Good morning! It's Tuesday, Dec. 21. Stressed-out parents, hold on to this: You only have to move the elf a few more times; on the other hand, the kids may be home until 2022. But shiny lights make us all happier — read all about that in the "national headlines" section.

Here are some of the stories people are talking about on Patch:

A staff member at a Washington, D.C., elementary school is on leave after instructing children to re-enact scenes from the Nazi Holocaust and telling them the atrocities occurred "because the Jews ruined Christmas."

One student who was assigned the role of Adolf Hitler was asked to play-act Hitler's suicide. Others were instructed to re-enact the digging of mass graves or shooing victims of the Holocaust, during which an estimated 6 million Jews were killed.

School officials acknowledged "the gravity of this poor instructional decision," said it was an unapproved lesson plan and apologized to parents "who were subjected to this incident." The elementary principal said in a statement that "students should never be asked to act out or portray any atrocity, especially genocide, war, or murder." » Third Graders Told To Re-Enact Holocaust, via Washington, D.C., Patch

Details are emerging about the daring overnight escape of a dozen captive missionaries in Haiti who walked for miles over unforgiving moonlit terrain, an infant and other children in tow. Five members of the group from the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries had been released earlier by the kidnappers, who demanded $17 million in ransom.

"I swear by thunder that if I don't get what I'm asking for, I will put a bullet in the heads of these Americans," Wilson Joseph, the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang responsible for the kidnapping, had said.

Christian Aid Ministries said money to meet the kidnappers' demands had been raised but declined to say if any ransom was paid. » 12 Kidnapped Missionaries Escape Captors in Haiti, via Cleveland Patch

Public health officials are worried about the nation's ability to withstand a fifth wave of COVID-19, fueled by the rapidly spreading omicron variant, with only 61 percent of Americans vaccinated and only 28 percent who have received their booster shots.

Booster shots are the best defense against the variant, health officials say. Much is still unknown about the variant, including whether unvaccinated people have milder symptoms if they are infected. » COVID-19 Boosters The Best Protection Against The Omicron Variant, via Across America Patch

There is some possible good news: A study conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and published online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, found that the body's immune system response to a breakthrough case is much stronger against delta cases than in cases for people who are not vaccinated. » COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections Result In 'Super Immunity': Study, via Portland, Oregon, Patch

One person was trapped and feared dead Monday when the concrete stairwell of a four-story parking garage collapsed in Clearwater, Florida.

"It's still a little bit early in our operation, but we got an early report that two stories of a concrete stairwell came down on a worker," said Clearwater Fire Division Chief John Klinefelter. "We do believe at this point that it is a recovery operation." » Stairway Collapses On 4-Story Grage, Trapping 1, via Clearwater, Florida, Patch

Aerosol dry conditioners and shampoos sold under a half dozen brands were recalled because they contained benzene, a human carcinogen that can cause cancers including leukemia and blood cancer of the bone marrow and blood disorders that can be life-threatening, the Food and Drug Administration said. » Cancer-Causing Carcinogens Found In 32 Dry Shampoo, Conditioner Products, via Los Angeles Patch

Smollett Case Dismissal "Major Failure": Cook County, Illinois, State's Attorney Kim Foxx and prosecutors in her office repeatedly misled the public and committed "substantial" abuses of discretion that "represented a major failure of operations" by dismissing the initial 16-count indictment of former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, according to a 60-page special prosecutor's summary report, via Chicago Patch.

Auld Lang Syne To NYC Traditions: COVID-19 is again threatening treasured holiday traditions in New York City as the omicron variant spreads and the delta variant remains stubborn. New Year's Eve at Times Square remains in limbo, the Radio City Rockettes canceled remaining shows in their Christmas Spectacular, and several Broadway shows have canceled individual performances, via Midtown, New York City, Patch.

Arrest In 1978 Killing: Police said they have cracked a decades-old cold case with the arrest last week of a Colorado man in connection the slaying of a 15-year-old girl visiting San Francisco in 1978, via San Francisco Patch.

Stolen Kittens Tossed In O'Hare Trash: Police want to identify the people who rescued two kittens that were stolen from another traveler at the airport, via Chicago Patch.

More Antisemitic Flyers Found: Police in Beverly Hills collected around 200 antisemitic flyers, the second time such material has been found in a month, via Beverly Hills, California, Patch.

Here are some of the latest headlines from Across America Patch and other Patch sites:

In "GUIDELINES," Patch contributor Hal Green, a retired counselor and pastor, writes that "without sufficient time alone and in silence, we lose our sense of self." » Read it on Across America Patch

The first game of basketball was played on Dec. 21, 1891, under a set of 13 rules created by James Naismith. Eighteen students at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, competed against each other and tested their ability to throw a soccer ball into a peach basket suspended from a balcony 10 feet from the floor, via History.com.

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