Category: December

On December 6th, East York held its annual Holiday Shop! The Holiday is an opportunity for 3rd-5th graders to shop for gifts for their families with the help of some high school elves. The event, led by Mrs. Rachel Fry, takes place at East York Elementary, and it includes an area for kids to shop gifts of prices between $1-$7, games and activities in the all-purpose room, and holiday snacks for the kids! The elves, York Suburban High School music students, volunteer their time in order to become an elf for the elementary students, aiding them in their search for the perfect gifts.

The event starts off with an “Elf Training” to make sure all the elves are prepared for their night of magic. Once the students start arriving, they are lined up and matched with an elf by one of the volunteers. The elf takes them through the course of the shop, helping them with their money, and picking out the perfect gifts. Once all the gifts are chosen, students and elves proceed to the wrapping room, where more elves help wrap and label all the gifts, before proceeding to the checkout where they pay and are treated to a candy cane. 

This year’s event was a blast. YS students showed up ready to shop. Some came with siblings; some were ready to set off into the shopping world alone. From budgets of $20-$62, our elves saw it all. Many kids came ready to shop for all their family members and some even came ready to shop for themselves! The all-purpose room buzzed with holiday cheer as kids ran around playing games, parents chatted with one another, and elves were in constant motion, providing the most elftastic service they could! With two hours of service time, the holiday shop tables were empty by the end of the night! It was a wonderful turnout that we are ecstatic to see every year. This event wouldn’t have been possible without the help of all of the magic elves that worked so hard to make the night special for each of the elementary school students.

Being able to interact with all the kids is truly a hilarious experience. Some of them have no idea what their parents like and usually end up choosing fuzzy socks and a puzzle, while others have it exactly planned out. During the ‘quiet’ moment, all the elves shared stories about the funny interactions we had with students. From being told they were going to ask Santa for “an imaginary boyfriend,” to being hand selected by little kids to be their elf, we truly saw it all. Happy Holidays to everyone from the elves at YSHS!

Written by Michela Soares

The Winter Concert occurred on Sunday, December 15 at 2 pm and consisted of the orchestra, band, and chorus. The YS Singers kicked off the concert accompanied by Haley Berkebile on the piano with their pieces “Glory Hallelujah, He is Born”, “Cold and Fugue Season,” “Ribbons and Bows” and lastly “A Hand for Mrs. Claus” which included the soloists Reece Busse, Marcella Rolle, and Ethan Wolfgang. After that, A Capella, a student-led group headed by Ruth Brown, Jonah Gibson & Madelynn Thomas, performed “Carol of the Bells.” Following that, the concert band walked onto the stage and after setting up, they presented their pieces “Fanfare and Procession on an Old English Carol,”  “A Christmas Carol,” and “Hanukkah Holiday.” For their last piece, the concert choir joined to put together “Jingle Bell Rock.”

The concert choir led by Mrs. Stayer and accompanied by Haley Berkebile performed “Pat-a-Pan Salsa,” “The Snow Carol (Still, Still, Still)” and finished with “Candy Cane Lane.”

The string ensemble led by Mrs. Thrush followed afterward with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The complete string orchestra then joined the stage playing “Christmas Medley” which included the songs “Joy to the World,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “Away in a Manger.” Rosie Gray introduced “Oseh Shalom” which included solos from Meghan Martin, Elie Purkanto, and Bailey Phinney. Jonah Gibson joined on the drums to play “Last Christmas” with soloist singer Willow Hoffman-Smith.

Finally, to end the concert the symphony orchestra performed “Christmas Memories” which included iconic Christmas songs like “Frosty the Snowman” “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” “Here Comes Santa Claus” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The audience joined in to sing with a slideshow with the songs that Wade Stocker made. Even Santa Claus made an appearance, tossing candy canes to the audience, getting many excited claps.

Overall, it was an excellent performance by all. The next concert is on March 12. I hope to see all of you there to enjoy our wonderful school’s instrumental and choral performances! 

Written By Dilaila A. Perez-Colon