Interview:

Do you have any school traditions?

“In elementary school we did May day. “

What did you do for it?

“For the girls, we had strings that were all attached to a pole and we would go, and a group of girls would be going in one way, and another group would be going the other way weaving in and out, we did it for basically the whole song, and when we finished, and there would be a pattern braided on the pole. “

Do you remember what the other people did?

“The boys would have sticks, like large popsicle sticks.  And there were groups of 5 people would be in circles and they would try to make a star out of the wood, and after they make it they would show everyone.

The kindergarten people did the chicken dance.”

Background:

It’s an annual tradition of Valentine Elementary school is to perform a mayday presentation to the parents of the students.  Every year during P.E. class in early spring, teachers would assign each grade a different exercise.  Kindergarteners would get a dance where they dress up as chickens.  Second would get a dance with a multicolored parachute.  The two differences were the dances done by the fifth-grade students.  The boys would be doing a dance with wooden “swords”, called the swords dance, and the girls would be doing a dance known as the maypole dance.  When asked, the subject had already forgotten about how she felt about the performance.  While the original May day holiday that is traditionally celebrated on May 1^st but the school varies on the time when the performances take place.   The presences of the maypole dance most closely resemble the European celebration of May day rather than the traditions that formed in the United States.  Many European countries would also celebrate by having a pole attached with colorful ribbons, braided by participants dancing around the pole.

Analysis:

I recall participating in the May day performance.  It was always a time of excitement to become a 5^th grader to be able to participate in the sword dance.  Hearing about being retold from my sister’s perspective was an interesting experience.

Interview:

Do you have any other school traditions?

“We have spirit day at the middle school.”

And what is that?

“It is when every grade gets together into teams of homerooms and we face the other teams for different events such as, brain games, kickball, like many sports.  And it’s basically just a team bonding.  Since on the second to last day of school, its having fun with different people on the last days of school.  “

Background:

According to the informant, spirit day is a time for celebration.  According to her, finals were finally over, and there were no longer any responsibilities left.  It was a time for students to be able to bond with their fellow upperclassmen before they would be graduating and heading off to high school.    It is a custom that occurs every year at the Huntington Middle School on the second day after school. Countries like Japan, have similar events where classes are pitted against each other in an athletic day kind of event for bonding between classes among the school.

Analysis:

It was interesting hearing from the perspective of a student that enjoyed the spirit day festivities.  In my experience, this event was often seen as an annoyance.  Due to the nature of it being close to the end of the year, many students don’t see a point in the mandatory participation of the last few days of class.  It never occurred to me then that many of these people would change in high school and the status quo from the past would never be the same.  In the fast pace of life, these traditions allow students continue to be students, before being shuffled into the future.