Park Avenue second graders travel the world through holiday traditions

Second graders at Park Avenue Elementary School took their learning global this week, as they explored holiday traditions from around the world, celebrating cultural understanding and shared connection!

Throughout the week, second grade classrooms each focused on a different country, with teachers leading lessons on their nation's holiday customs. Each lesson also included a representative craft.

_{See a gallery from the students' "travels" below this story!}

“Students 'traveled’ from room to room, learning about traditions from Australia, Germany, Greece, Italy and Mexico," explained second grade teacher Jennie Theologis. "The whole time, they collected stamps in handmade passports that they created when the project began.”

The activity culminated on Friday afternoon, with lessons led by teachers Katie Schieman and Ms. Theologis, where students continued exploring how folklore, traditions, geography, and values shape celebrations across cultures. 

For example, have you ever heard the folktale of the "Christmas Spider," which is popular in Germany and Ukraine? The story goes that a spiders' webs on a poor family's Christmas tree turned to silver and gold, inspiring the use of tinsel as a symbol of good fortune and Christmas miracles. The students made miniature trees with spider ornaments to honor this tradition. In Mexico, the students made the traditional Christmas flower, poinsettias! During Ms. Schieman’s lesson, students explored holiday traditions in Australia.

Down there, Christmas falls during the summer months. So, instead of snowmen and reindeer, students learned about sandmen and the kangaroos that pull sleighs, as well as unique seasonal vegetation like the Christmas bush.

“I learned that in Australia they call presents ‘prezzies’ and that instead of reindeer, kangaroos pull the sleigh,” said Paul Bordwine, a student in Ms. Schieman’s class. His classmate, Penelope Guevara, was especially interested in how geography and culture connect.

“In Australia, they have Christmas time in the summer, so we are making sandmen instead of snowmen,” she said. “My favorite part was learning about the flags. I like how their flag and ours are both red, blue and white.”

In Ms. Theologis's class, students explored Greek holiday traditions. First, they found Greece on the map, noting its coastal geography and that it is a peninsula. Lessons also highlighted cultural customs including decorating boats, called karavaki, to welcome sailors home, baking Christopsomo (Christ bread), and celebrating New Year’s Day with vasilopita, a cake with a hidden coin said to bring good luck for the year ahead.

According to Ms. Schieman, the global holiday project was designed to help students understand and appreciate differences across cultures while also finding common ground.

“We just wanted kids to know that other countries celebrate differently, and they have different beliefs and traditions that are important to them,” she said. “We want to expose them to as much as possible and help them grow as global citizens of the world.”

The Holidays Around the World project reflects Park Avenue’s commitment to nurturing Ethical and Global Citizenship -- a key part of the district's Portrait of a Graduate -- and encouraging students to explore the world with empathy, curiosity and respect, one passport stamp at a time.