In celebration of a rite of passage
JEFFERSON – A unique celebration that commemorates a young women’s birthday will be held as a formal dance from 6 to 9:30 p.m. March 20 for students in grades 8 through 12 at Jefferson-Morgan Junior-Senior High School.
The school’s foreign language club is sponsoring “Fiesta de 15 Años,” sometimes called Quinceañera. The Fiesta de 15 Años is a young woman’s celebration of her 15th birthday, which is commemorated in an unusual and different way from her other birthdays.
The celebration varies from country to country, and from family to family within the same country. The closest equivalents to the Fiesta de 15 Años in the English-speaking world are the sweet sixteen, Bar or Bat Mitzvah for Jewish boys turning 13 and Jewish girls turning 12 respectively, or the debutante ball.
As a school activity, all the girls participating in the court will be birthday girls (Quinceañeras) and together with their parents will be honored by participating in some of the rituals. It is a wonderful opportunity, especially for those girls who never get the chance to be in the homecoming court, prom or May Day court.