TRI In The News

Holidays Are a Time of Learning for Area Schools

December 19, 2011

From Press Connects

Jim Tokos can remember when he first started teaching 17 years ago it wasn't unusual to have teachers organize Christmas decorating contests in their classrooms.

Now, these contests have disappeared, replaced by instruction that teaches students about the variety of cultural celebrations this time of year, said the science teacher who works at Maine Memorial Elementary School and the middle school in the Maine-Endwell Central School District.

The change is one that Tokos, a Roman Catholic supports.

"Learning about different cultures enhances the learning experience," he said. "I learned about Hanukkah. It doesn't mean I believe in it, but I loved learning about it."

The way Maine-Endwell school district observes the holiday season is now the norm for the region, even for schools with relatively homogeneous student bodies.

Schools still mark the season, especially in the early elementary grades, and officials consider it an important time of the year.

"It's a way to shape the culture of a school. It's one of the festive things we do that children look forward to," said Mary Hibbard, superintendent of the Whitney Point Central School District in rural Broome County.

Gone, however, are programs focusing strictly on Christmas. In their place are lessons and assemblies that feature a variety of religions, cultures and traditions. Many schools also use this time of year to emphasize community service projects.

School officials say they receive little negative feedback from parents about this approach.

"We have had some parents who would like to see more of a Christmas theme," said Peter Stewart, principal at Binghamton's Horace Mann Elementary School.

But for the most part, he said, parents understand and accept the way the season is marked.

A national expert thinks "Christmas wars," while an explosive issue for schools in the past, have lost much of their fury.

"There are always some fights around the edges, but over the last decade public schools understand how to get religion right. You don't impose religion, but you don't ignore it either. You get beyond those two failed models," said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar with the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va.

As a result, he sees far fewer disputes than he did at one time.

Holiday balance

In the Southern Tier, few school districts have formal written policies about holiday celebrations, but they generally understand the issue of balancing the separation of church and state against individual religious values, said Carl Kieper, a lawyer with Coughlin & Gerhart, which represents school districts across the region.

The constitutional bottom line is "stunningly simple," Haynes said. A school's approach to religious holidays must be academic, not devotional. In other words, while schools can teach about the historic and cultural significance of a holiday, they can't proselytize.

Various national organizations ranging from the Anti-Defamation League to The Rutherford Institute have drawn up lists of advice. The advice includes students can show their faith through greetings such as "Merry Christmas" and wearing Christmas-related clothing and jewelry, religious symbols can be used as teaching aides to explain the cultural and religious heritage of a holiday, religious musical selections are OK in holiday concerts if non-religious music is included, and displays such as "giving trees" where students hang donated items such as mittens are permissible.

Holiday celebrations are also more low key.

Enrollments in some districts -- notably Binghamton, Vestal, Union-Endicott and Johnson City -- have become more diverse, and this must be taken into consideration.

Also, schools have to be aware that Christmas is not a happy time of the year for some families in today's difficult economic climate, said Michelle Feyerabend, principal at George F. Johnson Elementary School in the Union-Endicott Central School District.

"It's a stressful time for some people who have lost jobs," she said.

With these factors in mind, Feyerabend said her school doesn't "hype" the holidays. The one celebration is the last day of school before the break when the PTA brings in snacks for classroom parties.

Another reason for downplaying the holidays is that schools are under pressure to prepare students for state tests in an era when schools are rated based on test results. This means instructional time is at a premium.

The focus has to be on academics, with other activities worked in during down time, said Nikki Berkowitz, principal at Maine Memorial Elementary School.

Community service

People should not expect schools to take the primary role in defining the meaning and purpose of a holiday, officials emphasize.

"Families find a way to celebrate outside of school," Feyerabend said.

Tokos noted, "Taking away a few things in schools shouldn't change anybody's beliefs."

Tokos taught in both the Maine-Endwell and Chenango Valley districts.

Still, that doesn't mean the holiday season passes unnoticed.

Holiday concerts take place in virtually every school, and several mark the season by making community service a focus of what they do between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"The focus is on all the good things we do this time of year, not on exchanging gifts," said Mark D. LaRoach, superintendent of the Vestal Central School District.

Schools sponsor annual drives that collect gifts and/or food baskets for needy families.

At Whitney Point High School, for example, the student council conducts a food drive and prepares baskets. At the same time, social workers and guidance counselors buy and wrap gifts for families.

At Susquehanna Valley High School, students pick up a card of their choice and bring a gift to school under the direction of YES! Leaders, a peer leadership program. Similar donations take place in the elementary and middle schools, and community organizations participate as well.

"It's great that students as young as elementary school are already reaching out to other people," said ninth grader Carly Hattala, one of the peer leaders.

A mitten tree has become a tradition at the George F. Johnson Elementary School. Last year, students and staff donated more than 200 pairs of mittens.

"It brings the school together to celebrate what the season is all about," said Kelly Burke, the PTA chairperson of the mitten drive.

Burke has seen the focus of the holiday season change as the Union-Endicott school district has become more diverse ethnically and socially. She has no problem with this change, noting schools must be inclusive.

"Santa Claus, and things like that, are something families can do within the family," she said.

Kim Seavey, co-president of the PTA at Maine Memorial, agrees. Specific observances should be left to individual families; it's the schools' role to introduce students to other countries and cultures.

Other annual traditions remain as well. At Horace Mann Elementary School in Binghamton, all the students gather on the last day before the break for a holiday sing along. The same thing happens at Maine Memorial during which teachers sing a version of the "Twelve Days of Christmas," substituting references to the school for the traditional versus.

"I've taught in two pretty traditional schools, and I don't see anyone being offended," Tokos said. "I think parents are pleased with the way we do it."

Interestingly, Tokos has his own annual tradition. He wears a different holiday tie each day.