Inside Christmas at Aquinas

Christmas is right around the corner and the holiday season is in full swing at Aquinas. The Saints celebrate Christmas in many ways throughout the month of December. Student Council members decorate the commons, sell candy grams, and this year sold raffle tickets for the first ever 'snow globe lunch'. During the last week of school before finals week students participate in fun activities at lunch including Kahoot!, karaoke, singing the Twelve Days of Christmas, and pictures with Santa! While all of these activities help bring the Christmas spirit alive for the Saints, it's the NHS Christmas Family Project that really gets the students to think about their greater community and how they can bring the joy of Christmas to those less fortunate.

The NHS Christmas Family Project has been going on for over 25 years. Every year, Aquinas is able to adopt around 40 families.

The National Honor Society at Aquinas organizes a Christmas gift drive in which the whole school participates. Aquinas partners with Holy Name Catholic School and Resurrection Catholic School to give families with a demonstrated need Christmas gifts. Both schools provide Aquinas a wish list for each family in-need that includes individual clothing sizes and additional needs. Each STA Period is assigned a family for which to buy gifts. STA teachers either collect money from their class for STA captains to do the shopping for all family members or have each student bring in an item on the list. For Business and Technology teacher, Mr. Radetic, “I find it easiest to collect money for the family and have students go shopping for specific items”. 

Family sizes vary, but each STA works hard to provide each family member with a nice gift along with the basic necessities.

The students in NHS make sure that no one in the family is overlooked, and that each member of the family receives a present.

Mr. Hallauer, NHS Moderator

The Christmas Family Project starts in November and ends in December with a special day dedicated to gift-wrapping. This past December 11, during STA period, each class wrapped their families' gifts. Everyone was able to embrace the spirit of giving and feel involved in the process. Oftentimes, STA period’s will have class parties to go along with the wrapping. Junior Kate Wells says “The NHS Christmas wrapping day is one of my favorite days of the year!” Students bring in fun treats and drinks to celebrate the end of the semester and enjoy wrapping with their classmates. Once the gifts are all wrapped, they are placed in large plastic bags with the name of the family attached to each bag. The bags are later picked up after school by NHS members.

After finals on December 18, all NHS members help load up a U-Haul and the band trailer with all the gift bags. Then another team of NHS students along with Mr. Berger and Mr. Hallauer will drive to KCK to unload the gifts. 

For the Saints and community of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the NHS Christmas Family Project reminds us that it truly is in giving and serving others that we receive the greatest gift of all - God's grace and love.

In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Acts 20:35

From all of us at Saint Thomas Aquinas, we wish you a Blessed Christmas!

About the Contributor

Gabi is a junior, class of 2026 and this is her first year on the Shield staff. At Aquinas, she plays on the Varsity Volleyball and Lacrosse teams. She is also a member of Key Club and Spanish NHS. In her spare time, she loves volunteering and hanging out with friends.