The students at Spruce Ridge School in Estevan had a virtual Christmas pageant this year.
Principal Cheri Haberstock said it was more important than ever to do something to lift the students’ spirits during what is a different kind of Christmas.
“Instead of doing a Christmas concert, which obviously we can’t do, we thought we’d have our students do a little performance that we would record and post for our parents on our Facebook page,” said Haberstock.
“Some of the classes are doing Christmas poems. Some of them are playing percussion instruments. Some of the classes are dancing. Some of them are doing other creative things. The door is wide open. The only thing we’re not allowed to do is sing or use wind instruments.”
Each teacher sends in a video to Haberstock, and then she posts them individually. The goal was to have all of the videos uploaded by Dec. 18, which was the last day of classes before the Christmas holidays.
Since videos were uploaded individually, it means the parents and other family members don’t have to sit through a lengthy digital Christmas concert.
The students have used creativity to share a Christmas greeting, message or performance with parents.
“We’re doing a lot of things for Christmas, and it’s a year where we’re really focused on bringing the joy,” said Haberstock.
Dress-up days have included crazy hats, merry masks and, of course, ugly Christmas sweaters. Haberstock believes it’s been a real success.
Many of the classes have been making cards for home care patients in the community. The Southern Plains Co-op asked Spruce Ridge to write letters to seniors in the care homes as part of packages the co-op is delivering.
These might not have been traditional ways to spread cheer, but they were new, and Haberstock believes they worked.
