July 2, 2004

Shallenberger Elementary School celebrates American Heritage Festival on Flag Day

By Carol Rosen
Editor

The playground at Shallenberger School was awash with various-sized American flags June 14. There were big ones held by a few people and a number of smaller ones held by all the students attending the school. A medium-sized crowd of about 50 people including many parents witnessed the annual heritage assembly.

Every spring for the past 10 years, Shallenberger Elementary School conducts its American Heritage Festival assembly.

Held outdoors, the assembly is a celebration of the cultures that make up the school and city of San Jose and how they melded into a group of Americans. Most years it happens around Flag Day; this year the students got to celebrate Flag Day along with the festival.

One of the unique aspects of this assembly is the penny collection that the fifth graders take on for the year. This year’s collection netted $2,334. The donations support the Yosemite Restoration Project and InnVision with $1,167 each. In the past 10 years, the school has donated money to InnVision’s Georgia Travis Center fund; the Yosemite project was added a couple of years ago.

The fifth grade classes collect, count and roll the pennies for the entire school. The fifth graders are assigned to a particular classroom, and once a month give that classroom the amount received for the month and the running yearly total. Shallenberger students have been collecting pennies for about eight years. It’s one way, said fifth grade teacher Donna Ryerson, for the children to become involved with the community. It also helps the students understand that it feels good to give to people that are less fortunate.

The Heritage Festival is driven by the fifth grade curriculum, according to Ryerson. All the students are asked to attend two cultural activities about two other countries. Students determine what cultural activities they will attend on their own. Held at the end of the year, the students at the assembly bring together all the many cultures that make up America.

Fifth graders bring together American cultures by performing dances from various parts of our country This year, the fifth graders performed American country line dances including the Teton Mountain Stomp, the Watermelon Crawl, the Red Neck Stomp and the Electric Slide. The fifth graders also act as emcees for the outdoor assembly that lasts approximately one hour.

“Heritage Day was started by the Shallenberger staff,” said Ryerson. “And now it’s become a tradition at our school.”