The Principal’s annual complementary hot chocolate will be served this coming friday and next friday from 7:15 to 8:00 am in the cafeteria.

For those, like myself, who still don’t have one of last year’s grey WE ARE ONE tee shirts or the 50th anniversary tee shirts, they will be sold alongside the hot chocolate. The grey WE ARE ONE tee shirts will be sold for four dollars and the 50th anniversary tee shirts will be sold for seven dollars.

This friday the Flute Choir and Jazz Band will be play some festive and jazzy tunes and then next week the Viking Strings will take their place as they take the stage.

Senior Troy D’Souza, a trumpet player in Jazz Band, said, “I look forward to playing for students who normally wouldn’t think to go to a Jazz Band concert, and also, Dr. McTague is my guy!”

D’Souza hits the key purpose of Hot Chocolate with the Principal and school spirit events like it: community. Events like these bridge the gap between different people, bring the whole student body and staff together, and construct the bonds that help us identify as one.

“We can talk about that we are one, but if we don’t ever have opportunities to come together then it’s hard to build that community to truly be one,” Principal Ryan McTague said. “I’ve been in the district for twelve years, and [Hot Chocolate with the Principal] has been going on at Niles West and Niles North since before I came.”

Hot Chocolate with the Principal has become a Niles Township District 219 tradition, and its annual approach reminds us that it’s that time of year again. It’s crunch time. Finals are fast-coming, and first semester will be done faster than one could blink. With so much to do and so little time to do it, community events like these let us take a moment to take a breath as we listen to our fellow students preform and we drink our hot chocolate. The semester is coming to a close, but the holiday season is approaching as well. Winter break is not only coming, but it is coming with the promise of finals before us instead of ahead of us, as in past years.

“Whether you’re a freshman or a senior, this is new. Those who have had winter break to study in the past will have to manage their time to study for finals before break,” McTague said, ” but they will not have to balance studying with the crazy holiday season any longer. [Students] can take a real break and […] enjoy time with family without stress.”