Six Stories of Faith
The Annual Caedmon Holiday Show
Mr. Davidson, with the help of all the elementary teachers, once again led the entire student body through a musical exploration of the ways in which people of numerous faiths and traditions celebrate the mid-winter season (with a little bit of calendrical license for traditions such as Ramadan and Diwali that fell in the fall this year). Using musical pieces both traditional and from Caedmon's growing repertoire of original multi-cultural holiday songs, the Upper Level students narrated a colorful description of no less than six different traditions, which were then celebrated is song and instrumental music by each class in turn. The performance culminated in a special appearance by the Caedmon Chorus, followed by the annual all-school-sing, during which the Early Program and Beginner children introduced the theme of world peace.
Mr. Davidson took the occasion of Mrs. DeVine's final year to acknowledge her role in creating this wonderful Caedmon tradition: "Holiday shows have always played an important role at Caedmon, but much has changed in the last 16 years, under the stewardship of Mrs. Devine. Caedmon has always been relatively international and multicultural, yet through the 1980's, the Caedmon holiday program was still based primarily on one story of faith: The Nativity. As years passed, Mrs. Devine decided that we could and should do more, so she worked with Music Specialist, Greg Minahan, to create a new kind of holiday program. Soon, the traditions of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa appeared alongside the traditional Nativity story. As the program continued to grow, incorporating Diwali, Buddhist New Years, Ramadan, and more, something wonderful began to happen. Caedmon students were not only learning about each other's cultural and religious backgrounds, they were beginning to take such knowledge and understanding for granted, as the most natural kind of shared experience."
Mrs. DeVine herself spoke movingly about the program: "It's just been a wonderful experience all these years. These shows have meant so much to me, and I think to everyone at Caedmon. They speak so much about what Caedmon is about; the fact that all of us can come together in this way to honor and celebrate everyone else's traditions, and their faiths and beliefs. I'm so happy that my last of these shows is called The Six Stories of Faith ."
Likewise, Mr. Davidson wrote: "For me, this is the gift that Caedmon gives its students and its community each holiday season. Thank you, Mrs. DeVine, for providing me with the chance to be a part of this unique tradition. Today we will present six holiday traditions. For some people, these are histories. For others, they are traditions. For all of us, they are a part of our world ...and thanks to Carol DeVine and many others, part of The Caedmon School.
