Thomaston High School’s  

The Cave December 

  

 

 1 

 

 

 

Contents 

 

Teacher Interviews: Holiday Edition - pg 3-5  

 

Best of Holiday Movies and Episodes - pg 6-8 

 

Winter Writings - pg 9-10 

 

Music of the Month - pg 11-12 

 

Earthquake in Albania, and How THS is Helping the Cause - pg 13 

 

 

 

 

   

 

2 

 

 

 

 

Teacher Interviews: Holiday edition 

Marissa VanOrmer 

What is your favorite holiday tradition? 

What is your favorite holiday song? 

What’s one word of advice you have to give THS students over break? 

What’s your favorite holiday meal? 

Describe your feelings about getting an extra long winter break in one word. 

Mrs. Ewart  On Christmas Eve we eat Chinese food. 

Last Christmas by WHAM! 

Rest and relax. 

My brother makes these Czechslovakian dumplings with sauerkraut. 

Ecstatic. 

Flan  Making Christmas cookies with my mom. 

Ave Maria.  Help your parents shovel if it snows and rest and don’t stay up until 2 AM playing Fortnite. 

Prime rib roast and its delicious. 

Woohoo or YASSSSSSS. 

Mr. Olsen  Having all my kids come home. 

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town by Bruce Springstein 

Enjoy.  We make homemade pizzas that often come 

Glorious. 

 

3 

 

 

 

 

or Christmas Wrapping. 

out bad, but it ends up being fun anyways. 

Mr. Long  Christmas Eve at my house and my wife cooks. 

Silver Bells.  Decompress and enjoy family time...do some stuff that’s fun. 

Beef tenderloin with homemade Horseradish sauce. 

Pumped. Pumped up. 

Mr. Murphy  Setting up the Christmas Tree on Thanksgiving 

Carol of the Bells. 

Don’t do anything stupid. 

I don’t eat food normally, so just skip that one. 

Amazing. 

Mrs. Pope  Midnight mass with the family. 

White Christmas. 

Relax.  Canadian Pork Pies. 

Love.  

Mrs. Tucker 

Drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream by the fireplace. 

Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel. 

Recharge.  Sugar cookies. 

Ecstatic. 

Mrs. Franzi 

Decorating and being with family. 

The First Noel. Want me to sing it to you ? (Proceeds to sing it loudly in the middle of health) 

Sleep. We’re all sleep deprived. Sleep. 

A smoked ham, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, or some kind of potato, and lots of 

Relieved. 

 

4 

 

 

 

 

desserts.  

Chancey  Christmas and exchanging gifts. 

Old Lang Syne. 

Enjoy yourself and your family and be safe. 

Turkey and gravy. 

Exciting. 

Mr. Ritter  Dinner. Let’s go with food. Or pies. I love the pies. 

I’m like the least holiday person there is so this is a stretch for me. I don’t really do the holidays; I survive them. 

Have your work in so you don’t have to worry about it over break so when you come back you can start fresh. 

I’ll go with the apple crisp. 

Too-short. 

Mr. Soeprasetyo 

I think just watching holiday movies. 

Probably Christmas Eve by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra… that gets me pretty hyped. 

Watch college football, you’ll thank me later. 

Pecan Pie.  Indifferent. 

   

 

5 

 

 

 

 

 Best of Holiday Episodes 

and Movies  

By Alexandria Burns  

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 

 The Polar Express (2004) 

 

 

6 

 

 

 

 

 Last Christmas (2019) 

 Rugrats “Chanukah” (1996) 

     

 

7 

 

 

 

 

Even Steven “Heck of Hanukkah” (2000) 

 The O.C. “The Best Chrismukkah Ever” (2003) 

  

   

 

8 

 

 

 

 

Winter Writings   

Sandra McDonald  Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost 

 Whose woods these are I think I know.   His house is in the village though;   He will not see me stopping here   To watch his woods fill up with snow.    My little horse must think it queer   To stop without a farmhouse near   Between the woods and frozen lake   The darkest evening of the year.    He gives his harness bells a shake   To ask if there is some mistake.   The only other sound’s the sweep   Of easy wind and downy flake.    The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   But I have promises to keep,   And miles to go before I sleep,   And miles to go before I sleep.  

 

9 

 

 

 

 

     There's a certain Slant of light by Emily Dickinson 

 There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons – That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes –  Heavenly Hurt, it gives us – We can find no scar, But internal difference – Where the Meanings, are –  None may teach it – Any – 'Tis the seal Despair – An imperial affliction Sent us of the Air –  When it comes, the Landscape listens – Shadows – hold their breath – When it goes, 'tis like the Distance On the look of Death –    

 

10 

 

 

 

 

25 of the Best Oldies Holiday Songs 

 

By sandra McDonald Christmas music is filled with a lot of modern pop, so here are some oldies to make even the coldest of days warm!   Here’s the playlist link: https://open.spotify.com/user/8lv7mz3kb6rs246vxunf7vltc/playlist/69u7HdCEQryLOGyCKLQ8vC?si=Nl_MOa0hRby1IiMsPYXZ8g   

1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Dean Martin 2. White Christmas by Bing Crosby 3. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Frank Sinatra 4. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee 5. Baby It’s Cold Outside by Dean Martin 6. Silver Bells by Dean Martin 7. White Christmas by Korla Pandit 8. Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms 9. It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas by Bing Crosby 10. Winter Wonderland by Elvis Presley 11. Sleigh Ride by Ella Fitzgerald 12. Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano 13. Please Come Home for Christmas by The Eagles 14. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Andy Williams 15. O Come All Ye Faithful by Nat King Cole 16. The First Noel by Frank Sinatra 17. Deck the Halls by Nat King Cole 18. Do You Hear What I Hear? by Andy Williams 19. Caroling, Caroling by Nat King Cole 20. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Dean Martin 

 

11 

 

 

 

 

21. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) by Nat King Cole 

22. I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Doris Day 23. Silent Night by Carpenters 24. O Holy Night by Bing Crosby 25. Twelve Days of Christmas by Bing Crosby   

 

12 

 

 

 

 

Earthquake in Albania, and How THS is Helping 

the Cause   

By Mel Shkrepi  In the early hours of November 26, 2019, the Balkan country of Albania was hit with a 6.4 magnitude earthquake, leaving 21 dead and 600 injured. Damage was recorded all along its Adriatic coastline, with many building collapses, especially in many rural towns and cities along the western parts of Albania such as Lezhë, Thumanë, and the major port city of Durrës. Shortly after the earthquake and its aftershocks passed, emergency teams from Kosovo, Greece, and Italy sent volunteers to help with the damage and finding people all over the area that have been trapped in the rubble. However, it wasn’t just one earthquake that caused such a tragedy, but multiple aftershocks with magnitudes of about 5.9 and 5.4 that caused even more damage to these communities already hit. With this being said, a lot of damage was done to some of these already poverty stricken towns, causing a lot of needs from these areas. This earthquake has hit home for many Albanian-Americans in the country, and even here at THS, leading action to be taken by the Albanian community here at Thomaston. THS Student Council has already made their efforts to support and help this cause by collecting money from students and faculty to send to an organization collecting donations for this cause. Any donations, including the smallest amounts of change help and are much appreciated while the whole country is going through this period of tragedy. 

 

13