“Teacher, teacher! What is a luminary?” the 7-year-old with dozens and dozens of red-and-white-beaded braids blurted out as she bounced up from her seat in the front row.
Thirty-two sets of curious eyes were drawn to the overhead screen, and to the illuminating image, a luminaria, that cast prisms of light into the darkened night of a small village.
“Oooh, aah!” the children echoed at the dazzling foreign visions that zoomed to life in front of us and captivated our imaginations.
“Mrs. Dameron! That’s pretty!” another child called out.
My second-grade class was studying some holiday customs from around the world.
Every afternoon during the month of December until our Christmas vacation, we had a Holiday Celebration Workshop. As the designer, writer and teacher of this multicultural curriculum, it was one of my favorite units of the entire school year.
From an educator’s perspective, when a unit of classroom study could be integrated to tie together all of the different subject areas into the real world in a meaningful way – that rated A+ in my lesson-plan book.
To the youngsters, those afternoons were about cooking and sampling yummy foods from other parts of the world, crafting brightly colored treasures that were proudly hung from the ceiling and attached to the walls, and writing creative stories about what they were learning each afternoon.
For me, it was an opportunity to teach my class something that was near and dear to my heart: an appreciation for world cultures.
So from our elementary-school classroom on the east coast of Florida, our multisensory lessons transported us to distant lands to experience an international smorgasbord.
In the process, we learned new things about our own ancestral roots, too. Our study culminated in an ethnic-flavored potluck celebration that honored the unique melting pot of the diverse cultures that were represented by the individuals in our class.
The holiday season is a perfect time to quietly reflect on one’s own ancestral roots, to prepare and share some of the special foods, to embrace the time-honored traditions and to tell the stories of one’s heritage.
As I consider this holiday season that is now upon us, the thought of setting up a Holiday Celebration Workshop once again after so many years of departure, induces an almost childlike wonder in my heart. It feels right – in a way that store-bought gifts never do.
Homemade gifts are gifts from the heart that speak a universal language of love that is understood and appreciated on the deepest level.
This year, why not set up your own Holiday Celebration Workshop?
Handcrafting and baking gifts for others is a divine way to experience and share the beautiful, luminous essence of the holiday season.
Getting started is easy.
Creating a Holiday Celebration Workshop could be as easy as drawing on old treasured family recipes for inspiration. However, since most of us are not guardians to ancient heirloom boxes of our great-great-great-grandmothers’ old-world recipes, perhaps we can be the ones in our families to hold the great privilege of initiating a brand-new collection.
What could be sweeter than the rare opportunity to be the founding family member of a whole new tradition that can be passed down to coming generations?
So if that is the case, a little research at the public library or just a few clicks of your mouse on your computer should bring up a bevy of delicious ways to embrace your ancestral roots this holiday season.
As I set up my 2006 Holiday Celebration Workshop in my craft-and-culinary studio here in Tallahassee, the vision that lights up my imagination is to create a happy marriage between my mom’s Scandinavian Christian heritage and my dad’s ancient Jewish birthright.
When I was a child, big family-wide Hanukkah celebrations, with kin too many to count, were as much a part of my family’s holiday festivities as were Christmas parties at the church where I was baptized and confirmed, and where my dad graciously served as a Sunday-morning volunteer, brewing the coffee and plating up the breakfast pastries in the fellowship hall .
The challenge of sorting through the confusion of my own family tree was an early enigma for me. Yet, it taught me to appreciate and respect diversity. It also taught me to seek answers to my deepest and darkest questions about life. The answers I discovered radiated with luminous rays of pure brilliant light. This season is about celebrating the ultimate luminary! Not a paper bag with a couple inches of sand and a tea light, but the light of the world that shines in the darkness for you and for me and for all of our neighbors, everywhere around the world!
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Hyvaa Joulua! Kala Christouyenna! Joyeux Noel! Feliz Navidad!
© 2006 Kathi Dameron, Kathi Dameron and Associates
This article originally appeared on December 7, 2006 in the “Entertaining with Kathi” column of the Northeast Chronicle, a Florida newspaper.
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Kathi Dameron is a free-lance writer, blogger and consultant who is available for writing assignments, speaking engagements, and food and entertaining workshops. The Entertaining With Kathi column is available to newspapers, magazines and digital media for syndication. Entertaining With Kathi Cooking Class inserts, show scripts and customized content-rich advertising opportunities are available for purchase. For information contact Kathi directly at 850-422-3599.
shuttle to O'Hare Bingham ..