On December 19th, as the Christmas break was about to get into full swing and many schools were having parties and celebrating that last day of school, the students at Chestermere Lake Middle School took the celebrating to another level. Instead of just focusing on how Christmas is traditionally celebrated here in Canada, they took a look out of their own corner of the world and got a taste of how other cultures celebrate this time of year.
Students were given the opportunity to check out how Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Christmas, Chanukah, and Las Posadas are each celebrated by rotating through different activities throughout the that last day of school. The day was started with an exciting assembly where the students were treated to a performance of some West African dancers – that later in the day, the students were taught one of these routines.
“The dancers stayed and taught all of the kids African dancing to celebrate Kwanzaa, the students learned how to play dreidel for Chanukah, they also went through a Mexican themed relay race to celebrate Las Posadas, ate delicious food that was donated from our school community to celebrate Ramadan, and lastly celebrated Christmas with a festive photo booth, decadent hot chocolate station, a Christmas wreath project and they watched the Canadian Classic video “The Hockey Sweater”, explained CLMS Athletic Director, Lynn Ross.
The students, despite being very excited to kick off their own Christmas break, were all very enthusiastic in participating in the various events and in learning of the traditions of other cultures and how they celebrate.
