Norrisville Elementary’s Non-Compulsory Mid-December Spirit Week Has Nothing to Do with Christmas

Red and Green Monday

Wear red and green today! This totally voluntary, only-if-you-feel-like-it day celebrates the nations of Bangladesh and Morocco, as well as the Tungurahua administrative region of Ecuador, whose flags are red and green. Dressing your child in red and green will also promote disability awareness, since one iteration of colorblindness involves difficulty distinguishing red from green. This is completely optional, so your child’s non-compliance will in no way stigmatize them as unsupportive of Bangladesh, Morocco, Tungurahua, and/or colorblindness.

Merry and Bright Tuesday

Dress in your favorite merry and bright holiday attire! Attire celebrating what holiday, you ask? Literally any holiday. You choose! For example, your kid can wear green to celebrate Arbor Day, don red to celebrate National Wear Red Day, or stick red and green post-it notes on their shirt to celebrate Administrative Assistants’ Day. (Students who are not feeling merry and bright are free to wear sad and dark clothing.)

Dreaming of a White Wednesday

Wear white to celebrate winter (if you recognize seasons). True, a famous (in some circles) song dreams of a white Christmas, but that’s not what this is about. In fact, students are also welcome to wear blue, because there are no famous songs about having a blue Christmas.

Red Nose Thursday

Come to school with your nose painted red. It’s not a Rudolph thing. It’s not even a gesture of solidarity with the 60 percent of students who will be absent today with RSV, COVID, or the flu. This day is about clowns. Famously beloved, not at all terrifying clowns.

T-Shirt Monogrammed with the Face of Jesus Christ Friday

To finish our mid- to late-December nothing-to-do-with-Christmas, what-even-is-Christmas spirit week, wear your favorite shirt that features Christ. I know this one probably seems like it’s about Christmas. (Actually, around here, we call it “Xmas” to emphasize how it’s more of a secular holiday and how we don’t even think about its Christian—or rather Xian—roots.) But the truth is, the students absolutely do NOT need to wear shirts emblazoned with the face of baby Jesus with a gold crown around it, which admittedly would seem a little Christmas-y. They can also wear shirts with the full baby Jesus above the words JOY TO THE WORLD, or Mary holding the baby Jesus, or the words TRUE STORY where the T’s form crosses and a nativity scene is drawn inside the O, or grown-up Jesus with a crown of thorns and blood streaming down his face, or a silkscreened face of the late large-scale conceptual artist Christo.

Any Day of the Week

A reminder that shows how very optional, non-compulsory, and just-for-fun this non-holiday spirit week is: feel free to disregard the guidelines ANY day this week and send your child dressed as a grinch or a scrooge instead!

PRINCIPAL’S NOTE: We care deeply about your child’s mental health. Students wearing sad and dark clothes on Merry and Bright Day, or blue (i.e., sad) clothes on White Wednesday, or scrooge/grinch clothes any day will be referred to the wellness office for evaluation.

Have a magical winter break that coincidentally coincides with when Christmas break would be if we had a Christmas break.