United Nations Week at CIS

It has been one hectic, busy, tiring week. It has also been one of the most amazing experiences I've had as both a teacher and a parent. Every year the school holds United Nations Week. It is full of activities, performances and celebrations. The purpose is to celebrate the divesity of culture in the school. I learned this week that CIS has students from 68 nations attending their Lakeside campus. This week gave all those students a chance to celebrate their nationality. I was busy at the school 3 morning this week, helping in the boys classrooms with different activities. Tuesday morning I visited Tayven's class to do a cultural craft with them. Canada=hockey (at least in my boys minds). My Mom and I spent an hour cutting out all the pieces for their hockey craft and the kids in Tayven's class were thrilled to colour and paste them together.

On Wednesday morning I was in helping Koen's class make their way around the food festival. I have never seen such an amazing display of food. The PTA organizes parent volunteers to put together a table for their country and prepare food to serve the entire school (staff, students, and parent volunteers). Each student is supposed to bring in a tupperware container and $2 donation. The money donated is put toward a community outreach program the school is involved in... it isn't for the food. I gorged myself on fresh quesidillas with homemade salsa from the Mexico table, delicious chicken bites from the Brazil table and maple syrup muffins from the Canada table. There was so much food that I could have easily filled my plate twice, if only my stomach had room. Not only was the food amazing but the presentation at some of the tables was nothing short of amazing. The Thailand table had elaborate fruit sculptures, other tables had traditional insturments and music playing. Many of the parent volunteers were dressed in their countries traditional clothing. It was nothing short of amazing.

On Friday morning I was back at the school to help with the Parade of Nations. The parade is the final activity of the week. The culmination of all the activities and a real chance for students and staff to stand up with pride in their nationality. When you're used to seeing all the students in their school uniforms it was pretty impressive to see them all dressed to represent their home country. We all loved dressing in our Canada gear, complete with coloured hair, tattoos, and hockey jerseys. There are often times where I worry a bit about what are kids are missing out on being away from Canada. While I sat and watched 68 nations proudly walk into the gym I couldn't have felt more lucky for what they are gaining being here.

Click the link for pictures (their halfway through the album)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151238939595538.797851.671565537&type=3&l=02c7e8fea7