Auburn Elementary kicks off Diversity Festival with Chinese New Year Parade
Students and their families celebrated cultures around the world at the third annual Auburn Elementary Diversity Festival, “It’s a Small World”. The event was kicked off by the entire student body parading through the halls lion dancing, drumming and cymbal crashing. Parade spectators were given fortune cookies and Lai see (Chinese red envelopes containing lucky candy) and wishes of “Guny Hay Fat Choy” (Best wishes and congratulations – have a prosperous and good year) circulated throughout the crowd.
Chinese New Year Parade at Auburn Elementary
Students Engage in Learning about other Cultures through school-wide Celebration
Students returned to the school in the evening with their families to continue the celebration and explore the food and customs of nations around the world. Auburn Elementary families joined with students and faculty from Oakland University and Wayne State University to create booths and tables where guests could learn about countries and cultures including Spain, France, Italy, Macedonia, Lebanon, Greece, Poland, Germany, Scotland, Mexico, Native American, Australia, Africa, Nepal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and India. Each elementary student was given a passport at the onset of the event and received a stamp for every booth or table they visited. While making each stop on their “world tour”, they learned about the currency, national symbols, children’s games, and holidays of the different cultures on exhibit.
The evening was designed to highlight the sights, sounds, and tastes of cultures that the student body might not otherwise have a chance to experience. Activities including making sushi, folding origami, painting henna and writing Chinese calligraphy provided opportunity for the Kindergarten through fifth-graders to enjoy some of the fun experiences of their peers of other cultures. In addition, students had the chance to sample food and beverages from other nations like homemade tacos, tamales, baklava, hareeseh, pizzelle (waffle), chrusciki, and more. Many of the booths also featured music in their displays and several instruments like the steel drums, didgeridoo, cuica, m’bwata, berimbau, djembe’, m’bira, keyboard, rhumba box, and balafone were available for the students and their families to try.
More than 300 guests circulated “around the globe” throughout the evening building understanding and appreciation of the many cultures in our “Small World”.
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