Thinking about KK's

We had a school wide meeting on Friday to talk about whether we should change our KK tradition.

We've been doing KKs -- Kris Kringles, or Secret Santas -- the same for as long as anyone can remember, which means we've been doing it this way at least 25 years. Within each homeroom, each student secretly draws the name of one other student. For the whole last week before winter vacation, five days, you bring a present a day for your KK.* The first 4 presents are supposed to be small, about a dollar, and the Friday present is a little larger. Some people don't stick to the dollar limit and some do, so it teaches people to be gracious recipients as well as thoughtful givers**.

This year someone suggested that we might think about doing KKs differently. Instead of spending money on presents for each other, we could use it to help people who are more in need. For example, at Casa Maria (the soup kitchen where we help) there isn't nearly enough food these days; people are being sent away hungry.

Everyone was at the meeting, which was held in Chris's home room area. Individual home rooms had already been discussing the question, so people came with a lot of good ideas and opinions.

For starters, students spoke about the purpose and the value of the KK tradition. As Jordan said (she wasn't there, but she told me on Thursday), "It isn't about receiving. It's about giving." Students who have been at Kino for years say it does make homerooms closer and does make you think about, and be more fond of, someone you may not have thought about before.

But in addition, it seemed that everyone at the meeting wanted to help people who are going without this year. Mary Jane pointed out that the money we spend adds up: even if we stuck to the dollar limit, that's about $320 just for the first four days.

Pretty early on we all agreed that we wanted to do something different this year, either in addition to our regular KK tradition or as a modification of it.

There were a lot of great suggestions. Eli suggested that everyone give only handmade presents for the first four days. ("Who wouldn't love a pet rock?" he asked.) Chelsea suggested we could give presents that would be passed along as presents, in the spirit of giving a mitzvah. Others suggested that each homeroom could pick a charity or recipient for the first four days of giving and then give a KK to a homeroom member for the fifth day, or that the school as a whole could pick four charities for the first four days. People suggested many ways we could raise money before KK week.

After almost an hour of discussion, it was close to the end of the day and we needed to get to afternoon home room for at least a few minutes. Mary Jane said that it sounded like there was a consensus that we keep at least the last day before winter break for KK presents and a homeroom party, but that we were far from reaching an agreement about what else to do. She suggested that each home room could discuss this further, and that maybe each home room could come up with something different.

That sounded good to everyone.



* the terminology is odd because "KK" winds up referring either to the person giving the present or the person receiving it; you have to figure it out from context.

** Remember the year Felice decided her homeroom members need gracious recipient practice? She brought bags filled with miscellaneous trash and they practiced opening the bags, looking delighted, and saying thank you. It really helped!