Monday, 3rd graders finished the afternoon covered in colorful chalk, white shirts not so white anymore, big smiles everywhere, as they celebrated Holi, a holiday that marks the start of Spring and is widely practiced in India and other South Asian countries as well as in many parts of the Bay Area. As a school, we have recognized Holi for decades, a joyful and playful celebration, and one that I know many alums still remember fondly.
Holi is the most recent in a long line of celebrations that we have had that reflect the extraordinary diversity of our community. A few Fridays ago during Flag, for example, one of our students shared about Ramadan, offering insight into her own experience of this important Muslim celebration, teaching our community about how to greet someone who is celebrating the holiday (“Ramadan Kareem” or “Ramadam Mubarak”) and also offering advice about ways that it is helpful to talk with someone who is fasting and ways it is not.
Last week, several families met in classrooms to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, a holiday that celebrates the Spring equinox. Children learned about this holiday that dates back thousands of years and marks the start of the new year and the opportunity for new beginnings. Just a few weeks earlier, we had a series of celebrations to mark the Asian Lunar New Year, including an all-school assembly that included the traditional dragon dance. Other holidays recognized and celebrated at various times have included Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Christmas and Easter.
Earlier this year, we introduced our new statement of Community & Belonging, with its powerful opening lines – who I am matters, who you are matters, who we are together makes a difference in the world. Different cultural and religious celebrations serve as one way for children and families to share who they are and, in turn, to feel seen and understood within our community. Later in April, Middle School teacher and DEIJA Coordinator Christina Tran-Kenyon is working with STUCO and the DEIJA Family Committee to create our first-ever Identity Celebration, an event that will provide everyone in our community an opportunity to share their identity and culture. This event will both help students understand, see, and experience the incredible diversity in our community, and it will, we believe, help students feel a sense of belonging, knowing that who they are matters to our community.
In these early days of Spring, with blossoms of all colors appearing daily, there is such a sense of possibility in the air. How joyful and meaningful that our students are able to see and experience the myriad ways that different cultures and religions, including their own, celebrate and recognize this moment in time.