Holiday Show Blends Religious Themes

When Marilyn Karasik’s fifth- and sixth-grade class began planning for Atherwood Elementary School’s holiday program, students were asked to choose the holiday characters they wanted to play. Albert Hernandez asked to be Santa Claus. Vince Clark became Santa’s reindeer, Vixen, and Reina Bejerano played the spinning dreidel, a Hanukkah toy.

On Thursday, when the more than 300 Simi Valley students watched their schoolmates rehearse the show, they seemed to be oblivious to this unusual juxtaposition of holiday characters and symbols.

Although most public schools try to balance a variety of ethnic and religious beliefs during the holiday season, only one school district in the San Fernando Valley area, Simi Valley Unified, has put its holiday guidelines into a detailed administrative directive.

The regulations, adopted in 1964 and revised in 1976, govern what can be taught in the classroom during the December holiday season. The guidelines were developed by parents, school administrators and local ministers and rabbis.

Cultural Roots of Holidays

“We don’t want one doctrine to be overemphasized while another is shortchanged,” said Harold Lipman, associate superintendent of the district. “We don’t want to bring religion into the classroom, but we do want our students to understand the cultural and historical roots of the various holidays we celebrate during this time of year.”

The regulations suggest holiday program themes that are “simple, non-sectarian and nondenominational.” It adds, “The primary criterion at all times shall be the educational value to be derived from preparing and presenting the program.”

The guidelines ask that principals and faculty members “exercise control over the amount of instructional time” devoted to holiday topics. It also requests that Christmas and other observances be conducted in a manner that reflects respect for the “religious sensibilities” of all students.

The guidelines, however, do not prohibit use of religious music in classroom discussions or projects. Because, according to the regulations, “much of our finest music is of a religious nature,” district rules acknowledge that Christmas carols and other religious music might be appropriate in a holiday program.

Good Example of Policy

Atherwood’s program was a good example of what the district wants its holiday programs to be.

Five classes performed in the school’s “Happy Holidays Winter Program.” Most classes spent about two weeks preparing costumes, memorizing lines and songs and rehearsing.

Besides the theatrical part of the holiday projects, most Atherwood teachers used preparation for the program as a way to enrich their regular classroom curricula.

For instance, Marilyn Marivete-Smith integrated poems about the religiously neutral winter character Frosty, the Snowman, into reading classes for her first-graders. She also had them memorize song lyrics about the lovable snowman who suddenly comes to life.

Instead of spending a lot of time studying Christmas and Hanukkah, Virginia Miller’s sixth-graders researched New Year’s celebrations around the world. They reported on festivities that ranged from Pasadena’s Rose Parade and college football bowl game to the traditional Chinese New Year celebration in February.

Carole McKinley’s third- and fourth-graders described in class how their families observe the holidays. Some students explained the meanings behind the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah, others told why their religious beliefs do not include celebrations at this time of the year.

Clyda Elginer’s second- and third-graders rehearsed the song “O! Christmas Tree” as they returned to class from lunch. And Karasik’s students formed committees to decide what song they would include in their medley of holiday hits.

“This is a chance for youngsters to discover cultures and traditions different from the ones they learn at home,” Principal Shayle Uroff said. “If a teacher looks at the holidays as a multicultural learning situation, the rest is easy.”