Our Multicultural Festival

On Friday, we celebrated our first multicultural festival. We came together as an entire school community to celebrate our differences and similarities.  The morning began on the middle school Krongard field. The entire student body and faculty were positioned to create a giant "CS".  Pictures were taken from the middle school roof and fun was had by all.  Next we went to the middle school gym where we heard from Dr. Martire and enjoyed an African dance recital performed by seventh and eighth grade girls. 

Afterwards the Fifth and Sixth Agers traveled to the lower school auditorium for a presentation by myself and Mrs. Reinhardt.  We discussed what the big work, "multiculturalism" meant.  We talked about similarities and differences, and we even had a few friends share with the large group something that made them special.  I read aloud an age appropriate unity poem pictured below:

Unity Poem

I have a dream, said Martin Luther King
We're gonna make that dream come true.

Let freedom ring, said Martin Luther King, 

It's up to me and you.

It's not the color of your hair,

It's not the color of your skin, 

It doesn't matter what you wear, 

It's the character within.

 Next, The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane Derolf was projected and read aloud by Mrs. Reinhardt. The story is about a young girl who overhears a box of  crayons that are not getting along at all! 

The little girl takes the crayons home and helps them learn their full potential by having them work together and appreciate their differences. 

The crayons all worked together to make a beautiful picture. Without each color the picture would have been incomplete!

After the presentation, everyone went back to their homerooms to create their very own crayon box!

Members of 6-B were given an outline of a crayon to draw a self-portrait on.

Then, each friend gave a reason that they are special. 

A few examples:

I am special because...

"I'm from Florida"

"I am a big brother"

"I am from Greece"

"My mom wanted to have another girl baby-that's me!"

"I play with my friends so nicely"

"I am adopted, I speak two languages, and because I am Chinese"

"I am the littlest person in my family"

"my dad's family is Irish and it makes me half Irish"

*Take a look at all of our reasons for being special on our hallway bulletin board.

We ended the afternoon with a Native American tradition called "The Talking Stone".  Often during group discussions students want to talk at once.  This tradition allows only the person that is holding the "talking" stone/stick to speak and share thoughts.  This techniques encouraged students to respect the speaker, listen to their thoughts, and wait patiently for their own turn.  We reviewed our favorite part of the day's experiences using this tradition.

Bravo 6-B!