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The Worthington ALC Insider
Volume 3, Issue 11 December 12, 2005
Rich Ackerman: Master of the Custodial Arts By Shanna Dehning Recently I interviewed Rich Ackerman, janitorial headmaster at the ALC. He is currently relocating to Prairie Elementary to lead their custodial task force. Ackerman is a friend and co-worker to staff and students at the ALC, and has worked here for some time, three years in Marchto be exact. Sadly he won’t quite make the three year mark because today, December 7, is his last day working at the ALC. Ackerman has quite a work history. He worked as a maintenance man for Campbell’s Soup Company for sixteen months before they closed about 10 years ago. He also worked for Worthington Ready Mix which is a cement preparation company. His normal workday at the ALC is from 5:00 A.M to about 1:30 P.M, but that doesn’t mean that he never stays late. In fact, our building wouldn’t look as good as it does if he hadn’t spent time here to work on it. According to staff member Mr. Lowry, the floors were pretty hideous before Rich got a hold of them. (Continued à)	Rich Ackerman will be missed by ALC staff and students “If I didn’t do a good job, you could definitely see it,” Ackerman said. “I want to keep this place nice. I want people to work with me as I work for them.” Which means: Don’t throw your garbage around! He’s not just all about working hard. Some of his hobbies are: Riding motorcycle, golfing, camping with friends and family, and generally showing that he lives his life just as devotedly as he works. In short, the Worthington ALC will miss him greatly. Not only because of his outstanding janitorial efforts, but because he was a friend and co-worker to staff and students throughout the years. Best of luck to him in all of his endeavors.

The ALC Insider December 12, 2005 page 2

“It’s better to give than to receive.” That’s the philosophy of Mirtha Workman, paraprofessional at the Worthington Area Learning Center (ALC). Workman recently encouraged a group of ALC students to give their time and energies to bring a bit of holiday cheer to the residents at Crossroads Care Center. As a result, the students found themselves pictured on the front page of the Worthington Daily Globe. The students involved are part of the ALC Middle School Program. Marlene Reynaga, Abang Abella, Casandra Ortiz, Rudy Rodriguez, Jennifer Garcia and Chris Black spent the free time they normally have after lunch crafting Christmas wreaths for the residents of Crossroads Care Center. They recently presented those wreaths to grateful residents. (Continued à) Marlene Reynaga paints a Christmas Wreath outside of the ALC

It’s the reason for the season… ALC students make the front page of the Worthington Daily Globe “I know how good these kids are,” Workman told the Daily Globe. “These kids at the ALC have heart – sometimes they have to prove themselves to people.” Workman and ALC teacher Patty Moser have ideas to continue the ALC/Crossroads relationship. They plan to take another group of ALC students to the nursing home to do nails for female residents and spend time visiting with male residents. Another idea involves helping residents play bingo. Students bring Christmas cheer to Crossroad Care Center residents

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Where does our image of Santa come from? By Annie Keosaksith Who Saint Nicholas? In our minds Saint Nicholas is known as Santa Claus, and we picture him as a fat man with a sleigh drawn by eight miniature reindeer. Santa Claus is known to fly from house to house jumping in people’s chimney to fill stockings and put gifts under the Christmas tree. A poem written in 1823 by Clement Moore was suppose to be only for the enjoyment of his family, but the poem was anonymously published in the Troy Sentinel. Now, all America is familiar with the poem The Night before Christmas. (Continued à) 1800’s version of Santa

Where did Moore get the idea for reindeer? The Saami people of northern Scandinavia and Finland used reindeer for centuries to pull their sledges around. This found its way into Moore’s poem. Thomas Nast was a famous cartoonist in the 1800s, and he did a series of Christmas drawings for Harper’s Weekly. Nast pictured Santa Claus as living on the North Pole with a workshop and a big book of names of children who were either naughty or nice. In the 1800s, Santa was often shown wearing different colored outfits such as purple, green, blue and, of course, red. The Coca-Cola company used Santa in 1940 in their advertisements. It was made for people to see that Santa Claus likes their product, Coca-Cola. His color on their commercial was red and white. We have associated these colors with Santa ever since.

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My Opinion on Christmas By Alie McGrinch Paine

As you all know I am very opinionated… Sometimes you can even hear me expressing those opinions in the halls by way of yelling. Now, you shall read about my opinion on Christmas.

Christmas is supposed to be about the birth of Christ, right? Well then why is it that no one celebrates it that way anymore? Now-a-days Christmas is just another excuse for people to get together so they can eat a lot and give each other presents.

I think there may only be a few families that I know of who celebrate Christmas correctly. Everyone else treats Christmas as a commercial holiday. If a holiday is supposed to be about a certain thing (such Jesus’ birth) then it should be celebrated that way.

I believe there should be a separate holiday for those of us who don’t believe in God or just have a problem celebrating Christmas correctly. A holiday like Christmas, but with a few small changes.

First, the name would be different so you could tell the holidays apart obviously; second, there would be no reference to religion of any sort. All it will be is a winter holiday for fun and relaxation. Meanwhile, the people who are willing to celebrate Christmas the right way can do so.

