Season's Greetings!
I hope this message finds all of you well and in the company of loved ones. I'll try keep and keep this brief as I am sure you are all busy with the holiday bustle.
I've attached some pictures and highlights from last week. There are pictures from the Winter Solstice Celebration and Clara's Dream - Behind the Curtain.
Winter Solstice Celebration
Let me just say how much fun it was to celebrate with all of your children. We legitimately celebrated 5 holidays in 1 day to celebrate the Winter Solstice from around the world and they pulled it off beautifully. We had one group dedicate their display to the holiday of Santa Lucia which is celebrated in Scandinavian countries. They made crowns with candles and had fun crosswords and coloring pages. We had a group do a Hogmanay (pronounced: hog-MUH-nay) celebration for the Scottish New Year, accompanied with a fun play and sing along of Auld Ang Syne. They also created their own color by numbers and coloring pages to commemorate the one of the largest fireworks displays in the world. Going further east, we had a group create a Teng Cheih exhibit to celebrate the Chinese celebration of Winter Solstice. There were lanterns and dragons and little gifts in red envelopes as well as a huge, beautiful Pinata made by one of our students and her grandmother (love the fusion). We also had a classic game of dreidels and the students generously shared delicious chocolates to play the game properly. The Hanukkah group was quite busy of course. We then had a stand to celebrate Boxing Day which is celebrated in the U.K., Australia, and Canada. The students created a play and demonstrated how boxes are stuffed with gifts to give to those in need. I just wish I had more pictures to truly show you how much fun (and exhausting) this celebration was. I'll be sure to try and send video of the plays to you once I figure it out.
Clara's Dream
What a great way to cap off 2015! We got to see our friends Michelle and Preston from the St. Paul Ballet and they gave us a fun sneak peak at their rendition of the Nutcracker. They showed us the famous Snow Scene and snippets of all of the dances in the Land of Sweets. I forget how there are so many songs from this show are so well known and so timeless. The dancers also took us back stage to see the costume areas, the props, the back drops, the box office, and their rehearsal space. It was an absolute blast.
As if things couldn't get any better, Erik surprised us back at school when we returned. Only a few of the students got to see him, but it really was a incredible surprise. He's looking great and definitely healing. After being in the classroom, he felt excited to be back in the swing of things. His hope is that he will feel strong enough to return on January 4th with the rest of us. Sending him thoughts and wishes of healing :)
Finally, I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all an incredible holiday and we look forward to seeing you in 2016!
All the best,
-- Jessy Eaton Fabel
Lower Elementary Guide"Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core." ~ Maria Montessori
