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Christmas Comes to Sylvan Park Elementary - Australian Style
When Jill Jacobs' fourth grade class at Sylvan Park Elementary decided to study how people in Australia celebrated Christmas, she was as excited as they were to learn about another country. What she did not know was just how to go about getting a little bit of authentic Aussie culture in Nashville, Tennessee. So she did what any smart educator would do: she asked the class for help! Naturally, they turned to the internet, not a bad idea when researching pretty much anything on the planet these days.
That search turned up an unexpected sources that seemed like it might be a good resource: the Nashville Kangaroos homepage. After all, you really can't get much more Australian than a kangaroo and so she took the plunge and contacted us.
Naturally, when the request came in, the Kangaroos were only too happy to oblige. So the word went out to the Kangaroo faithful, and true to form, our membership came through in flying colors! Craig Warner, one of the best Aussie Rules umpires in North America, was the first to reply, noting that he would be back from his extensive travel schedule. Then long-time club memberPru Clearwater sent word that not only would she be happy to help out, she would bring a few Aussie Xmas songs with her! Last and certainly not least, Brandon Sentell committed to help out. Brandon is American, but married an Aussie sheila and moved to Oz after a short two year stint with the Kangaroos football team in 2000-01.
So they dropped in for the afternoon and 37 wide-eyed, enthusiastic youngsters got more than they could have hoped for!
Craig began the afternoon with a little bit of How to speak Australian. No, not the Foster's dictionary; better. If you have never heard a room full if kids saying "G'Day, Mate!" to each other, let us know and we will take you with us on the next school program. Craig also used the world map to help the kids with a little geography - and to our amazement, they were quite well prepared.
Pru then took the stage and built upon the lingo lesson, which was necessary to understand Australian Jingle Bells. Once they had the language lesson learned, Pru struck up the guitar and the kids sang the classic tune, with a down under twist!
Brandon is a sports nut, so he explained the different sports that Australians play, from cricket, to rugby (both union and league), to netball, and of course Aussie Rules FOotball. He also quizzed the kids on the different animals of Australia. Not just the usual platypus, kangaroo, and wallaby, but also the spiders and snakes, dingos and more.
And what class on Australian culture would be complete without a little taste of Australia. We gave the boys and girls a chance to sample vegemite. As you would expect, some liked it and some not.
With the hour drawing to a close, the Q&A began in earnest. With no lack of hands in the air begging for attention, the "teachers" answered the queries until it was time to go.
We left handouts for the kids to remember what they had learned: a word search of Australian animals; the short story on netball and football, Australian Jingle Bells, and a mini Aussie dictionary. And of course the great memories.
Thank you Jill and all the boys and girls for inviting us into your lives for a day. Everyone had a great time!
- If you are interested in having the Nashville Kangaroos come to your
school to talk about Australia, please send an email to our Info@ email
address. This is one of our most favorite activies, so don't be
shy!
