The holiday season, for most of us, evokes memories of past celebrations, traditions, gifts and even foods. Can you recall your favorite childhood holiday tradition? Is it making and decorating sugar cookies every year, getting flour, sugar and colored icing all over the kitchen and all over yourself? What about going to the Christmas Eve church service and returning to your house to open “just one” present before going to sleep?

My favorite holiday memories as a child revolve around food. Being from a large family with fourteen aunts and uncles with four to six children each, well, let’s just say we had enough kids to form two full football teams to play in the field by the bayou. Recalling how we all gathered to hold sweaty hands (before washing them) to hear our grandmother ask for God’s grace over the food we brought and over our family is one of my special childhood holiday memories.

Family holiday traditions that you look forward to each year keep those childhood memories alive. As life unfolds, new traditions are often established with your family and friends. As exciting as these may be, I hope you hold tight to your old family holiday traditions and see that they are passed down through your family for years to come. They will become treasured memories for them just as they have for you.

As I travel across the district, I see traditions being established throughout our community. For the 35th year, the Baytown Fire Department has joined ABC Channel 13’s Share Your Holiday Food Drive to collect items for the Houston Food Bank. Many of our schools contribute to this project, including Sterling High School’s 9,000 items from the annual Ho Ho Ho Scavenger Hunt. RSS PALs braved the cold to help accept donations, sort food and load the truck during the event, which was held in the Wal-Mart parking lot on Garth Road.

Bañuelos Elementary’s GATE classes have collected blankets to be donated to San Jacinto Methodist Hospital in for patients in need who are in the hospital. Cedar Bayou Junior School’s Christian Student Union is donating coloring books, crayons, playing cards and decorative pillowcases to Texas Children’s Hospital cancer patients. These are just a few examples of how our Goose Creek CISD family is learning the importance of community service and the joy of giving, and some of these service projects will continue as traditions for these schools.

I must say that seeing our staff dress up or down for the various holiday concerts and celebrations brings much joy to my heart, as we see the fruits of our labor in the talent displayed by our students at these events. We know that many of them also are relieved to be completing semester exams.

As we approach the holidays, take a moment to think about the things you are thankful for and to remember the reason for the season. I hope you get some well-deserved rest and have the opportunity to spend time with family and friends.

Warm wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful start to 2017! I look forward to seeing you next year!