Maple Ridge students celebrate Diwali through song and dance

Students at Albion Elementary and Harry Hooge Elementary celebrated Diwali with presentations and performances.

“We wanted our students to have an opportunity to celebrate Diwali and be proud of their culture,” said Kana Wiens, English language learners (ELL) teacher at Albion Elementary.

Wiens and Grade 4/5 teacher Terry Jung organized Albion’s school-wide assembly on Nov. 1, 2024. It took two weeks to put it all together with 11 students participating in grades 3 to 7.

“We felt like this was a good way to not only show the students who celebrate Diwali, but to show all students that it’s important to celebrate cultural diversity,” Wiens explained.

The assembly began with a presentation explaining what Diwali is and how it’s celebrated.

“I did the longest line there was […] about the first day of Diwali and summing up what Diwali is,” said Grade 5 student Dhyan. “It’s called the festival of lights because we put down divas and… it’s like a guiding lamp for Bhagwan (God) to come in and stay in our house.”

Grade 4 student Yazhini also spoke at the assembly.

“Diwali represents… light over darkness and good over evil,” she explained. “My favourite part about Diwali is spending time with family and friends.”

After the presentation, Grade 3 student Karan and Grade 5 student Roop played the harmonium and tabla. The assembly wrapped up with two energetic dance performances, showcasing Bollywood and bhangra dance forms.

“They practiced really hard for this assembly [and] I’m so proud of them,” said Wiens. “It’s not easy to stand up in front of the whole school and to dance and to perform.”

Harry Hooge Elementary also held a school-wide assembly to celebrate Diwali. There were two lively dance performances – one by primary students and the other by intermediate students. Students were also able to get their hands adorned with mehndi (henna) after the assembly.