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Schools celebrate Christmas with myriad of activities

By Don Fennell

Published 2:24 PST, Tue December 22, 2020

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For many, Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Everywhere you go, signs of the season are in the air and holiday cheer abounds. And in Richmond’s public schools, students spent considerable time and energy this month on various projects to brighten the lives of those around them and in the community.

Here’s just a sampling of the activities this December:

Byng Elementary – Gingerbread Village

Making gingerbread houses using graham wafers on milk cartons has been a long-standing tradition at the school, going back at least 25 years. Grade 1 and 2 students were encouraged to use the core competencies of creative thinking, critical thinking and communication to design patters and share ideas with each other. To complete the project, they brought their individual houses together to create a Gingerbread Village with snow and lights.

Richmond Secondary – Virtual Winter Music Concert

This year, the traditional winter concert was transformed into a virtual event. Parents, students, friends and community members were invited to watch the winter concert on Dec. 8 featuring a wide range of classic, pop and holiday music performed by talented young musicians. The school community spent considerable time co-ordinating the video production so that everyone was able to enjoy these performances from the safety and comfort of their home. This first-ever virtual winter concert drew more than 300 viewers.

Lee Elementary – Band Concert

Staff and students worked diligently to prepare for their winter concert. Amid the pandemic, they learned new technologies, thinking outside of the box and making sure to keep music in the community. Every day, the sound of holiday music was heard in the halls as students practised their songs. All divisions participated, and the school band teacher spent additional time providing virtual lessons to transitional students to ensure that were part of the experience too. The concert was shared with the entire school community on Dec. 17.

MacNeill Secondary – Virtual Breakfast with Santa

As is tradition at the school the last day before winter break (Dec. 18 this year), students wore PJs to class and watched videos. Although Breakfast with Santa was different this year, student council made a video and shared it via the school’s Twitter account, hoping to spread the holiday cheer.

Mitchell Elementary – Holiday Window Walk

Students and staff wanted to build connection and community through their Holiday Window Walk. Classes were encouraged to decorate their windows in a winter holiday theme and then the teachers scheduled different times for classes to "tour" the windows and vote for their favourite.

McMath Secondary – Winter Spirit Week

To celebrate the last week before winter break, student council hosted their annual Comfy Week. This year, to promote energy conservation, the heat was turned down through the school, so everyone was encouraged to dress in warm, cozy and comfy clothing.

Also on tap, on separate days throughout the week, were Candy Cane Day (when everyone dressed up in red and white), Fuzzy Socks Day, Winter Wonderland (students dressed in blue and white, wearing mittens, scarves and toques, eh!), Ugly Sweater Day (Christmas-themed or not) and PJ Day.

Woodward Elementary – Holiday Fun

The school used Zoom to help power its holiday events: the Woodward Family Holiday Zoom Party (families from the school community gathering in holiday sing-alongs and activities) and the Woodward Winter Concert in which the school prepared a pre-recorded video that played during the Zoom meeting.

Blair Elementary – Winter Zoombly

Students at Blair (in school and at home) were invited to the school’s Winter Zoombly on Dec. 18. As a special treat for this holiday, the school invited a Juno Award- winning children’s singer (longtime Richmond favourite Charlotte Diamond), for an exclusive performance via Zoom.