Holy Thursday

This is my second year out of the classroom and although I love my new job, I often miss teaching 1st grade. One of my favorite things about teaching in Catholic school was that I got to celebrate the holidays the way I did as a child. Christmas wasn't buried under the PC umbrella of "winter holidays." We set up a nativity scene, sang carols, and lit the Advent wreath. Likewise, Easter wasn't just bunnies and baskets of candy. Together we spent 40 days of Lent preparing for the Easter season.
     
My favorite tradition with my 1st graders during Lent was our Last Supper meal. It was held on the last day of school before Easter break (which was always a 1/2 day). I bought pita bread, grapes, and grape juice (in lieu of wine) for our meal. Some years I added cheese and apples, just for fun. It's not exactly true to a Passover Seder, but I was more concerned with the symbolism of the foods and the sense of community and celebration that we shared during our "meal." 
   
Together, we arranged the desks to form a long table, which I covered with a tablecloth. I lit candles and placed the food in the center. As a class, we said grace, sang songs, and then began our meal. Just like the Last Supper, I broke the pita bread and passed it around the table, letting each child break off his or her own piece. After that, they were free to help themselves to the food and enjoy each other's company. Years later, former students would come back and tell me that the Last Supper meal was one of their favorite memories of first grade. 
   

   
Even though I'm out of the classroom, I still teach CCD (weekly religious education classes for students who don't attend Catholic school). I've been teaching 4th grade CCD for the past 5 years, but I've been able to continue my tradition of having a Last Supper meal on the last class before Easter. This year there was a schedule change, so unfortunately we didn't have time for the meal. But I managed to come up with a compromise. I sent each one of my students home with a piece of bread in a baggie with a scripture quote attached. I told them to save the bread until Holy Thursday, and then break it and share it with family. I also recommended looking up the scripture quote in the bible so that they could read the entire story of the Last Supper. 
   

     
I'm glad I found a way to keep the tradition going, even though we didn't have time for the whole meal. Hopefully some of my students shared the bread and the story with their families tonight.