As the school prepared to head into holiday break on December 21 and 22, English teacher Brook Zelcer and his Bi-State singers brought holiday cheer to the OT halls by singing carols. 

The tradition, which originated in Zelcer’s creative writing class 17 years ago, took a 3-year hiatus but made a return this holiday season. 

Students from the creative writing class individually pitched parodies of several holiday songs and spent the week before winter break editing and practicing their carols. 

Out of the parodies pitched, the songs that were ultimately performed around the school included: ‘Here’s to All the Office Pros’ to the tune of ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, ‘Walking through the NVOT Caf’ to the tune of ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland’, ‘We Have a Senior Lot’ to the tune of ‘Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel’, and ‘Let us Go’ to the tune of ‘Let it Snow’. 

The class walked around the school singing for different classes, the cafeteria, the guidance office, and anyone who was willing to hear their joyful hymns. “I enjoyed spreading X-mas cheer around the school and to my friends,” said senior Amy Cho. 

The Bi-State singers took classes by surprise and many teachers found the singing enjoyable.  “I thought it was pleasant to see the caroling,” said science teacher Jeffery Lai. “It was a neat way of seeing creative writing combine itself with an actionable display of holiday cheer.”