Fairhope High School students help create holiday magic

By Allison Marlow
Posted 12/20/17

Morphing into a mythical creature with all the power of the universe is tough.

It requires finesse and careful wording.

Members of Fairhope High School’s Literary Magazine pitched in to …

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Fairhope High School students help create holiday magic

Posted

Morphing into a mythical creature with all the power of the universe is tough.

It requires finesse and careful wording.

Members of Fairhope High School’s Literary Magazine pitched in to help the man in red at his busiest time of year and wrote personal responses to letters from first graders at Fairhope Elementary School.

“You never know what the parents got so you had to say things like, ‘Your present is wrapped and in the sleigh’,” said Cat Clinton, junior. “You had to be very subtle and vague.”

The students said Thomas the Tank Engine and My Little Pony dolls with mermaid tails were popular requests.

“I had one kid ask for an I-phone and I was thinking, ‘Oh honey, no’,” said Anne Hadaway, junior.

Still, most of the first graders didn’t ask for any gifts at all. Rather, they simply wanted to wish Santa a Merry Christmas.

“Some wanted to tell Santa they moved. Others wished him a great Christmas. It felt like they were speaking to him on a personal level,” Clinton said.

Shannon McAuliffe, junior, added, “They genuinely cared. They asked how he was doing. It wasn’t just a list of, hey, I want this.”

Members of the Literary Magazine wrote letters to a class of about 20 first graders. Club members are: Shannon McAuliffe, Anne Hadaway, Bryson Franc, Lauren Authement, Eden Woods, Cat Clinton, Ashley Palmer, Lexie Williams and Noah Pilcher.