99th Annual Winter Celebration Closes Out 2018 At NSCDS

From North Shore Country Day School: Although it’s gone by different names over the years, the Winter Celebration is one of North Shore’s oldest traditions, dating back to its founding in 1919.

This year’s program on Dec. 21 began with a welcome by Head of School Tom Flemma. Next, the entire community joined to sing Jingle Bells and the two emcees dressed as elves, Lifers Maya Valliath of Winnetka and Livvy Whitmore of Wilmette, read aloud the timeless children’s classic "Frosty the Snowman.”

At the end of the story, they were joined by the rest of the Lifers, Rachel Block of Glenview (Dreidel), Paula Fiegl of Wilmette (Snowman), Caroline Lommer of Skokie (Gingerbread Man), Max Marshall of Evanston (Santa) and Katie Nolan of Winnetka (Mrs. Claus).

Different grades paired up for a variety of dances, highlighting Jewish, German, Mexican, South African and Irish traditions, and even the faculty and staff joined in the fun with a dance to the theme song of “High School Musical.” The program closed with the traditional alumni, faculty and staff sing-along of “Winter Wonderland.”

North Shore Country Day School, established in 1919, is a college-preparatory school of 540 students in grades junior kindergarten through 12th grade, located at 310 Green Bay Road in Winnetka, Illinois.

Photo captions: 1. North Shore Country Day School "Lifers"—seniors who have attended the school since junior or senior kindergarten—dressed up as various holiday characters. From left: Maya Valliath, Paula Fiegl, Katie Nolan, Max Marshall, Rachel Block, Livvy Whitmore and Caroline Lommer. 2. North Shore Country Day School 6th-grader Izzie Larsen dances to an Irish folk dance called "Lucky Paddy." 3. North Shore Country Day School senior Paula Fiegl as a snowman.

Photos courtesy of NSCDS