{"id":1641,"date":"2024-06-24T13:22:13","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T20:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2024-06-24T13:22:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T20:22:13","slug":"maple-ridge-pitt-meadows-students-celebrate-culture-and-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/maple-ridge-pitt-meadows-students-celebrate-culture-and-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows students celebrate culture and diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1645\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress1.blob.core.windows.net\/highlandpark\/2024\/06\/HPE-Culture-Day-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Two schools in the Maple Ridge \u2013 Pitt Meadows School District are celebrating culture and diversity with delicious food, traditional outfits, and student performances.<\/p>\n<p>Highland Park Elementary put on their third annual World Culture Day in May, starting the day with a school-wide assembly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we can celebrate cultures every day but this\u2026 was a special showcasing of people\u2019s specific cultures and it seems to be something that\u2019s really important to students,\u201d said English Language Learners (ELL) teacher Leah Kitamura, who organized the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important that everyone feels they are seen and appreciated,\u201d she added, \u201cand I think it\u2019s important that everyone feels they belong every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/egrmUwdVjGY?si=HufuzMI-4neFBu6b\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The assembly featured storytelling, songs and dance. Grade 7 student Roshana Q. and Grade 6 student Vanshdeep M. gave speeches about moving to Canada and what their cultures mean to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that people will learn and accept other people\u2019s cultures because everyone is different and unique in their own way,\u201d Roshana said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that [people] learn that it means more than just fancy shmancy dresses to some people,\u201d Vanshdeep added. \u201cIt\u2019s way more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grade 4 students Lucy and Emma G. performed the Romanian song <em>Aseara Ti-Am Luat Basma<\/em> by Maria Tanase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe get to show everybody our culture,\u201d Lucy said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we get to show what language our parents speak,\u201d Emma added.<\/p>\n<p>In the assembly, students and teachers also formed a long line and shared how they say thank you in their different languages. There was a bhangra dance and a sing along of <em>My Ancestors<\/em>, written by Lilly Teare Cunningham and her sisters, and gifted to the school. Students also did a read aloud of <em>The Lost Dumpling<\/em> by Kirstin Hepburn, which includes characters representing different cultures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel very proud of the students for summoning the courage to be leaders and to share their talents with everyone,\u201d Kitamura said. \u201cIt takes a lot of courage and I really appreciate their bravery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16943\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sd42.ca\/assets\/media\/DH-culturedaygroup-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Students who took part in Highland Park Elementary's World Culture Day assembly pose for a group photo in the gymnasium.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1054\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Garibaldi Secondary students held their own Culture Day, featuring vibrant outfits, a bake sale, and lunch specials with food from around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe goal is to celebrate diversity, promote cultural understanding, and foster a sense of unity among students,\u201d explained Grade 11 student Mannat Bains. \u201cOrganizing such an event provides an opportunity for students to showcase their heritage, traditions, and customs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bains is part of Garibaldi\u2019s Student Voices for Equity group and one of the organizers of the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it went well and everyone learned something new,&#8221;\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n<p>Students and teachers dressed up in traditional clothing and enjoyed food from the Philippines, Iceland, India, Holland, England, and more. The cafeteria also featured special menus all week with food from India, Mexico and Egypt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope other students learned the importance of being proud of your ethnicity and background,\u201d said Tisha Chand, who is in Grade 11.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a community coming together,\u201d added Bains.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1643\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress1.blob.core.windows.net\/highlandpark\/2024\/06\/DH-GSS-culture-day-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2104\" height=\"1578\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two schools in the Maple Ridge \u2013 Pitt Meadows School District are celebrating culture and diversity with delicious food, traditional outfits, and student performances. Highland Park Elementary put on their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1641"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1646,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions\/1646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/highlandpark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}