Roots and Branches: In the loom of community

I had a chance to visit Aya Yasui in Jami Waits’ fourth-grade classroom. It was weaving day for the fourth graders who studied traditional weaving by Native Americans. Students eagerly identified items created by weaving including clothing, baskets, blankets and even shoes. Parents had been invited to watch as wonderous weavings were created by the students on simple cardboard looms, the warp threads previously secured by support staff. 

 

Several students began strumming the strings like a guitar, reminding me of the lap harp my second-grade teacher, Mrs. Beaton, played around the holidays.

 

Ms. Waits used the overhead projector to demonstrate the weaving techniques the students were going to use. Her verbal directions were clear with a distinctively serious undertone that emphasized safety in handling the three-inch plastic needle each student clasped tightly in clenched fist. I surmised she was well experienced in teaching spirited students how to weave and, most importantly, how to avoid the potential pitfalls of arming 25 Energizer Bunnies with a sharp, pointy object. 

 

Ms. Waits said, “Thread the yarn through the needle. LAY it down on the table. Weave your ruler over, under, over each warp thread until you come to the end of your yarn.  Stand the ruler on its edge. You can use this tunnel for weaving in one direction only. KEEP YOUR NEEDLE DOWN. Pull the yarn over, under, over each warp thread. Hold on to the yarn rather than your needle. Use the ruler as the shed stick, tightening the yarn in the previous rows. When you get to the end of your yarn, poke the tail under the previous strand of weaving. Do NOT poke at your table partner’s eye.”

 

I am happy to report only squeals of excitement, not pain, punctuated the students weaving. Ms. Waits had successfully taught the most important lessons of the day: Safety first.

 

The following Tuesday, we headed to the school gymnasium to watch second and third graders perform in the winter music festival. Mid Valley Elementary is bursting at the seams. With the gymnasium built to hold about 500 students and parents, only two grade levels at a time can perform or the gym will exceed it capacity. While that is a great problem to have in terms of family engagement, it is a little difficult if a family has children in multiple grades, making for multiple evenings of extra duty for students, families and staff.  

 

The gym was packed with parents, grandparents, teachers, students and classmates. One-hundred-and-sixty second and third graders sang English and Spanish songs that celebrated winter. I hardly recognized the utilitarian gym because of the bounty of beautiful decorations strung across the walls, all created by the students.

 

Grandson Ren was particularly proud of the intricate snowflake he had created, enthusiastically pointing out his very own snowflake. Ren explained it was truly pride-worthy because he hadn’t made the erroneous cut that would have turned the multi-folded flake into a mini flurry of confetti covering the classroom floor. Amazingly, this bundle of constant energy had followed the instructions to a T and was able to unfold a fanciful flake adorning the stage.

 

He did let me know that the teacher had carefully stapled all the points of the snowflake together because he wasn’t allowed to use the stapler. Safety first.

 

Monday night, we headed down to Odell once again, this time to share in the tree lighting ceremony, an addition to the Wy’East Fire District’s annual parade of lighted fire engine, ambulance and rescue vehicles. We had watched the parade from afar in years past, lighted trucks weaving through the maze of streets in the Ewe and I housing development and AGA trailer court like a fleet of fireflies dancing among the strings of lights adorning the homes. 

 

This year, our granddaughters MacKenzie and Rayla were singing in the choir and the Odell Hispanic Coalition was helping sponsor the event as a community building activity so we decided to attend in person.

 

The countdown to the tree lighting was enthusiastic, reinforcing the sense of community and inclusivity the Odell Hispanic Coalition is helping to promote, highlighted this year by the unveiling of the historic fruit industry mural celebrating the diversity of the community, and the previous year by the school district’s Familias Unidas under the tutelage of Patricia Cooper and Julia Garcia-Ramirez. 

 

The evening was a grand success on multiple levels. Several hundred people gathered to watch the brilliantly lit fire trucks begin their joyful journey. The choir performed several holiday songs, the children’s voices bringing smiles to the face of a diverse crowd. Jesus Becerra and Samantha Garcia served as master and mistress of ceremonies while the Wy’east Community Church served as respite from the winter air, welcoming the crowd to the warmth of the community room filled with the enticing aroma of homemade baked goods.

 

Michoacán served hot chocolate, Evangelina Becerra served homemade tamales, the Rawson family distributed red hats and Aya the Elf distributed coalition candy canes to the crowd of revelers. There was a strong sense of camaraderie exhibited by all, young, old, weak, strong, Latino, Black, Native American and white.   

 

It was rewarding to hear the side conversations between Tina Castañares, Becki Rawson, Julia Garcia-Ramirez, Jesus Becerra, Kim Yasui and Chuck Bugge evoking the spirit of Butch Gehrig, honorary Mayor of Odell, and Dennis McCauley, previous Mid Valley Principal and primary power behind community schools in the valley.

 

Plans were being explored for senior housing, the reinstatement of the Odell food bank (article, page A1), library and community center, and the capturing of the history of our diverse community by Jesuit Corp volunteers. 

 

Equity and inclusion, compassion and service. The rich tapestry of a small community with an enormous heart, swelling with pride.