On Friday, May 4th, students at Woodland Heights Elementary participated in a Cinco De Mayo celebration. Stations were set up where students enjoyed everything from a variety of Mexican food and treats to tortilla making, decorative flower creation, and Mexican music and dancing. “This was the first time we had a school-wide event for Cinco de Mayo,” said Nereida Ceniceros, one of the coordinators for the event and 1st grade teacher at Woodland Heights Elementary. “We formed committee of myself, Tammy Glass, Kathy Blake, Patricia Sanchez, and Amber Moore, and together we sent out letters asking parents to volunteer and coordinated the event.”
Students were able to view artifacts, listen to stories and learn the history behind the holiday that commemorates the Day of the Battle of the Puebla, which took place on May 5, 1862 in the state of Puebla, Mexico, and celebrates freedom, democracy, and Mexican heritage and pride. “The children got to learn about the meaning of Cinco De Mayo and hear a story read to them in Spanish by Senora Aleman and Senora Ramon,” Ceniceros said. “After the story they got to look at an artifact table that had many things from Mexico including serapes, mocajetes, topos, sombreros, and dolls.”
Rotating through the various stations, classes were split up into groups, and while some viewed artifacts or learned the Mexican Hat Dance, the others sampled a variety of Mexican food supplied by parents. “They ate quesadillas, dulce de leche, empanadas, bunuelos, duritos, tamales and much more,” said Ceniceros.
The celebration was the final part of a week-long study on Cinco De Mayo for Ceniceros’ class. “During the week we used our senses to hear different kinds of Mexican music, and my students also made their own ‘passports’ so we could travel. We took a ‘trip’ via Google maps to different places in Mexico, and this event summed up the week for us.”
Pictured at top: A decorative flower is given to a Woodland Heights Elementary student at the Cinco De Mayo celebration May 4th
Pictured above: Students at Woodland Heights Elementary enjoy watching the tortilla-making process at a Cinco De Mayo celebration May 4th.
