What if Jesus were born in Green Bay in 2013? What if Scrooge worked for the IRS? These are questions NDA student writers may be asking themselves while writing for the National English Honor Society and Writers Union Christmas Story Contest.

Students have the opportunity to re-imagine a classic Christmas tale and have their story published in the school newspaper, The Tritonian. The tales can range from religious stories, such as the Nativity, to secular stories like Frosty the Snowman.

This contest is new to NEHS and Writers Union, NDA’s creative writing club, led by co-moderators Mrs. Carolyn Brown and Mrs. Jean Thillman.

“The Executive Board was interested in doing more things with writing, and wanted to do a writing contest every month,” said NEHS moderator Ms. Stefanie Jochman. “We figured we’d start with the holidays.”

“The idea came from NEHS member T.J. LeMoine, who got the idea from his theology class with Mrs. Lisa Schmidt,” Jochman added. “They had done a similar activity.”

Senior Maria Sausen, Vice President of NEHS, encourages students to have fun with this festive prompt.

“Take the Christmas classic you know and love, and re-imagine it the way you want!” she said. “I encourage students to participate.”

Jochman agrees with Sausen. “Start with your favorite Christmas story and keep your eye out for Christmas-themed TV shows because a lot of them are different takes on classic Christmas tales.”

Stories should be no longer than 750 words. Students can submit their papers to Ms. Jochman in room 101 or by GoogleDoc to [email protected] by Friday, December 6^th. If students have questions, they can talk to Ms. Jochman or a NEHS member.

NEHS and Writers Union members will be selecting the winning piece which will be published in the Online Tritonian in December.

Jochman hopes students won’t take the contest too seriously, or get stressed out about it. “Have fun and take a chance!”

Don’t know where to begin? Try starting with these popular Christmas stories:

The Nutcracker

The Night before Christmas

A Christmas Carol

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Frosty the Snowman

The Gift of the Magi

Here is the winning entry:

The Night Before Exams

by Jonathon Scolare
Twas the night before exams,
And all through the house,
Everybody was worrying,
Even the mouse.

The textbooks were out,
Coffee mugs laid near,
I sat by the fire,
Void of Christmas cheer.

My parents were in bed,
Tussing with fret,
As they dreamt of grades,
And massive student debt.

Then out on the lawn,
Arose a strange beat,
So I updated my wall,
And sent out a tweet.

But I heard it again,
A sound quite fowl,
It was a gurgly,
Eerie, frightening growl.

And what should my eyes behold,
An old, grouchy man,
Who was pulled in a sleigh
By an equally ugly clan.

He called out to them all,
Each one by name,
“On Stress, on L’Hôpital,
On Descartes, on Pain,

On Pythagoras, on Leibniz,
On Poincare, on Doubt,
On Fear, on Gauss,
On Newton, on Pout!”

Down the chimney
Came the mean Mr. X,
Speaking of tangents and sines,
Increasing my stress.

So I picked up my book,
And I studied quite well,
Every trick up his sleeve,
Every law he could spell.

With a huff, a puff,
A scowl, a frown,
I sent him away,
Far, far from town.

So on this night,
My worries did cease,
As I sleep as a lamb,
My mind at peace.