”Lights Around the World” embraced five celebrated holidays from different parts of the world, and was presented by home school students in Warren County recently at the Park Theater.
The unit of study took several weeks of presentation, enabling the children to grasp the ideas from each culture and tradition.
“Learning from each culture we decided we should take what we learned and share it with friends and family,” said one of the organizers, Jenny Farr. “We were also very fortunate to have Pioneer Pediatrics make the beautiful theater available to us.”
Each week of study was led by Farr, Dana Sexton and Erica Watson, preparing the program filled with songs, dances, music, readings, as well as various class activities and crafts. A different holiday was chosen that would teach the children about different people who live in this world, and a way to show them the world is much bigger than just where they live and who they know. Most of all the goal was to realize everyone needs to be a light in this world.

Diwali
In India, one of the most significant festivals is Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. The five-day celebration includes good food, fireworks, colored sand, and special candles and lamps. It’s also the period when children hear ancient stories, legends, myths about battles between good and evil or light and darkness from their parents and elders.
The home school children made candle holders and received henna tattoos from a talented guest. Money was donated to loft218.org to help fund the building of an orphanage in India.

St. Lucia’s Day
Around Christmas time in Sweden, one of the biggest celebrations is St. Lucia’s Day observed on Dec. 13. The celebration comes from stories told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden. St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304AD. 
For this activity, the students made star hats and wreath crowns, and discussed mainly how to let our light shine around the world.
Kwanzaa
The seven principles comprising Kwanzaa is a Swahili term for tradition and reason, Kawaida. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles. They include: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
The students were able to discuss the principles, made Kwanzaa hats, necklaces and drums. 
Hanukkah
This Jewish holiday commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. It is also known as the Festival of Lights and the Feast of Dedication.
The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched menorah or hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical menorah consists of eight branches with an additional visually distinct branch.  The kids made menorahs and talked about miracles. 

Christmas
This time is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed most commonly on Dec. 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world’s nations, is celebrated culturally by a large number of non-Christian people, and is an integral part of the holiday season.
The students made Christmas candle holder, decorated trees and talked about the origins of Christmas.