CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — CCISD’s 12 days of Christmas calendar is a time for both students and faculty members to have fun and dress up during the holiday season, but for some parents who have to scramble to afford clothes for their kids to fit in, it can be stressful.
Christmas may be a little over three weeks away, but CCISD starts its holiday festivities next week.
"We have ugly sweater, we have green Grinch, red -- the red day is my favorite, I mean, because we all have red,” said Faye Webb Elementary principal Kristina Kahil. “But do I have something for everyday."
Terry Huerta, who has two children in CCISD schools, said the strain on parents around the holidays can be tough.
With multiple children asked to follow two different wardrobe calendars -- depending on the school – it can be overwhelming for parents.
"Maybe they could make some little stuff at the school, like some arts and crafts, that way all kids get to be a reindeer for the day or get to be Olaf,” she said. “And I feel like that's something that the schools might be able to do, so it might take a little bit of stress off the parents. So it's something that we don't have to purchase."
Each school differs, but after speaking with Kahil, an arts-and-crafts outfit day is already on the agenda.
"One of the stations is going to be create an ugly sweater,” she said. “So we'll have all the pom-poms and the old ornaments and all that, and they can create an ugly sweater that they can then wear the following week on Ugly Sweater Day."
While the 12 days of Christmas calendar is not mandatory to follow, no parent wants their child to be left out during this exciting time. Kahil said no child will be at her school.
"We have extra clothes, extra supplies things like that,” she said. “When I go out and get my elf ears, I always try to buy a few extra. Typically, every year, I have to go buy more because I see sad kids and I give everything away. We want to include everyone. We want to give them time to be able to shop. A lot of the things are things they already have. Just communicate with us and we will make sure that your child feels included and gets to participate as well."
Parents looking to purchase inexpensive Christmas items are invited to come Webb Elementary 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday for its 3rd annual Christmas Shop.
"So they can come on up, enjoy the performance, do some Christmas shopping and enjoy the local vendors and support small businesses in our community," she said.