New Roads and the Decorating Debacle
How soon is too soon?
A beloved time for many on campus, the holiday season at New Roads Upper School has been a long-standing time of celebration and merriment for decades past. Chock-full of celebrations like the annual Hallo-Fall Week, Socktober, Friendsgiving, and various other festivities surrounding portfolio week, it’s no debate that this community knows how to celebrate. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that for many eager students and faculty on campus, the holiday season simply can’t come soon enough. This sentiment, only furthered by the emerging trend of seasonal decorations seeming to become available earlier by the year, has led many to debate one central question of the matter: how soon is too soon?
With the holiday season fast approaching, all around campus decorations have begun to appear. Certain students, though, have voiced concern surrounding the rapidness with which these festive displays appear, with some seemingly set up overnight by the Student Led Congress (SLC). Last year, by October 12th, jack-o’lanterns could already be spotted on benches and stoops across campus, with many in some state of disrepair by the holiday itself. Come November 1st, announcements on Friendsgiving are a weekly occurrence at Town Hall, and students can be spotted wearing festive sweaters along the walkways of Eden and Moss, despite Santa Monica’s infamously tepid fall weather.
When surveyed on this central question of “how soon is too soon” to decorate for three central holidays on campus (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Winter Holidays), results varied across the celebrations, though trends did begin to emerge.
Evidently, Halloween sparked the most disagreement, with answers being split across five different proposed dates, the earliest of which being September 1st, and the latest being October 15th. October 1st came in first with a total of 19 votes, dominating by just over 50%. Compared to when campus is typically decorated, there is little difference.
Compared to data on Halloween, Thanksgiving had far less variety in the answers given by students and staff. November 1st had the highest interest with 19 votes, coming in at 54.3% of the total responses. Not too far behind, November 15th received 14 votes, representing 40% of total responses.
Lastly, when voting on the date at which people should begin to decorate for winter holidays, a majority of students were closely split between the dates of December 1st and the day after Thanksgiving, with a few outliers.
Combining all poll results, a comprehensive calendar can be made. By the winning votes, the school’s holiday calendar is as follows; decoration for Halloween begins October 1st, with Thanksgiving following close after on November 1st, and lastly winter festivities begin the day after Thanksgiving.
Ultimately, with such a divisive issue, a solution set in stone is difficult to find. With this calendar, though, maybe at least the New Roads community can come to an agreement of what decorating on campus might look like, and how soon is too soon.
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