EXETER — Eighth-grade students at Wyoming Area Catholic performed a rite of passage on a cold December night when they created a live nativity scene on the grounds in front of the school on Wyoming Avenue
Each year, members of the graduating class perform a play recalling the night Jesus was born, followed by a live manger scene outdoors.
Principal Eileen Rishcoff got the idea for the live nativity scene and thought it would be a great way to reinforce the teachings of the birth of Jesus.
“This is my sixth year and we’ve been doing it since then,” Rishcoff said. “We had to cancel due to the weather and that was about four years ago. The kids love it, but it’s a solemn ceremony.”
Earlier in the afternoon on Dec. 9, the students put on a Christmas program with music and costumes. Beverages and snacks were provided after that show prior to the live nativity scene outside.
According to Rishcoff, the eighth-grade students play the parts in the show, all the children sing in the show and sixth and seventh-graders sing as background to the narration of the pageant.
The students had to endure temperatures in the mid-20s as did parents, family and friends who viewed the live nativity scene.
A manger scene was built — complete with two donkeys on loan from a farm in Berwick.
Isabel Grudzinski, 13, played the part of Mary. “It’s really special for the eighth-graders to do this and show the little kids how it happened,” Grudzinksi said. “We had to learn our lines, get fitted for costumes and placements. It’s really fun.”
“We had to learn the lines and timing,” said 13-year-old Hayden Foland, who played Joseph. “You don’t want to mess up your lines. Getting involved with this all the other years we were here, we’ve watched the older kids and now we’re finally doing it and it’s our last year.”
“In the gym, students perform barefoot or in sandals, but I told them last week to bring a couple of hoodies, a hat and a couple of pairs of socks because of the cold,” Rishcoff said. “ The students were outside for only an hour.”
