St. Ambrose Catholic School sixth-graders Yaretzi Ramirez, left, and Giselle Guzman draw pictures while doing an amate project Friday as part of Fiesta Day activities for National Catholic Schools Week. Zach Spicer

Starting in the gymnasium, Yadira Mendez followed along as Ashley Caceres taught traditional Mexican dances.

The St. Ambrose Catholic School fourth-grader and her classmates then walked up to the art room and tried their hand at amate, a traditional Mexican art form.

Then they moved to the nearby commons to play bingo, paying close attention as numbers were announced in Spanish.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Next, they went down to the cafeteria to make chocolate quesadillas before making paper boats and watching them float in a kiddie pool full of water.

Finally, they went back to the gymnasium to enjoy churros while watching a dance performance by Nayeli Galicia, Nadia Luna and Lizbeth Garcia from Raíces Folklore before taking a swing at pinatas.

Mendez enjoyed the whirlwind of activities Friday as St. Ambrose capped off National Catholic Schools Week with Fiesta Day.

She said it was a great opportunity to share her culture’s traditions and keep them going.

“It felt really great to share it with other kids,” she said.

Mendez liked learning the dances, trying amate and chocolate quesadillas for the first time, watching the paper boats float and seeing the dancers perform.

“They were great at dancing. I liked it,” she said.

Fiesta Friday was new to the school’s celebration. The week’s activities were organized by fourth grade teacher Sara Speer and first grade teacher Amy Hughes of the Catholic identity committee. They came up with the idea of Fiesta Friday, and the operational vitality committee planned the day.

“We started talking about how our school was more than 50% Hispanic, and we said, ‘Well, let’s talk to some of these parents and find a way for them to get involved and let our kids show some pride in who they are,’” Hughes said.

“This week is all about our Catholic identity and letting them show that,” she said. “Part of our Catholic faith is that we’re the universal church, and we brought all of these kids together, no matter what their racial background is, to say, ‘We’re all part of our Catholic faith and that this is a fun week for all of us.’”

St. Ambrose’s week kicked off with Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson proclaiming it National Catholic Schools Week in the city, and students went to Girls Inc. of Jackson County for a variety of activities.

On Jan. 28, a priest from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis talked to students about vocation, and students from St. Mary’s Catholic School in North Vernon visited.

On Wednesday, each grade participated in a community service project, and on Thursday, students wore pajamas and watched movies.

“We had a lot of traditional activities that the kids love, and we tried to pull in some new things, as well,” Hughes said.

“Every day, we’re running around like crazy before school getting the last-minute details, but then it has just been worth it to see the looks on the kids’ faces,” she said. “Every day, we asked them, ‘What was your favorite part of today?’ or when we were with St. Mary’s on Tuesday, ‘Did you make a new friend today?’ That has made it worth it.”

Hughes and Speer were glad to see the first Fiesta Day be well received.

For the Spanish-speaking students, Speer said it was all about sharing their culture with the whole school.

“They get to celebrate their culture and share it with the others so it doesn’t look like it’s different anymore,” she said. “It’s just sharing with their friends.”

Speer said it also was good for the non-Spanish-speaking students.

“We have Spanish class, so they get to learn some minimal Spanish during that time, but I think it’s good for them to see the differences in the cultures and just how they celebrate different than we do,” she said.

Fourth-grader Harold Hernandez was proud to share his culture.

“I like all of the fun activities we did,” he said. “We got to do a lot of fun stuff.”

His favorite activity was the Raíces Folklore performance because his mother, Nayeli Galicia, was one of the dancers.

Trying the dances earlier in the day, however, was interesting for Hernandez.

“That was kind of difficult,” he said, smiling.

Second-grader Izabella Creutz liked the dance performance, too.

“Their dresses were pretty,” she said.

Her favorite activity was making the chocolate quesadillas because it was something new. She liked learning the dances, too.

“We get to know about their culture, and we get to learn new things,” she said.

Speer said it was fun watching the school celebrate all week.

“Probably the best thing for the kids, they like that all week we had different dress themes. They weren’t in uniforms all week, so that’s probably the kids’ favorite,” she said, smiling. “This has been a lot of fun to see them all come together as a school. The big kids helped the little kids a lot. It has just been a fun week.”