Universal Creighton Charter School held a multicultural holiday celebration on Dec. 23.
Music and dance illuminated the auditorium of Northeast Philadelphia’s Universal Creighton Charter School on the eve of its winter break on Dec. 23. While the imminent Christmas holiday played a prominent role in the grade school’s annual seasonal concert, students drew upon many other religious and ethnic traditions for a joyous multi-cultural celebration.
“One of the things we’re very proud of at Creighton is we’re a very diverse, multicultural school,” said Principal Wendy Baldwin. “We live in a multicultural society and we want to grow and educate every one of our scholars to the fullest. They need to have exposure to cultures of all societies. That will make them better citizens.”
Creighton, which since 2012 has been managed by record producer Kenny Gamble’s Universal Companies, serves about 800 students in kindergarten through eighth grade at Tabor Road and Foulkrod Street. According to Baldwin, about 45 percent of students are African-American, 30 percent Hispanic and 25 percent Asian. Students speak a multitude of foreign languages at home including Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Cambodian.
Last week’s concert program touched on those traditions and many others. The youngest students began the day with presentations of Jingle Bells, Dreidel Song, a Chinese dance, the African song Tongo, the Inisi Nonono dance from Africa, the Sur Le Pont dance from France, the Hava Na Gila Israeli dance and the Spanish-language Christmas song Feliz Navidad, among others.
The older groups, including grades 3 to 5, followed by grades 6 to 8, reprised many of those numbers, adding a rap rendition of The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa along with with a finale of the Parranda, a lively Latin line dance through the aisles of the auditorium where performers encouraged classmates, teachers and parent audience members to join the parade.
The school’s music instructor, Madhumita Sen, directed the show, while parent liaison Maria Canales and language interpreter Van Tsang assisted, as did assistant principals Daniel Mina, Glenda Darby and Shirl Ishmael.
“They were practicing over a month to prepare,” Baldwin said.
“We wanted something that was multi-cultural and, since it’s the holiday time, we wanted to do something for the holidays, not just Christmas,” Sen said. “It was a lot of work but it was worth it.”
With its connections to Gamble, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, it’s no surprise that Creighton has a popular music program with several choirs, a drum and percussion ensemble and ethnic dancing instruction, including the Indian “Bollywood” style.
“I just like music, the beat and how different styles are,” said Tyreak Carrington, 15. “I like jazz, hip-hop and Spanish dance.”
Music is an effective learning tool, they said.
“It’s important to sit at a desk, but it’s more important …,” said Zahira Daye, 12, before classmate Aniya Washington, 12, completed the sentence, “… to interact with different cultures.”
The Creighton students were definitely inspired to outperform one another in a respectful way.
“The girls have more style than the boys, but they know what to do,” Washington said.
“I think (the show) was pretty good. Some of them impressed me,” Nasim Smith, 11, said of his schoolmates.
Sen described music as a valuable teaching tool that can energize even reluctant students.
“It’s rewarding for them. Performance is a big plus. Kids love to perform,” Sen said. “We may look different, but we’re all the same inside and music brings people together.” ••
Choir teacher Madhumita Sen (back row, center) poses for a photo with her students during the event.
Older students danced to the Spanish-language Christmas song Feliz Navidad.
A worldly experience: Universal Creighton Charter School held a multicultural holiday celebration on Dec. 23. The second and third grade students performed a Chinese dance. MARIA POUCHNIKOVA / TIMES PHOTOS
