HDS Assembly - Cultural Celebrations

Have you been on campus recently? If so, you may have seen slides on our TV monitors that focus on cultural celebrations that take place each month. Along with scrolling images of recent school activities, the slides highlight celebrations such as International Day of Non-Violence, Hispanic Heritage Month, Día de los Muertos, Diwali, and Veterans Day, to name a few.

 

During our Wednesday Assembly last week, HDS kicked off our year of celebrating cultures. Culture refers to the characteristics and knowledge of a group of people, such as traditions, language, religion, food, music, norms, customs, and values. Celebrating diversity and fostering inclusion at school is crucial for a vibrant learning environment. 

Recently, students in second grade attended the play It's Ok to Be Different, which led to discussions on how we're all different and unique and have our strengths and challenges, yet we all want to be valued and respected. Sharing their experiences, student representatives came up to the stage to talk about how they have felt included or have been inclusive with their friends on or off campus. In one example, a student noticed another boy not playing with anyone and asked him to join their football game.

Eighth grade student council leaders also came up to announce a Middle School project centered around “belonging.” Inspired by the book Linked by Gordon Korman, Middle School students will work together to create a colorful paper chain made of individual links representing each student. The paper chain will be hung in the upstairs hallway and Great Hall and will be a tangible representation of our inclusive community and connectedness. 

During the final part of assembly, four students in each grade level played a cultural trivia game. They were asked questions based on the slides scrolling on the campus monitors and their general knowledge or learnings from class. Some of the questions included: Name a custom or tradition that is celebrated on New Year's Eve; What does Dia de los Muertos mean?; and We just celebrated Indigenous People’s Day. What does “indigenous” mean? Students enjoyed playing the game and learning more about different cultures. 

Here is the full list of celebrations through December (this is not an exhaustive list, but what HDS is focusing on during the 2023-24 school year):

SEPTEMBER

15    Hispanic Heritage Month (begins)

15    Rosh Hashanah Jewish Holiday  

24    Yom Kippur Jewish Holiday

OCTOBER

15    Hispanic Heritage Month (ends)

 2     International Day of Non-Violence

 9     Indigenous Peoples Day

15    Navaratri 

19    Spirit Day

31    Halloween

NOVEMBER

1      Day of the Dead

11    Veterans Day

12    Diwali 

16    International Day for Tolerance

23    Thanksgiving

24    Native American Heritage Day

DECEMBER

3      International Day of Disabled Persons

7      Hanukkah 

21    Winter Solstice (how it’s celebrated around the world)

25    Christmas  

26    Kwanzaa  

31    New Year’s Eve