Puesta del Sol Elementary School hosts 'Sip & Stroll'

RIO RANCHO — As the sun set Dec. 12 on Puesta del Sol Elementary School, a different kind of glow settled on the courtyard for students and their families to enjoy at the end of the week.

Students used battery-operated tea lights to illuminate paper bag lanterns, known as luminarias or farolitos. The lanterns also included artwork from each student.

"My kid made a bag, and I'm here to see it," said Michael Paul, parent of a PDS fourth grader. "I don't ever want to miss my kid's event."

The event, billed as a "sip and stroll," was the first of its kind for the school, which recently formed a multicultural committee to produce inclusive educational programming. 

"Every year, we'd have a big Cinco de Mayo celebration, where the bilingual students would each do a show. We didn't want the other kids to not feel included, so we decided to branch out and do more things that include everyone," said Claudia Stovall, committee member and educational leadership coordinator for the school.

It was not the first event produced by the committee, which had students decorate balloons and hang them in the school hallway to coincide with the 2025 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

With the luminarias event, committee members wanted to utilize New Mexico traditions, particularly for students who might not be aware of it, according to Stovall.

"A lot of the kids in New Mexico had never done this, either, so this was teaching them a little bit about the bags, putting sand in and lighting them up," she said. "It's beautiful."

Stovall was not familiar with the tradition until she arrived in New Mexico, but another committee member, Quinn Hollerbach, a speech-language pathologist at the school, called it "one of the defining characteristics of Christmastime" in the state, having grown up in Albuquerque.

"We started to realize this was not something the kids had gotten to experience that much; I think it's kind of faded a little bit," Hollerbach said. 

He praised students for the "cool range" of designs, with illustrations of red and green chiles and Frosty the Snowman. Other luminarias, including Paul's son, included a drawing of the New Mexico flag with the state's nickname, "The Land of Enchantment," written on either side.

Paul, who also pushed a stroller with his youngest child, was not only profoundly grateful for his older son's work but also had something profound to say about the meaning of the luminarias: "There's always a path to follow no matter how dark it gets."

Indeed, the path the luminarias created was easier to follow as the courtyard grew dark because the sunset allowed the bags to glow even more. Everyone was offered hot drinks to sip as they strolled through the courtyard, which included a variety of Christmas tunes blaring from a speaker.

PDS parent Brieanna Sweeney attended the event with her children, including her 6-year-old first grader, who made a luminaria. The bag included Santa on one side and the Grinch on the other.

"I think she's very clever, especially for her age," Sweeney said. 

She praised the event for bringing people together around a state tradition.

"I did this when I was a kid, so it's nice to see this continue," Sweeney said.