Three Holidays Come Together at Carlyle School

The clue came inside the nearby gym where the upstairs gallery was adorned with green and red ribbons and from which wreaths, Stars of David, snowflakes, and dreidels hung from strings. And many colourful poinsettias hung from the ceiling. In case that you still didn’t understand that the multicultural school would be celebrating three holidays last Friday morning, on the back wall there was a large banner stating that: “Carlyle Celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa” – the Afro-American celebration that began over 40 years ago.

“The holidays has many faces. We always try to do our best to create and celebrate all of them as a family,” declared principal Itrat Ahmad to open the concert-celebration. “I’m very happy to share the festive time of the year with you today.”

This term the school has already celebrated “Back to School” with the Town’s assistance, the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr to celebrate the end of Ramadan (a month of daytime fasting, charity, and peace-making), and the Hindi New Year known as Dewali.

Through these holidays and the celebration of cricket (the second most popular sport in the world after soccer), the school tries to give opportunities to students to create and perform, Ahmad explained.

For each of the three holidays, two school children carried their important symbols to a front table – the Menorrah for Hanukkah, the Kinara – a seven-piece candleholder for each of Kwanzaa’s seven principles, and the wreath for Christmas.

“No matter where we live in this wonderful world of ours, we all enjoy celebrating festivals of light,” stated one of the student.

That spirit of unity in diversity was continued with the first two songs. To the tune of Deck the Halls, the teachers gave a delightful rendition of their own song: Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa Coming Together.

Students from Cycle 1 (years 1 and 2) then joyfully sang out: This World is Our World that was adapted from Woody Guthrie’s famous Depression-era tune This Land is Your Land. Some of the lyrics include: “We share the sunshine, the sky, the raindrops / Although we’re different, we need each other / This world is home to you and me.”

The concert continued with several songs performed by different classes about each of the holidays, starting with Hanukkah. Holding hands in two circles were children from Pre-K and Kindergarten who delightfully sang I’m a Little Latke (a potato pancake) to the tune of I’m a Little Teapot.

The most striking Kwanzaa song was Seven Days of Kwanzaa that featured lively drumming, xylophone playing, and pole-stomping.

Next came several Christmas songs, most of which I admittedly haven’t heard before. They included Old Toy Trains, Up on the Rooftop and Douglas Mountain as well as French tunes La neige tombe sur mon nez, Petit Papa Noël and D’où viens-tu, bergère.

Lastly came two more modern holiday favourites: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree/Jingle Bell Rock and Feliz Navidad / We Wish You a Merry Christmas that were given a lively rendition by several classes.

To thank her for her outstanding efforts, a bouquet of roses was presented to music teacher Marian Phenix who praised the students for singing their “little hearts out,” and credited the teachers for their many contributions to the special holiday show.

Full of affection and good cheer, it was a perfect start to the holidays. Whichever one that you celebrate, I wish best wishes to you all.

(Photo: Éric Carrière)