit crossing it, believe me.”

“How?” I asked her.

“It's not so hard.” Ronnie laughed again. “Hell, you have way more advantages than me and I can do it. You're a guy, you're six feet tall, you've got a deep voice. I bet if you really let yourself get good and mad in there, just once, you could have those little punks peeing in their pants. Quit trying to reason with them and just let 'em HAVE it. Trust me, you'll feel better for it.” At my expression of horror, she added, “Really. It works. Try it.”

Well, it wasn't as though I had a better idea.

*

The following afternoon, I addressed my class. “I want to talk a minute about what went on here yesterday,” I said. “We need to clear up a few things about what goes on in here.” I was talking to the whole class, but my eyes were on Tommy and Adam, in the back of the room. The two of them were the source of most of the trouble I'd had the last couple of days, and today, they were my targets. I went on, “I don't care if you guys talk and laugh and kid around – as long as you're working. But one thing that I absolutely will not stand for is making fun of someone else's work.”

“What if it sucks?” That was Tommy, in the back of the room.

A chorus of giggles erupted.

I picked up a textbook and slammed it down, hard, on the top of the desk. It made a sound like a thunderclap. The kids fell silent, shocked.

“Tommy,” I gritted. “You know what it means when I'm talking?”

“Uh--” Tommy looked a little taken aback.

“It means you keep your GODDAMN MOUTH SHUT!”

Now the silence was palpable. “I've taken your crap for the last couple of days, Tommy,” I went on, conversationally. “But you know, I'm about out of patience with you. If you open your mouth again before I give you permission to speak, I will haul your ass down the hall to Dr. Moreland's office and he will roast it over a slow fire.” I glared at him. I put every ounce of anger and frustration I had been building for the last two days into that glare. If looks could kill it would have reduced him to a smoldering puddle of protoplasm.

It shriveled Tommy into his seat. He hunkered down, waiting in mute terror for my next psychotic act. I had to smother a snicker. Ronnie had been right – not only was it working, but , God help me, it did feel great.

“Okay,” I nodded, satisfied. “As for the question, I don't care if it sucks. But – and don't forget this – I decide what sucks and what doesn't. I'm the professional here. There's not one of you that can't stand to improve. The whole point of being here is to get better at this. If I think something sucks, we'll figure out a way to make it better.” I put a hard, drill sergeant's edge into my voice. “But YOU are to keep YOUR judgments of other people's shortcomings to YOURSELVES. Clear?”

There were murmurs of assent. For a moment I had a ridiculous urge to add, I-- can't – HEAR – yooouuuu--!! the way they did it in the Marines, but instead I spread my hands and grinned at them. “Look, you guys, you all volunteered to be here so you could draw stuff, remember? I don't WANT to be a hardcase. I don't LIKE yelling. But you have to at least meet me halfway. Talk and laugh all you want, but jeez, draw something too, willya?”

There was a ripple of relieved laughter. I grinned at Tommy, and he stared at me for a moment in disbelief – what, you don't hate me? – and then, shyly, he smiled back.

And just like that, they were on my side.

It was as though I had flipped a switch. Even Tommy settled down and worked like a demon on his drawing all afternoon.

I wasn't quite ready to declare victory yet, though. There was one other matter I had to address.

Once they were all settled in, I beckoned Kamaria up to the front of the room. “I think these are yours,” I told her, and handed her the pages I'd fished out of the trash basket yesterday afternoon.

Kamaria scowled. “These are bad,” she said. “ I don't want to work on them.”

“No,” I said gently. “They're just not finished. You gave up too soon. Look what happens if you black in the background here, and here – see how that brings out the dinosaur? And here, you want to thicken up this line a little bit...”

Kamaria goggled. “ But you're a GOOD drawer,” she protested. “I can't draw like that!”

“Not yet,” I said, smiling. “Don't be so sure. YOU drew that dinosaur, not me. All I did was ink it in a little bit.”

Kamaria considered it, still looking doubtful.

I went on, “Look, Kamaria, a pencil goes where you push it. The only way you can't learn to draw better is if you quit. Are you going to quit on me?”

“Huh? No!” Kamaria looked appalled at the suggestion.

“Well, then.” I nodded at the drawing. “I think you should finish this.”

She hovered a moment longer, still wavering, and then nodded briskly once and snatched the drawing, up, returning to her seat with an air of fierce determination.

I stood up and looked out over my group of thirty-two students, some talking and some laughing and some whispering – but all of them drawing. Damn, I thought. I made it. I passed the test. How about that?

As I glanced around the room, Adam caught my eye. He raised his hand. “Hey, mister Greg,” he asked me, “could we turn on some music?” He indicated the portable AM-FM radio on Ronnie's file cabinet.

“As long as you're drawing, I don't care,” I said. Adam got up and headed for the radio. I thought better of it and added, “Anything but rap. No rap.”

“Okay,” Adam said agreeably, and I leaned back and really relaxed, for the first time in a week.

Maybe I didn't suck as a teacher after all.

*

I was still grinning when Ronnie arrived from the soccer field. “Better today?” she asked.

“Way better.”

“Scare 'em?”

“I scared the living daylights out of 'em.” I said with mock viciousness.

“Works every time,” she said smugly.

These are bad days. But the good days more than make up for them. They're addictive. That's why we stay.

*

See you next week.