OXFORD – The “Mexican Hat Dance” is a catchy tune, and many people left Oxford Elementary with it ringing in their heads Thursday night.

Sixth-grade students played the song and danced as part of their fiesta, a culmination of their social studies unit on Mexico.

The students, along with their parents and siblings gathered at the school Thursday for a night of Mexican food, pinata-breaking and sombreros. Students split into groups to give presentations on topics such as Mexican clothing, music, government and geography.

Teacher Sandra Roderick said holding the fiesta was a better way for students to learn Mexican culture than learning from a textbook.

Each student tried their best to dress in Mexican attire, with every outfit topped off with a sombrero made of newspaper.

Students Hannah Lyon, Jackie Bressette, Miah Tripp and Tanner Pike researched clothing. Lyon explained that the sombrero means shade in Spanish, and it helped shield Mexicans from the sun.

Student Adam Tavares stood excitedly next to a painting he and his group made of Mexican geography. It outlined the country’s mountain ranges, volcanoes and deserts.

“I chose to do the project because I like doing maps and I like geography,” Tavares said.

Tavares, along with group members Amanda Pauliks and Jarred Loring, also had a jigsaw puzzle for people to look at.

Principal Alan Struck stood in his own sombrero with a group of students who were giving a presentation on Mexican music. When the clock struck 6:30 p.m., the group got up on stage to play the “Mexican Hat Dance” while the rest of the students clapped, kicked and swung around in unison – somewhat.

Then, of course, there were pinatas.

When Roderick gave the signal, the crowd filed into the gym and the pinatas were strung from basketball hoops. One by one, turns determined by raffle, people went up, their eyes were covered with a blindfold and they whacked at the pinatas, which in the shape of a shark, a sun and a pig.

The shark broke, and chaos commenced as students fought for the Smarties and Tootsie Rolls inside.

Prior to whacking the pinatas, students Elizabeth Bickford and Brittina Maheux, along with their other group members described how they made the pinatas and the significance of each part.

Bickford explained that the stick represented love, the pinata meant sin, the blindfold was symbolic of a shield and the candy meant a new beginning.

This year was the second annual fiesta, and Roderick said she plans to hold the event again next year.