By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The students at Emily C. Watkins should have had no trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year as they enjoyed a final day of school filled with Christmas activities before heading off to their two-week break.

The first half of the day was taken up by holiday parties where the students ate some Christmas treats while exchanging cards and gifts with their classmates and teachers.

When those festivities ended, the students filed into the cafetorium for a tune-filled Christmas play.

Students and teachers alike participated in the show, which went beyond the usual nativity story and instead explored cultures around the world through their Christmas customs.

This gave some students the chance to show off a little bit of their varied heritages. The customs of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America as well as the River Parishes were explained, and each was accompanied by a traditional song for the region.

The play, which was written and directed by Watkins librarian Angela Tsuruda, offered a refreshing perspective on a season that has become increasingly defined by terms such as “the war on Christmas” and showed that it is what the peoples of the world have in common that is important.

One of the players summed it up best with the words, “Christmas is all about the spirit of love.”