Jack E. Singley Academy hosted its annual Posada event on December 14th, 2024. The night was filled with winter themes, colorful clothes, fun activities, and delicious traditional foods. But for those not familiar with this event, here’s what it’s all about.
This event is hosted and organized by Singley’s very own Spanish Club. The Spanish Club sponsor, Mr.Kennedy informed us that “Original Posada basically is the reenactment of Mary and Joseph going from place to place trying to find somewhere to stay, because Posada means “inn”. That’s what a Posada is in Mexico and Guatemala. Basically they Christmas carol from house to house and they end up going to one house where they have a lot of food and they have a community event kind of like this”.
Although originally it was meant to commemorate the journey of these Biblical characters, Singley has taken a different approach to this celebration. Our school has taken this occasion to bring communities together regardless of their religious and cultural background. Mr. Kennedy also stated, “We want to have everyone of all religions to be able to participate”. This stresses the importance of the Singley Phoenixes being a united group of people regardless of their differences. Posada at Singley is where every culture unites together and celebrates each other as one. The event is all-inclusive, completely free to enter, and encourages students and their families to join them in the celebration.
Even though the main event took place on a Saturday. The fun didn’t begin there. Spanish Club picked out some spirit week themes for students to participate in the week leading up to Posada. Some of the Spirit Week prompts included dressing up as a Christmas character, wearing PJs, and even showing up to school in ugly Christmas sweaters. What a fun way to show support for the upcoming event! 
When asked about what people’s favorite things about Posada were, one of the attendees said, “My favorite thing is more about the meshing of cultures…you can see it in the variety of dishes. Even now we’ve gotten Dominican plates, we’ve gotten Mexican plates, (and) Salvadorian. It’s just really nice to see a whole community come together”. It is in fact nice to see a table with foods from all over the world that holds a different story behind each and every one.
But for a big event like this, there’s a lot that goes into planning and setting up. Behind the magic of Posada, the sponsor of Spanish Club let us know that the Spanish Club officers as well as all the volunteers, dedicated tremendous amounts of time working hard to make the event a success. He said, “If it weren’t for them, I don’t know what we would’ve done- because, we had, I think we had 50+ kids volunteering to help, and that’s why we were able to decorate the way we did”. It’s inspiring to see so many students come together and show their school spirit by contributing to this event in any way they can.
Thanks to all the officers, volunteers, sponsors, and staff that played a part in this occasion. They’re the reason that Posada 2024 at Jack E. Singley Academy was a huge success. And for those who didn’t get a chance to experience it this year, make sure to attend the next time it comes around!
