Brighton Academy Students Celebrate Diversity at Multicultural Festival
Brighton Academy students came together this year to represent about 20 different countries through food, music, and activities at the school’s recent Multicultural Festival.Each country was represented at a station that highlighted information about its native dress, food, traditions and more. Fifteen Brighton Academy families prepared foods representing their native culture, serving them to more than 300 students and staff attending the Festival! Former Brighton Academy students – now in high school – volunteered to help serve food and run a henna station. Eighth grade students choreographed a dance that they taught to a group to perform during the celebration.
“It was really fun,” 8th grade student Zinad Abbas, whose family is from Somalia, shared. “The dance was my favorite part. It was good to express myself and show my culture without being embarrassed… and to see people appreciate it. It was meaningful, because sometimes when people don’t understand our culture, they make fun of it. If they see something that’s different, they bully you about it. The Multicultural Festival was a way for them to learn that there’s more to us than just being different – it helped them understand us and our culture.”
“Everyone enjoyed the food, and the energy of our dancing made it awesome,” Muna Abdulkadir added. “Us getting on stage and having fun added more to the event. We were hyped, and that made everyone hyped.”
To culminate the special day, each student and staff member received a t-shirt of the school’s mascot, filled in with the flags representing the home nation of each Brighton Academy student.
“The Multicultural Festival was a good day for us because it brought us all together,” Waqtiya Aden said. “Everyone wore their cultural clothing, and everyone was accepting of it.”
What a wonderful way to celebrate #SCSDDiversity!
