Projects include Christmas,
Kwanzaa, Hanukkah
and St. Lucia crowns
By:Mary Ellen Zangara
Celebrating Hanukkah, St. Nicholas Day and Kwanzaa were all part of Weston School’s Holidays Around the World project.
Students in the first and third grades learned about holidays and customs in eight different ways from countries around the world last month.
As the children went in small groups from classroom to classroom, they were able to participate in some type of activity typical of the celebrations for the holidays. In three and a half hours, students were able to "travel" and experience the holidays by making things from that country, tasting foods and listening to stories.
In the room designated to represent Mexico, first-grade teacher Cristina Casale read "The Night of Las Posadas," a Mexican Christmas story, as students sponge painted poinsettias.
The students celebrated Hanukkah in Joe Kassick’s classroom, with homemade latkes (potato pancakes) to enjoy while playing a dreidel game.
Over in Lori Linderman’s classroom, the celebration continued with St. Lucia Day, which is celebrated in Sweden. Students made a St. Lucia crown containing candles to wear and feasted on the traditional powdered sugar treats and drank apple juice.
Teacher Laura Landau helped the students celebrate Christmas by making ornaments. The children glued uncooked pasta to cardboard in the shapes of trees and stars, which were then spray painted gold.
Third-grade teacher Dawn Sprinitis helped students celebrate St. Nicholas Day with a story about St. Nicholas. Afterward, children wrote a letter to him.
But before starting the letters, the students’ shoes were placed in the hallway to see if St. Nick would stop by and fill them, a traditional part of St. Nicholas Day celebrations popular in Europe..
When they finished with their letter writing, they quickly ran out the classroom door to find a candy cane in their shoes.
Christmas was also celebrated in third-grade teacher Cindy Cooper’s room, with students making Christmas cards. The children drew, colored and wrote holiday greetings in their cards, and all of the cards were donated to a nursing home.
To celebrate Christmas Italian-style, teacher Laura Zalak offered students pizza made from English muffins.
Kwanzaa, the last of the holiday celebrations, was celebrated in Alyssa Calandra’s classroom, where the students made a "kinara" a seven-branch candelabra featuring a candle to mark each of the seven principles of African heritage unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The kinara helps celebrate Kwanzaa for the seven days.
The following Manville High School students helped with the celebration: Scott Petzinger; Steve Anderson; Katy Walinchus; Amy Walinchus; Dana Delesky; Karyssa Snell; Robbie Thomaszfski; Amanda Weston; Briana McLeroy; Katrina DeSantis; Ashley Davey; Melody Leach; Sarah Ortman; Corey Giles; Andrew Schaefer; Lila Griffith; Justine Adams; Jaci Jankowy; Denise DeCamp; Kelly Bauer; Eileen Coppola; and Mike Chabra.

