Hollister
– The Christmas presents have been opened, the New Year parties
have been thrown and many parents have gone back to work, but most
of San Benito’s elementary, middle, high school and college
students are still on vacation.
Hollister – The Christmas presents have been opened, the New Year parties have been thrown and many parents have gone back to work, but most of San Benito’s elementary, middle, high school and college students are still on vacation.
Sixteen-year-old Jesus Arroyo, who attends Santa Ana Opportunity School, told the Free Lance he has spent most of his break hanging around family and friends. And although he was glad to see his relatives – some of whom were visiting from Los Angeles and Nevada – this final week of vacation is making him restless.
“I’m actually excited about going back (to school),” Arroyo said.
Arroyo, like most students, will be returning to school Jan. 8.
Local mom Danita Brigantino, however, said she’s going to have two college students at home for an extra week. Their departure, Brigantino said, isn’t something she looks forward to.
“I’m always sad when they go back,” she said.
Brigantino acknowledged that with four children under her roof – two of them back from college in Southern California, the third a student at San Benito High School and the youngest attending Sacred Heart Parish School, a Catholic elementary school in Hollister – she has to work a little harder to keep her house running smoothly, but she said her children help out.
“It’s awesome,” Brigantino said. “I love it when the kids are home.”
Brigantino and her family have been keeping busy, she said – during the holidays, they’ve gone skiing, dirt-bike riding and horseback riding. And they’ve also fallen back on a holiday staple – the movies. Brigantino and Arroyo both reported unusual crowds at Premiere Cinemas.
“Oh yes, there were quite a few people,” Brigantino said when asked about a weeknight screening of “The Holiday” that she and her family attended.
People were still making it to the theater on Tuesday morning, when the Premiere parking lot was half full. Students with free time on their hands also came out in force elsewhere – playing soccer at Dunne Park, wandering the aisles at the Hollister Target and browsing the Internet and reading at the San Benito County Free Library. County Librarian Nora Conte has just returned from a holiday of her own, but she said her staff saw “not an overwhelming amount (of children), but more than usual” come into the library.
Like many parents, Brigantino returned to work today. And although that means she can’t keep an eye on her children as they visit the Gilroy Premium Outlets, she said, “I trust them to be really responsible.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
