Multicultural program adds to holiday season<br><br>

“So, they got the fastest runner—because these people used to run too—and told him you’ve got to go to the big city by the sea, almost as far as Phoenix from here, and you’ve got to get more oil,” Rosenblatt said. “He said he would do that, but even if he ran as fast as possible, it would take him eight days to get more oil.”

The students joined with Rosenblatt in recreating a story where an amount of oil meant to last one day lasted for eight.

The message of the holiday, Rosenblatt told the children, is of religious freedom.

The battle for religious freedom continues today, even here in America Rosenblatt said. He explained that Native Americans have had to fight in the Supreme Court for their own religious freedom, such as the right for Native American Church members to use peyote as a sacrament.

“We live in a country that stands on our rights to practice our own religions,” Rosenblatt said. “It is especially important that we fight for our religious rights here in a country that guarantees them in our constitution.”

“Rosenblatt’s visit was a meaningful experience acknowledging other peoples’ religion. I liked the way he connected it to the students’ beliefs,” said Vikki Thomas, Navajo, who teaches the second and third multi-age classroom. “I think it helps our students understand other views.”

Thomas’s aid, Carla Johnson, said that the presentation was cool.

“The message I got was really clear, that no matter what you believe, be grateful that you can practice that, and be proud of who you are,” Johnson said. “It’s all about freedom, no matter who or what you are.”

Danielle Richards, who teaches the K-2, hosted the presentation.

“I thought it gave the children a really good opportunity to be exposed to something new,” she said. “I feel that even in an environment where one holiday is celebrated more than another, I think it’s important to know about the other holidays that take place around the same time. It’s part of promoting a multicultural environment where we encourage acceptance and diversity.”

Richards was pleased with Rosenblatt’s presentation.

“I think he explained it from a historical perspective,” she said.

Richards’ students have been looking forward to Rosenblatt’s return visit, and she said that being able to have him come in was very meaningful to her since she is Jewish. Last year, Rosenblatt visited the school around Passover.

“It was special because my students got to learn about what I did when I grew up, learning something about what I did when I was a child growing up,” Richards said.

After the children were given kosher grape juice, matzah (not because it is associated with this particular holiday, but because the kids remembered it from last year) and Hanukah gelt (a symbolic chocolate coin representing a gift), Rosenblatt prepared to leave.

“Are we proud of who we are?” Rosenblatt called out.

“Yes!” the children cried back.

A grant program funded by Learn and Serve, a project of the Arizona Department of Education, sponsored Rosenblatt’s visit.

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