South Lakes’ first annual Multicultural and Diversity Week began March 4 and runs through March 8.
Counselor Madiha Jamil, along with Leadership, has coordinated the week-long event, which strives to recognize the diverse Seahawk community, which represents over 95 countries and 62 spoken languages.
“In the past, the world language department had a language week with pretty basic daily announcements and trivia games,” Jamil said. “I envisioned that we could build on that and bring together different clubs to promote South Lakes’ diversity.”
The week kicked off with a SLICE luncheon afterschool on Monday, March 4 in the cafeteria, open to all students, parents, and staff members. The luncheon featured dishes submitted by parents to incorporate a plethora of cultures and traditions.
Model United Nations debated global issues such as immigration during both Seahawk Seminar periods on Monday as well.
“This debate looked at some of the issues that multiculturalism can cause in a society and will feature a reduced set of parliamentary procedure for ease of access,” Jamil said. “The topic of this debate was the issues and problems found in a bilingual society as seen by the experience of the Québécois [French Canadians] in Canada.”
In addition to these activities, Multicultural week will also be celebrated during lunches. Muslim Student Association will offer henna painting on Tuesday during all lunches.
Librarian Kathy Hawkins will also host a book discussion with ESOL Levels 1 and 2 during Wednesday’s Seahawk Seminar periods.
Best Buddies will offer students the opportunity to pledge the end of the usage of the “r” word as a word for “stupid” as part of its Spread the Word to End the Word campaign.
In conjunction with the week-long celebration, the world language department will announce the winners of the poster making contest, which seeks to highlight how languages nourish the brain and the acquiring of knowledge.
The week will conclude with two spirit days: Rainbow Colors Day on Thursday, March 7, to signify unity and recognize the many cultures, and International Dress Day on Friday, March 8.
Jamil’s goal of the week is to highlight the diversity of the Seahawk community.
“I hope it aids us in raising awareness of the different cultures and being able to celebrate those cultures,” Jamil said. “Right now we don’t have anything to fully recognize it. We are so proud of our diversity, but have never had anything to commemorate it.”
Jamil hopes to make Multicultural week an annual school tradition.
“The most important theme that I hope gets across is of tolerance, acceptance, and respect for each other, regardless of our differences,” Jamil said. “As the years go on we can get people more excited about the week and share with each other our experiences.”
