L to R: Kay Fisher, Briana Nolt, Deana Swanson, Dervin Martin (principal), Caleb and Julianne Martin; not pictured, Jeff Swanson
Yes, in the Upper Room. The Upper Room of Westfield Eggs to be exact.
While we have held Passover Seders for our students before, we had never done one for an achievement party. So, when one of the other teachers suggested the idea as the students were learning about some of this in Bible class, we decided to do it. After school the day before the party, we made the matzo ball soup, Haman's hat cookies, charoset, and boiled eggs.
Mr. Caleb (7th grade homeroom teacher) and Kay Fisher (resource room teacher) made the Haman's hat cookies.
One of my former 8th grade students from 2016-2017, Briana Nolt, made the charoset and helped us serve at the party as well.
We ordered kappas for the guys, matzo crackers, and dreidels on Amazon, and we were ready to go. We passed out the invitations to all of the students as everyone is invited to the first achievement party.
When the students arrived, we had them put on their prayer shawls and scarves, and then passed out the kippas (or yamakas) to the gentlemen. We also told them that this was going to be fun, but that it was meant to be serious as well.
Another former eighth grade student, Mary Swanson, helped serve at the dinner, too.
Hand washing is part of the beginning of the ceremony as well.
Jeff, our Bible and music teacher, presided over the Seder and read the Haggadah. The oldest woman present is supposed to light the candles. That would have been me.
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The matzo cracker is bread made without leaven, pierced and broken for us.
Parsley dipped in salt water represents the tears shed by the Israelites in Egypt.
The horseradish or bitter herbs represent the harshness of slavery in Egypt.
The egg represents part of the sacrifice that would have been eaten along with the Passover lamb.
Charoset (apples, cinnamon, raisins, etc.) literally means "clay," and represents the mortar used for the bricks.
The lamb shank bone (our school has a limited budget and we couldn't afford thirty-five legs of lamb :-) represents the Passover lamb, Jesus.
As part of the Passover ceremony, the students put ten drops of grape juice on their plates-- one for each of the ten plagues that God sent upon the Egyptians. The students also had a shortened version of the Haggadah to follow along as Jeff read, and to read the prayers at the right times during the ceremony.
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After the dinner we learned how to spin the dreidel. The students played until one in each group had won all of the gold coins, which they then shared.
Next we played two Jewish songs. Our friend Kristen Sommers Weaver graciously joined us on viola for this part of the evening.
The students had also been asked to bring an empty water bottle, a cup of rice or beans, and five items to put inside the bottle. The items and the rice or beans were put inside the bottle, and "Happy Purim" labels were taped around the middle. Jeff then read us the story of Esther, the Jewish queen who saved her people, and, true to tradition, whenever he read the word Haman, we all shook our bottles and booed loudly. (I know, that is usually part of the Purim celebration and not Passover [which is in the spring anyway], but we were doing this for a cultural experience, and it is a part of the culture.)
After the story of Esther, we ate hamantaschen, or Haman's hat cookies. Then several of the gentlemen helped us carry many boxes of stuff down the stairs and to the vehicles. We had enjoyed a lovely, culturally rich evening, and I hope they are more motivated to make good grades for the next nine weeks.
All photographs are courtesy of Shalom Mennonite School's art teacher, Bethany Weaver.
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