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Students get double dose of holiday cheer at school
By MICHELE MILLER © St. Petersburg Times, published May 5, 2001 DADE CITY -- Shantia Oates, dressed in her Sunday best, her head adorned with a spray of colorful silk flowers, curtsied as she held tight to a bright blue streamer in danger of being stolen by the sudden whipping of the wind. A cue for the music, then it was time for the third-grader to walk circles along with her classmates who had been given the honor of taking part in the dressing of the May Pole. On Friday, students, faculty and parents celebrated along with Shantia in the second-annual May Day Celebration held at Cox Elementary School -- at least the second celebration under the tenure of Leila Mizer, who has served as principal of the school for the past six years. "May Day many years ago was observed here (at Cox Elementary) as the beginning of summer," said Ms. Sizer. "We thought we'd bring the custom back -- a lot of people around here remembered celebrating May Day way back when and wanted us to do it again." People like 54-year-old paraprofessional Wanda Rogers, who reminisced about being a part of the May Pole Dance as a sixth-grader at Cox Elementary School. "I loved it," said Wanda, showing off her wide-brimmed straw hat decorated with a spray of silk magnolia flowers she'd taken off her dining room wall. "We had days just like this -- it was wonderful." Students began their preparations last week by creating their own May Day hats out of newspaper, tissue paper and cardboard. Some were simple, some elaborate. Students also cast votes for the king and queen of May Day. Eleven-year-old Ray Perez and 10-year-old Chelsea Cheatum, who were crowned Friday, made a somewhat reluctant arm-in-arm stroll for an audience who cheered wildly. "This is good -- real good," said Ray, "It's a good day because I'm the king." While the day was billed as "May Day," Cinco de Mayo also played a big part. Many of the youngsters adorning sombreros and Mexican attire clapped along with students performing a Mexican hat dance. There was also cookies and punch for refreshment along with some Mexican candy. "We're very diverse here," said Ms. Mizer, "Some of our students like May Day and some like Cinco de Mayo, so we do both." "This is great. I like it," said Maria Gonzalez, who came to the school to celebrate with her daughter, Mary Lou Tapia and her grandchildren, first-grader Chelsea Tapia and third-grader Vanessa Gonzalez, "It's very interesting for the kids -- it's very important that they can learn about their cultures."
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