St, Nicholas speaking to the students

In the early part of the fourth century, St. Nicholas was the bishop of a city called Myra (now called Demre) in present day Turkey. He had a reputation for giving anonymous gifts to the poor and would go around at night to drop off money, food, and toys in the hope of making children happy. St. Nicholas remains a patron saint of Christmas, and over the years this secret gift-giving has been the inspiration for our present day Santa Claus. Although never officially canonized by the Catholic church, he is still considered to be a saint and is celebrated every year by Christians around the world on the day he died - December 6th.

St. Nicholas is especially important to IHMS because he was the namesake of the school that evolved 46 years ago into our present day school. It's been a long standing tradition to celebrate the feast day of St. Nicholas at our school, and on Friday, December 4, the students and staff of IHMS gathered in the gym to celebrate the coming of “Sviaty Mykolaj” with a short concert. This year, the hosts of the concert were two girls from grade 8 - Iryna L. and Riane K.

Riane K. and Iryna L. were MC's for the St. Nicholas Concert

After a brief introduction by Riane and Iryna, the program began with the kindergarten students singing a song entitled “O xto? xto?” During the singing, St. Nicholas entered the gym and moved to the bleachers where the students were assembled. He walked around and greeted them before sitting down to listen to the concert with two angel helpers on either side.

St. Nicholas entering gym (top photo) and with his angel helpers (bottom photo)

The grade 7 and 8 Performing Group began by singing a song about the beauty of fresh fallen snow entitled “Snihova Perosha”.

Mrs Stanowych with the Performing Group

The grade 6 class know who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, and have been on their best behavior.

The grade 6 class singing

The grade 4 and 5 classes teamed up to let everyone know that St. Nicholas is very generous and kind and brings them treats and presents, and puts them under their pillows.

Mrs. Stanowych with the grade 4 and 5 classes

The grade 3’s notice white, fluffy snow falling outside, and decide to help mom and dad do some shovelling.

The grade 3 class singing

The grade 2’s share a poem and then sing a song about their warm winter boots.

The grade 2 class, singing about dressing warmly for winter

The grade 1’s are excited about St. Nicholas bringing them gifts. They’ve been very, very good, and can’t wait for him to visit.

The grade 1 class singing

The grade 1-6 students stood up and sang a prayer to St. Nicholas. They asked for a few treats for themselves, and prayed for their families and others who are less fortunate.

The grade 1-6 class singing a prayer to St. Nicholas

Finally, the kindergarten students once again sang a few of their favorite St. Nicholas songs.

Mrs. Stanowych with the kindergarten class for the final song

Parents and teachers assembled for the St. Nicholas Concert

When the concert was over, Saint Nicholas spoke to the kids for a few minutes. With assistance from two “angel helpers” from grade 7, he then handed out goody bags to the K to grade 3 students. The grade 4-8 students found a similar goody bag on their desk when they got back to class.

St. Nicholas handing out goody bags to the K-3 students

The concert was organized by the school's very talented Music/Ukrainian teacher, Mrs. Stanowych (shown in the photograph to the left). Despite an extremely busy schedule (she is also organizing the school's two Christmas Concerts, both less than 2 weeks away), Mrs. Stanowych did a fantastic job in preparing the students with all the songs in the St. Nicholas Concert, managing to do a lot of work within a very tight schedule. Excellent work, Mrs. Stanowych. As usual!