Meridian successfully hosts multicultural festival

On April 23, Meridian Elementary hosted its first Multicultural Festival. As part of the event, the school had over 20 families share information, geography, photos, artifacts, dress, and food from their family's country/culture of origin.

Students attending received a "passport" to "travel" to 6 continents where they were to engage in a cultural exchange over the course of the evening. To top it off, they were honored to welcome a group of Aztec dancers who not only shared their dance, but also got a chance to explain the why and meaning behind it as well as involve the students and parents in learning a dance ritual.

In total, the school welcomed over 450 people to Meridian over the course of the evening and heard many comments about how this was one of their favorite events they had ever been to at the school. The school even heard one family, who originally came from Thailand, say that they have been at Meridian for 2 years without realizing that another family was from the same area and neighboring school where she grew up. The community building, connections, and overall goodwill that came from this event is unparalleled in any other event the school has ever held.

Watch an example of the Aztec Dance performance here.

The staff members and parents that were in attendance, repeatedly noted that the event was a positive in so many ways for our school. The number one comment that was heard many times was, "I didn't know we had all these different cultures represented at our school." People made so many connections and learned a ton about who they are as well as who we are as a school community.

It was really powerful that every booth was organized by a member of our school community and when you put them all together, it became abundantly clear that we are a community that is rich, diverse, and stronger because we serve ALL students from ALL walks of life and cultures from around the world.

Special thanks to the Meridian Elementary community for submitting this Five Star Story.

This story exemplifies our ELEVATE Focus Area: Diverse Learning. Sharing stories of how students receive engaging learning experiences and the focused-attention they need through appropriate student-to-staff ratios and varied programming.