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This week’s cultural presentation for the elementary was about Sweden. Some of the things the students learned about included:

• Children dressing up for Easter similar to Trick or Treating on Halloween.
• Lordagsgodis is the tradition of eating candy, ice cream, and cake ONLY on Saturdays.
• Different types of Swedish crafts including felting, dala horse, cookie stamps.
• Allmansratten which means everyone has access to nature and can camp nearly anywhere.
• Fika is a relaxing coffee break with Swedish pastries.
• Swedish money is called the Krona.
• Some inventions/businesses from Sweden are Minecraft, Skype, Spotify, Ikea, GPS, seat belt, and the zipper.
• According to Swedish Law, every worker has the right to 4 consecutive weeks of holiday between June and August.
• Christmas is celebrated on December 24th in Sweden with smorgasbords, St. Lucia Day, and a Yule Goat.

Mrs. Wellnitz read “The Tomten”, a book about a little gnome that is dedicated to helping out on the farm. After the book, the students watched a short video about the history of Sweden, a crayfish party, the Royal Palace, and the Speed Lottery. In Sweden, it is a tradition to watch a Donald Duck cartoon on Christmas Eve so the presentation ended with a short Donald Duck cartoon.  The students received Swedish Apple Cookies for a snack when they returned to their classrooms.

After the presentation, the preschoolers enjoyed dancing to music by the Swedish group, Caramell.

Thank you to the Snow-Redfern Foundation for their generosity. It is through their project grant that makes this cultural program possible.

Kathy Willnerd was the guest speaker yesterday for the Ireland cultural presentation at Hay Springs Elementary. Some key points that Kathy discussed were: Ireland’s flag, the national symbol (harp), the potato famine, stone fences, tin whistle, the Blarney Stone, and the Shamrock. Kathy’s husband Steve Willnerd’s great grandparents immigrated from Ireland to America after the potato famine. Kathy made soda bread for the students to try. She also read the book “How to Catch a Leprechaun” and encouraged the kids to go home and build a trap. After the presentation, Jeanie Snyder and Bev Wellnitz went to the 3rd grade classroom and helped the students write limericks. When they were finished writing, they read their limericks to their classmates. The students received the book “Maisie McGillicuddy’s Sheep Got Muddy” and banana bread muffins for a snack. Thank you to the Snow-Redfern Foundation for your generosity that makes these cultural programs possible. Thank you also to Kathy for taking the time to share with the kids about Ireland!