During the holiday season, it is very important to give back. There are many children around the world that do not get to experience the holidays much. Every year, the students and staff of Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, NJ participate in an event called the Holiday Festival. This event takes place normally on the second or third Thursday in December. During this event, young students from the Roberto Clemente Elementary School in Paterson, NJ travel to Ramapo for an entire day full of fun, winter activities set up by students and staff that volunteered. Students from Ramapo that choose to participate in the Holiday Festival are each assigned to a student from Roberto Clemente. While the freshman, sophomores and juniors each get assigned their own child, seniors have it a bit different. This event is almost fully run by the seniors. They are called “elves” and they are required to set up the event and make sure everything is running smoothly. About a month in advance, the Ramapo participating students, or as they are referred to during the event, escorts, are given a packet that consists of information about the child they will be escorting. The packet contains some personal information about the student including the students name, age and grade, class teacher and bus number. The packet also contains an entire page dedicated to presents, such as toys and clothes, that the student requested to receive for the holiday season. Escorts are required to buy their student some, not all, of the gifts they asked for. Since many of the Ramapo students choose to participate each year, it is often that a Roberto Clemente student will receive two escorts. When the day of the festival comes, Ramapo students go to a few of their morning classes as usual while the kids are arriving in Ramapo. Before the kids are introduced to their escorts, they are guided into the auditorium to watch a play put on by Ramapo’s very own drama club. The kids seem to love the play every year as they love seeing all their favorite characters and princesses. Next, the students are brought into their assigned classroom where they eat lunch and meet their escorts. This is always the most exciting part of the festival. The kids are always so kind to their escorts even while they are overwhelmed by the amount of activities they are given. After the students meet their escorts, it is time for them to unwrap the gifts their escort bought for them to keep. The smiles on their faces after receiving the gift they wanted always makes the entire experience remarkable. Then, escorts take their students all over the school to play fun games, collect stuffed animals, jump around in the bounce house, and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus! Seniors set up fun games and craft stands all throughout the cafeteria for students to enjoy and win prizes. There is a room filled with stuffed animals for the students to have and a table stocked with winter hats, gloves and socks so the students can stay warm during the cold winter months. It is so rewarding to see the looks on their faces as they enjoy their time roaming the halls and to know that you helped to make a difference in their lives.