In recent years, high schools, including Minnetonka, have begun to approach Christmas in a more secular way. In the First Amendment to the United States Constitution lies a religious clause, and within that clause lies the Establishment Clause. The opening lines of it are as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This is coupled with an implication: The separation of Church and State. Seeing as our school is public, Minnetonka HS is an institution of the state and therefore the school must not show religious favoritism. And so, our dilemma is born.
Some religious holidays are being turned secular in an effort to accommodate our culturally diverse world. Currently, we live in a time where a subtle battle rages on, melodramatically named “the war on Christmas”.
Yes, forcing a Christian tradition on non-Christians is insensitive. The same approach should apply to other religions. Nevertheless, what’s wrong with a little holiday decoration to liven up the high school atmosphere? Perhaps more holidays should be represented.
My family takes Christmas very seriously. Our house is full of colored lights, blinged-out trees, and a large, inflatable Santa popping out of our chimney. It is all but guaranteed that everyone will come across a festive display such as ours in their neighborhood at this time of year.
Student Body President Rob Dow talked with Breezes about the holiday traditions at Minnetonka. He shared that every year Student Government hangs up ribbons and lights in the commons, sets up a massive Christmas tree, and even arranges a visit from Santa himself.

This year, they put up a similar scene, with a few additions. Last year, Stud Gov added snowflake and penguin characters in the commons to create a more general holiday feel, as opposed to a traditional Christmas vibe. Student Government’s goal with new decorations like the snowflake is to make our school’s celebration more inclusive and to decorate our school in a way that emphasizes the celebration of winter as opposed to the religious aspects of the season.
As a school with a student body that represents a wide array of religious affiliation, it is important that MHS’s Winter celebration is not solely focused on Christmas. In my opinion, Student Government should either make the decorations entirely secular or make efforts to equally represent the diversity of our student body.