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Students learn to respect a myriad of holiday traditions

Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Rachael Golden⁄The Gazette Joining classmates playing recorders and percussion instruments, Hadeya Hewitt plays the xylophone Friday during an international show at The Barrie School that recognized a variety holiday celebrations.

That’s similar to what her Jewish classmates do during Hanukkah, she said, describing how her friends talk about lighting eight candles on a menorah during their celebration.

Everyone does something different and it’s important that people respect one another’s traditions, said Fortune, 10, a Potomac resident. Otherwise, people might feel left out.

‘‘I would feel out of place,” said Fortune, noting her Muslim friend who observes very different traditions.

During a time when the issues of separation of church and state are causing some people to avoid religious and cultural terms while others amplify them, students at Barrie School in Wheaton are taking a different approach.

To embrace diversity, people must recognize all elements of people’s culture, said Kenna Armstrong, head of the lower school at Barrie. If that means talking about religion, then it’s better to understand the issues rather than avoid them, she said.

‘‘When you start excluding certain pieces, you are heading into dangerous territory,” Armstrong said.

At Barrie, students start discussing diversity at age 2 by learning the seven principles of Kwanzaa in Swahili and about the Jewish tradition of lighting a menorah. The lessons become more elaborate as the children grow older and depend on what the curriculum teachers are working on that school year, Armstrong said.

When students learn about different cultures, they introduce themselves to other foods, languages, customs and beliefs, she added.

‘‘Really, what we are doing is developing citizens of the world at a young age,” Armstrong said.

Underneath a garland of twinkling snowflakes Friday, Barrie fourth- and fifth-graders performed a mix of songs and dances at their Winter Songfest. The show included German, Peruvian, Israeli and Zimbabwean musical performances. Students beat on conga drums and struck xylophones to chants and songs.

To an original adaptation of a medieval dance, children gracefully waved colorful scarves and skipped around in circles. Similarly, for an Israeli dance, children danced hand in hand to a festive song.

Sophie Klein, a fourth-grader, will celebrate several holidays this winter, including Christmas and Hanukkah. Klein’s friends ask a lot of questions about her holiday customs and she said she makes a point to learn about their traditions as well.

‘‘If you go somewhere and you meet someone, you can talk to them rather than just ask them questions,” Klein said.

That attitude prepares children for the real and diverse world they will encounter in life, said Eric Cline of Silver Spring. His 10-year-old daughter, Hannah, is a Barrie student.

‘‘The more they learn, they will be able to adapt in the real world,” Cline said. ‘‘... If the religion is an integral part of culture, you can’t avoid it. You only fear what you don’t know.”