The Wingspan staff wish everyone in the Overlook community a very happy holiday and new year. We look forward to continuing to offer our online monthly publication to the students and staff of Overlook. Thank you for your continued loyalty and readership.

Overlook students and staff participated in a week long celebration of school culture and fun leading up to vacation.

By Amaiya Fisher

From the week of Monday the 16th to Friday the 20th, OMS will be holding a spirit week. On Monday, we will have a Merry Monday, wearing your most holiday gear. On Tuesday, get silly by dressing up as one of your teachers! On Wednesday, show pride in your team by battling against other grades and teams by wearing your team color. On Thursday, wear a jersey of your favorite team and on Friday, wear comfy PJs.

People will come around every day and if you are wearing something that goes with the spirit week, you will get a raffle ticket. If you turn in a raffle ticket, you have a chance of getting a small prize, which motivates you to participate in Spirit Week.

By Wingspan Staff

Christmas

In the Christian faith, Christmas is the historical celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Whether celebrated for this religious reason or solely as a cultural celebration, Christmas traditions vary around the world. While Americans celebrate with Christmas trees, visits from Santa Claus, and dreams of snowy landscapes, Christmas falls during Australia’s summer, where it is popular to go camping or to the beach over the holiday. Some Australians decorate a “Christmas Bush,” a native Australian tree with small green leaves and flowers that turn red during the summer.

In England, Christmas traditions are similar to those in the United States, but instead of leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus, children leave mince pies and brandy for Father Christmas. In Iceland, capital city Reykjavik turns into a winter wonderland with its Christmas market and for the children, there is not one but thirteen Santas, known as Yule Lads. One arrives each night in the thirteen days before Christmas, leaving small gifts in shoes left in window sills. Read more about how Christmas is celebrated around the world here.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, or Chanukah, is an eight-day Jewish celebration that commemorates the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem following the Maccabean Revolt. Those who took part in the re-dedication witnessed what they believed to be a miracle. Even though there was only enough untainted oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for a single day, the flames continued to burn for eight nights.

Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar. Celebrations revolve around lighting the menorah. On each of the holiday’s eight nights, another candle is added to the menorah after sundown. The ninth candle, called the shamash (“helper”), is used to light the others. Typically, blessings are recited and traditional Hanukkah foods such as potato pancakes (latkes) and jam-filled donuts (sufganiyot) are fried in oil. Other Hanukkah customs include playing with dreidels and exchanging gifts. Learn more about Hanukkah here.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 after the Watts riots in Los Angeles. He founded US, a cultural organization, and started to research African “first fruit” (harvest) celebrations. From there, he combined aspects of several different harvest celebrations to form the basis of Kwanzaa.

The name Kwanzaa comes from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili. Each family celebrates Kwanzaa in its own way, but celebrations often include songs and dances, African drums, storytelling, poetry reading, and a large traditional meal. On each of the seven nights, families gather and a child lights one of the candles on the Kinara, then one of the seven principles, values of African culture, is discussed. An African feast, called a Karamu, is held on December 31. Learn more about the principles of Kwanzaa here.

By Wingspan Staff

The changing season is always a time for reflection and observations of the changing landscape. As the year ends and a new one begins, the seasons remind us that we also continue to change and adapt as people. Take time to get outdoors and breath in the crisp air and daydream about warmer days.

Do you play sports? Do you follow the OMS sports teams? We need YOU to be our next sports reporter! Inquire at our next meeting in January

Another very successful year of the Book Fair occurred in November. Many new items were available and several book titles totally sold out! The experience and decor created a worldly adventure for sure.

By Wingspan staff

The music department has been hard at work performing the week prior to the December Break for both the community and for the entire school. They continue to impress and provide a great segway into the holiday season!

Did anyone catch the Clark Griswold shirt Mr. Lordan wore on the final piece?

By Amaiya Fisher

Eating healthy foods is really important, if you don’t, you won’t get the energy you need for the day, especially during the time of the holidays, when we are eating lots of junk food. That’s why I love to make and eat these delicious and healthy Overnight Oats. They’re the perfect healthy snack. You need 2 main ingredients, milk and oats, but it will taste kind of bland. However, if you add a little bit of chia seeds, and some kind of yogurt, along with your favorite type of sweetener, and boom! A unique snack that you can even eat for breakfast too!

Ingredients:

Milk

Oats

Chia seeds(optional)

Yogurt(optional)

Sweetener(optional)

Toppings(optional)

Step 1: Add the oats and chia seeds into a container

Step 2: Add yogurt and sweetener

Step 3: Add your choice of milk

Step 4: Stir thoroughly

Step 5: Let sit for at least 2 hours or overnight

Step 6: Add toppings

Step 7: Enjoy your healthy snack!!

By: Wingspan Staff

Veterans Day is a time for us to pay our respects to those who have served. For one day, we stand united in respect for you, our veterans.

This holiday started as a day to reflect upon the heroism of those who died in our country's service and was originally called Armistice Day. It fell on Nov. 11 because that is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. However, in 1954, the holiday was changed to "Veterans Day" in order to account for all veterans in all wars.

We celebrate and honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

By Alumni Wingspan Staff

Hello everyone! Today, I’m here to talk about Thanksgiving. We are going to find out how it began, and why we celebrate it today. Well, let's get to it!

Long ago, the settlers called the Pilgrims came to North America. They came in search of new land, gold and riches. In 1620 when the Pilgrims came (which they have been for over a century), the Wampanoag people needed help. You see, the reason for this is because in the last century of trading, the people of Europe had brought deadly diseases that were killing all the native people around. You see, you're probably thinking, “Why would the Native People need the help of the people that gave them deadly diseases?” The reason the Wampanoag people needed help is because 2/3 of their tribe died and their leader was scared of invasion. A rival tribe called the Narragansett might invade and wipe out the rest of the Wampanoag. That's why they needed help. The people of the Mayflower though were in no condition to help. It was November when they landed in Massachusetts, so it was cold, and they weren't prepared for such harsh weather. They stole food from the Native People and robbed jewelry from graves. Then a Native American named Samoset came to the camp of the Pilgrims. Later, Samoset would bring Oosamequan, the leader of the Wampanoag. Samoset and Oosamequan talked to John Carver, the Pilgrims leader, and pretty much said"if you do not attack us we won't attack you".

Later, a Native American that the Pilgrims called Squanto, taught them how to grow crops, and how to use fertilizer to help their crops grow. In 1621, the Pilgrims had a good harvest and had the Native Americans to thank. But then, the Native Americans heard gunfire from the Pilgrim camp, and brought 90 men to see what was going on. It turned out that they were just celebrating the good harvest. The Native Americans joined the harvest, and hunted deer so they had more food. They ate and drank for 3 days, and had a good time.

242 years later...

It is 1863, and Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday so the people would stop fighting with each other during the Civil War.

There you have it, that is Thanksgiving explained. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you all soon!

By Kiro Wilkins

We would love to have some contributions to this. Please feel free to submit your work in future issues!

We would love to have some contributions to this. Please feel free to submit your work in future issues!

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