As the THS staff and students wind down from their busy schedules and look forward to the holidays, the start of the much-needed holiday break seems to occupy the back of each person’s mind, especially with the thought of no school or work for 
almost a week and a half. In the midst of all of the preparing and decorating and shopping, there’s one particular feature of the holiday season that everyone seems to have ready since the first day of December—holiday music. Once the last month of the year commenced, holiday songs, particularly Christmas songs, were instantly broadcasted in households, cars, stores, restaurants, and everywhere else. With that, the traditional Christmas carols and new festive mixes returned to the delight of everyone’s ears, signifying the advent of the annual festivities, as well as the joyous reunions of families and friends and the excitement of giving and receiving presents. As “it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” (Andy Williams) the sight of smiles and illuminated eyes are found on people’s faces, creating an electric atmosphere of enthusiasm everywhere you go. This year, during the last few weeks of school in 2023, several teachers at THS were pleased to share their favorite Christmas songs that they listen to during the holiday season.
Teacher of the Year and APUSH teacher Mr. Hegarty first shared that his two favorite Christmas songs are John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” which features the artist Yoko Ono, and Elvis Presley’s famed “Blue Christmas.” He also expressed a slight preference for the traditional carol “Silent Night,” which has marked our Christmas seasons since the early eighteenth century. He explained that there’s no background story to his preference of these songs; “I just like the way they sound,” he says.
Humanities English and AP Language and Composition (as of this year) teacher Mrs. Oppedisano shared that her favorite Christmas song is the one and only “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey. As it’s annually one of the fan favorites—and one of the most played songs during the Christmas season—she listens to it over and over again on the radio. “My mission is to have [Mr. Oppedisano] hear it as many times as possible,” she said. With the amount of times she listens to it during the holiday season, Mrs. Oppedisano wonders if she’ll ever get bored of the song; however, it hasn’t happened yet.
PITCH (Pre-Calculus Intro To Calculus Honors) teacher Mrs. Nager expressed a preference for two less commonly-known Christmas songs: “Celebrate Me Home” by Kenny Loggins and “Holiday” by Richard Marx. As both Loggins and Marx have released Christmas albums, she likes listening to them a lot, and she even saw Marx in person last year at the filming of CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen’s New Year’s Eve Live show (which was filmed before New Year’s Eve), where they played Marx’s “Holiday” song. She then watched the show on New Year’s Eve and thought “it was pretty cool.”
French language teacher Mrs. Bilali also enjoys listening to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” further indicating the popularity of the song during the holiday season. She shared that there’s no particular reason for her liking the song. However, “once you hear it go on, it [just] instantly makes you happy,” she says.
AP Psychology teacher and Cross Country and Track and Field head coach Mr. Nyfenger prefers listening to distinguished twentieth-century jazz singer Bing Crosby, particularly his version of “The Christmas Song.” Crosby’s Christmas songs have pervaded our holiday celebrations for many years, and they remain to be widely-broadcasted today. “It’s just Bing Crosby’s voice,” Mr. Nyfenger says. “It’s just velvet.”
Guidance counselor and soon-to-be Head of Guidance Mr. Schreiber enjoys listening to the preeminent 80s Christmas song, “Last Christmas” by Wham!, which, along with “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey, seems to be one of the top fan holiday favorites every year. Mr. Schreiber shared that he particularly likes the song’s melody and structure; however, he doesn’t fully know the meaning of the song, to the point where he even asked his wife about what exactly “Last Christmas” means.
Spanish language teacher Señora Monell’s two favorite Christmas songs are famous Latin singer Ricky Martin’s “Ay, Ay, Ay It’s Christmas,” in collaboration with Rosie O’Donnell, and prominent pop singer Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe.” She shared that she used to love singing “Ay, Ay, Ay It’s Christmas” with her children and dancing with them when they were little. “I would embarrass them and it was fun,” she said, reminiscing on her favorite Christmas memories.
I would like to thank all of the teachers mentioned in this story for their much-appreciated contributions, and to everyone: enjoy the Christmas music and happy holidays!
