Holiday celebrations at the Primary School

For the triple festivities of Hijra, Christmas and Chanukah the children of the elementary school had a joint celebration. In fact, this year each class celebrated separately in its own way. Their parties, to which parents too were invited, took place on four evenings between December 18 to 21.

What happened at the parties? There was a huge array of activities celebrating the three holidays and allowing the children to perform for their parents. Let me give you a few highlights:

The 1st grade made a play that told the story of Christmas, sang a song about Hijra and answered questions about Chanukkah. The 6th grade, on the other hand, organized a quiz show for their parents! The 2nd grade and 3rd grades gave recorder performances, and held a parent-student arts and crafts session. The 4th grade party played recorders too - but they also they also prepared a shadow play of the Christmas and Chanukkah stories, and concluded by creating candle-drop art with the help of their parents. The 5th grade did a gymnastics demonstration, a computer presentation and finished with an arts and like the 3rd grade, held an arts and crafts session. And of course there was lots of good food. Everyone savored traditional dishes and enjoyed a wonderful feast together.

In addition to the evening activities, a special celebration was held for the whole school on the morning of December 20. This year the party was arranged by the first grade students and teachers (Yasmin and Yaël). Since the weather was sunny, the party took place outdoors. The children performed a potpourri of songs and dances. The older children were so impressed that they asked the 1st graders to do an encore of one of the dances.

The beauty of celebrating holidays together can be summarized by a 1st Grade Palestinian Muslim girl who excitedly opens the presents she received from a 4th grade Baba Noel (Santa Claus): with a huge smile, she shows a musical dreidel to her mom. Her mom smiles back at her.

Link to photo album