Laotian Christmas By Jennie Klaas Keosaksith

Laos is a Buddhist country so Laotian culture doesn’t celebrate Christmas. However, many Laotians in the United States celebrate Christmas a little because they see others exchange gifts and put up lights.

It’s mostly Laotian kids who are into Christmas. They grew up here and know what the holiday is about. Plus, it’s a nice way to get presents. But straight up, from what my mom told me, people in Laos don’t rush around the village trying to find gifts for their kids. My mom said she saw her first Christmas lights here in the United States.

I know a lot of Laotians now believe in the birth of Christ and they celebrate that. In my family, some years we put up a Christmas tree and some years we don’t. It’s not that big of a deal. Most of the time we have a small gathering at someone’s house and have something to eat.

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THE ULTIMATE ALIAS: The life and history of “Santa Claus” By Shanna Dehning As Christmas soon emerges, the hustle and bustle of buying gifts and trinkets and decorations permeates the ever freezing air. We stop and think of our loved ones, send Christmas cards, and sing tediously over-played carols throughout a two month span. Families gather and depart, and children await the infamous Santa Claus to creep down the chimney and shower their warm living rooms with gifts. --- But what does Santa get? And does anybody ever think of where he came from? I do, and I will tell you of my inquiries in the next few paragraphs. The original St. Nicholas (which is only one of the many stage names that “Santy” has) lived in the southwestern part of Turkey in around the fourth century. He was accredited for all of the wonderful things and blessings that he bestowed upon the people of Turkey as the bishop of Myra. Around the same time that St. Nicholas was alive, Pope Julius I came to the conclusion to make a holiday out of the birth of Christ. Since nobody really had any idea of the actual date of the birth of Christ, he christened the day of December 25 as the official holiday. This day was named “Christmas.” Prior to this not-so-miraculous idea of the Pope’s, there had long been a Pagan tradition of a Midwinter Festival around the same time of year. The Pope’s ambition was to Christianizing these Pagan celebrations. (Continued à)

St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra After some speculations, the day of December 25 stuck as St. Nicholas’ feast day, and his association with Christmas stuck. History as such creates rumors and myths about this mysterious “St. Nicholas” creature. The tradition was that St. Nicholas would come around to homes in Europe and leave candy and gifts for the children. This in turn, caused children to leave things for him, such as in Holland where they left goodies for “Sinter Klaas” (that was their name for him) in their wooden shoes. Santa Claus or rather “Sinter Klaas” would then leave them candy and presents in their shoes. This maniacal tradition soon came America, and has since been overly publicized and blown out of proportion. Animation by Animationlibrary.com

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Christmas in Ethiopia By Minilik Mersha Ethiopia uses the Julian Calendar established by Julius Caesar 2000 years ago. Each month has 30 days with a thirteenth month made up of five days (six on leap years). European countries switched over to the Gregorian Calendar in the 1582 in the time of Pope Gregory. There is currently a nine day difference between the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. Ethiopia celebrates Christmas on December 29 on their calendar. Ethiopians call Christmas Ganna. Because of the difference between the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, Ethiopian Christmas falls on January 7 on the U.S. calendar. Food typically eaten at Christmas includes injera, a pancake-like bread. Doro wat, a spicy chicken stew, is also eaten. (Continued à)

After a large meal on Christmas Eve, Ethiopians attend church and spend the night praying. People are seated in three concentric circles. Men and women are seated separately, and the choir sings from the outside circle. People are given candles as they enter the church. They light the candles, then walk around the church three times. They then remain standing for the Mass which can last three or four hours. Christmas Eve services last all night. After Christmas Eve services are over, Christmas Day is spent dancing, feasting, and playing a game called Ganna which is a bit like field hockey. Legend has it that shepherds tending their flocks near Bethlehem were playing this game the night of Christ’s birth. Only children receive Christmas gifts in Ethiopia. These gifts are usually simple things such as clothing.

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Different names for Santa By Leticia Heredia Do you ever wonder if in other places Santa Claus is called the same as here in the United States of America? Well, I will share with you the other names for Santa Clause in different places of the world. I will start with my home country of Mexico. We call Santa Claus “Papa Noel”. The WEIRD ones are next: In Morocco Santa is called “Black Peter” (in Arabic, of course). The kids in Japan know his as “Santa no ojisan”, which means “Uncle Santa” or just simply Santa (Continued à)

Sinter Klaas – Santa in the Netherlands I don’t really know how to pronounce this next one, but in Finland they call him “Joulupukki” WEIRD RIGHT? In the evening before Christmas “Jultomten” visits Sweden In Russia Santa is Called “Grandfather Frost” which in Russian is “Ded Moroz” In many European countries Santa is called “Kris Kringle.” This name comes from the German term for “the Christ Child” (Kris kind in German). In Norway “Pa Norsk Julenissen” arrives on the evening of the 24^th to leave presents the good children. I thought this was really cute. In the Netherlands “Sinter Klaas” arrives in a white horse and leaves gifts for children in their wooden shoes So remember children, be really good and don’t forget to write your letter for Santa with whatever name you recognize him by so he will bring you the gifts that you are wishing for.

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If we were Santa Claus…

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