Judge Memorial students celebrate posada tradition

Friday, Jan. 13, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY — Judge Memorial Catholic High School is proud of the cultural diversity that exists among its students that enriches all the scope of the institution: academic activities, sports and clubs all benefit from the contributions that our community sector offers.

The holiday season is the perfect time to get together as a community waiting for Jesus to be born, and it is also a perfect time to celebrate and share cultural diversity.

This year, as part of the December holiday celebrations at Judge Memorial, students from the Spanish program celebrated a traditional Christmas posada. It was an opportunity for the students involved in the Spanish program to not only practice the language, but to learn more about the Catholic faith, traditions and customs.

Students who live in homes where Spanish is the first language, and are familiar with the festivities surrounding the posada, were in charge of organizing the event, inviting all their classmates to join in the preparation of Christmas food from different Latin American countries.

In class, the students learn about the meaning of these traditions, Mary and Joseph’s pilgrimage to Bethlehem, the traditional posada song, the meaning of the piñata and the songs that are sung while trying to break it.

At the end, the Judge Memorial students, staff, teachers and administrators joined the celebration, sharing faith and a joyful moment.

Some students expressed how meaningful the experience was.

“Posadas are a very important aspect of the Mexican culture. To be able to celebrate them here is to share with my classmates a little piece of who I am. It means that we can’t close our mind to just a way of celebrating, we have to be open and learn from other cultures,” Kathryn Vargas said.

“This celebration is about the look for shelter, to welcome one another. Posada celebration brings love and trust in humankind. This is a celebration about the hope that Jesus offers us,” Lily Nilsen said.

“Posadas are a great Mexican tradition that people do to celebrate Christ birth. I love the posadas because they offer a great sense of community and friendship,” Bailey Walker said.