Christmas traditions of old are out of luck this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Gone is the Project Mercy Christmas party and the Candlelight concert of years past. Instead, Gwynedd must adapt to ever proliferating health mandates to keep the school community safe while also cultivating the joys of the holiday season and the values of our Christian school during Advent.

With only a few days until Christmas break, Gwynedd works tirelessly to adopt new Christmas traditions and facilitate a positive, motivated school environment. The Glee Club, Chorale, A Cappella, and Orchestra recorded musical accompaniment for the Candlelight drive-by this year. Although unconventional, the drive-by stands as a testament to the music department’s dedication to the annual Candlelight production and serves as a fond memory for the senior class, who will be dressed as angels and the icons of the Nativity. Along with the singing groups’ music, Girls with Guitars, Orchestra, and Jazz Band recorded assorted Christmas songs that will soon be shared with the school community digitally.

In the classrooms, Student Council is full steam ahead encouraging Christmas cheer. Each homeroom was given a small Christmas tree to decorate. The class homeroom with the best-dressed tree will win a free breakfast item, and the overall best homeroom will win a free lunch! The contest may be different from the usual door decorating, but it still gets the school looking holly and jolly with a lighthearted, competitive edge. Homerooms are participating in a Secret Santa for the teachers as well, spreading some cheer to each of our faculty and staff members who have gone above and beyond this year to continue hybrid-schedule learning. 2020 Christmas traditions may seem different from years past, but the values of kindness, empathy, and celebration remain prevalent in the school corridors, embodying the true spirit of the season. Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School perseveres during these bizarre COVID-19 times to celebrate another very Mercy Christmas