AVID teacher Laura Wells
Q: What are some traditions you do on St Patrick’s Day?
A: My favorite part of St. Patrick’s Day is to celebrate Irish music – listen to it, play it, sing it, and dance to it. I like Irish music because it can be sad, lively, funny, or brave.

Q: What are some of your favorite foods to eat on this holiday?
A: Traditional St. Patrick’s Day foods are corned beef, soda bread, mashed potatoes, cabbage, and colcannon which is a mix of mashed potatoes and cabbage. I’m a vegetarian so I don’t eat corned beef but I might try making soda bread this year. It’s called soda bread because it uses baking soda and buttermilk to make the dough rise instead of yeast. A lot of traditional Irish foods are simple, not fancy, because Ireland was colonized by England and the Irish people and the Irish immigrants who came to America were often poor and had to make do with not much.

Q: How do you spend time on St. Patrick’s day with you and your family?
A: I play some of our favorite Irish songs on the guitar and they sing along with me. My son’s favorite is “Irish Rover” and my daughter’s favorite is “Tell Me Ma.” Sometimes I bring my dance shoes to school and dance for my students.

Q: Would you recommend these traditions and foods to other people who celebrate this holiday?
A: Not everyone is a fan of Irish food but I think Irish music has something for everyone and Irish dance is really beautiful and amazing (when done by someone who knows what they’re doing – not me!!

Government teacher Mikaela O’Connor
Q: What are some traditions you do on St Patrick’s Day?
A: When I was growing up my mom would prepare corned beef and cabbage (and carrots and potatoes) and Irish soda bread for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. When I was a kid my parents had a collection of shamrock shaped pins my siblings and I could choose from to wear for the day (to ensure we had some green on us!). Now I have my own family, so I have taken over the role of cooking and baking for dinner, although I’m not sure what happened to that pin collection.

Q: What are some of your favorite foods to eat on this holiday?
A: Definitely the Irish soda bread. It’s almost like cake! It’s such a special treat to have this one time of year.

Q: How do you spend time on St. Patrick’s day with you and your family?
A: It’s much like a typical day. I’ll serve the corned beef and cabbage for dinner and will enjoy it with a pint of Guinness.

Q: Would you recommend these traditions and foods to other people who celebrate this holiday?
A: While it’s a fairly minor celebration for me and my family I do think others would find these foods to be enjoyable. My husband is Puerto Rican, so he didn’t grow up celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in this way, but I know he looks forward to it every year now.

Chemistry teacher Deborah Maletz
Q: What are some traditions you do on St Patrick’s Day?
A: We make Leprechaun traps. Sometimes I make Irish Soda Bread in some years. Sometimes I even dye it green. We also wear green too.

Q: What are some of your favorite foods to eat on this holiday?
A: Sometimes we eat corned beef. We also eat soda bread.

Q: How do you spend time on St. Patrick’s day with you and your family?
A: We spend time by making Leprechaun traps and trying to catch the Leprechaun. Sometimes we made Leprechaun traps with the pot of gold.

Q: Would you recommend these traditions and foods to other people who celebrate this holiday?
A: Yes I would!