St. Nicholas Concert

Kindergarten students dressed as rabbits and grade 3 students dressed as Christmas tress for the St. Nicholas Concert

 

On Friday, December 6th, the students and staff of IHMS gathered in the gym for a short musical performance celebrating the feast day of St. Nicholas (or Sviaty Mykolaj). This is an annual tradition – IHMS has been celebrating the feast day of St. Nicholas for years with music and goody bags for the kids.

 

Three Kindergarten students and a grade 6 girl waiting to perform their song at the St. Nicholas Concert.

 

Why is this annual celebration such an important tradition at IHMS? The answer is simple. Prior to 1963, Immaculate Heart of Mary School was known as St. Nicholas School. When St. Nicholas School was eventually torn down and replaced with our current building, the name was also changed to make the school less parochial and more appealing to families from parishes throughout Winnipeg.

St. Nicholas School at 650 Flora

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	The banner on the wall of the gym during the St. Nicholas Concert

 

​ St. Nicholas St. Nicholas was a fourth century Greek speaking bishop who had a reputation for giving anonymous gifts of money, food, and toys to the poor. He remains a patron saint of Christmas, and his secret gift-giving has been the inspiration for our present day Santa Claus. Because he is so beloved by Christians around the world, he is referred to as “St. Nicholas”, even though he was never officially canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. An interesting fact is that there are more churches named after St. Nicholas than any other saint with the possible exception of the Virgin Mary.

 

The St. Nicholas concert began after students and staff assembled in the gym and Mr. Picklyk welcomed everyone with a brief introduction. The program began with the Kindergarten class and eventually everyone singing a song entitled “O xto? xto?”.

 

Students, teachers, and parents gathered in the IHMS gym on Friday, December 6th for the school’s annual St. Nicholas Concert

 

During the singing, St. Nicholas entered the gym and moved to the wall where the students were assembled. He was accompanied by two grade 7 “angel helpers” who remained by his side during the entire performance. Four grade 6 students narrated the concert with a short description before each song.

 

The top photos show St. Nicholas entering the gym for the concert. He can be seen dressed in special vestments because the real fourth century St. Nicholas was a bishop.The four grade 6 students who narrated the concert are shown in the bottom two photos

 

St. Nicholas greeted the students before sitting down with his angel helpers to listen to the concert. All musical performances in the concert were conducted by Mrs. Stanowych.

 

St. Nicholas as he entered the gym for the concert. He can be seen carrying a crucifix and dressed in special vestments because the real fourth century St. Nicholas was a bishop.

 

Each of the grades from K-6 sang a song during the concert. One of the highlights was a song sung by the Kindergarten students while dressed as rabbits. They wore bunny ears as a headpiece and a white pom pom as a tail which made them look even cuter!

 

K-6 students singing at the St. Nicholas Concert

 

At the end of the concert, St. Nicholas spoke to the kids for a few minutes. He then handed out goody bags to the kindergarten to grade 3 students. The grade 4-8 students found a similar goody bag on their desk when they got back to class.

 

After the concert, St. Nicholas spoke to the students for a few minutes. He thanked them for their beautiful singing, and reminded the parents and grandparents in attendance of the two upcoming Christmas Concerts – the K-3 presentation of  “The Noel Critter Motel” on Wednesday, December 18th, and the grade 4-8  presentation of “A Tree Lot Christmas” the following day on Thursday, December 19th. The bottom 2 photos show grade 1 students with their “goody bags”.

 

The short concert for St. Nicholas was organized by Mrs. Stanowych, the school’s Music/Ukrainian teacher. In addition to the St. Nicholas concert, Mrs. Stanowych is also busy preparing for the school’s two Christmas concerts, both only 2 weeks away. Check back in a few weeks for two more spectacular performances!

 

The St. Nicholas Concert was organized by the school’s talented Music teacher, Mrs. Stanowych. Well done. Mrs, Stanowych!