UC High’s Child Development class has been spreading the holiday spirit with their charm and singing talents since the class first opened at the school.
According to Child Development Teacher Anne Puccenelli, the preschoolers, along with their teachers, parents, and student mentors, go caroling during second period in different classes with the permission of teachers.
“We usually take the children to a few classrooms, the office, and the counseling center, and we do some caroling with songs like ‘Frosty the Snowman’ and ‘Rudolph,’” explained Puccinelli.
The caroling takes place on the Friday before Winter Break, as the children make their rounds to classrooms, performing songs they’ve practiced for weeks in advance.
Senior Kristine Cuevas, who has been in the Child Development program for the past two years, looks forward to the caroling with the children. According to Cuevas, the teachers as well as the students contribute to the children’s excitement by doing holiday-related events.
Cuevas said, “In addition to caroling, we also have other activities that we usually have them do back in the classroom. Last year, we had a student dress up as Santa and had the kids sit on his lap. We had presents for them and we had them decorate gingerbread houses and other fun activities like that.”
The preschoolers further participate by putting their creativity to use and coming up with their own ideas. Cuevas explained, “We allow the children to decorate the room for the holidays, and we also plan lessons according to what holiday it is. Depending on the holiday, we do different things. For example, [for] Thanksgiving we had them make turkeys and we made a little Thanksgiving feast for them. We always go all out for them. With all the holidays, we also all get really enthused because it’s so much fun to celebrate in the preschool.”