Students at an elementary school in Maple Ridge learned about the different cultural events celebrated in spring.
A group of students at Harry Hooge Elementary explained the festivals of Nowruz, Songkran, Vaishaki, Ramadan, Holi, and Easter, to their peers at an assembly on Wednesday, April 19.
English Language Learning (ELL) teacher Kawaldeep Ghuman, Grade 4/5 teacher Vibha Budshah, and ELL teacher Jennifer Tsai, organized the event.
“We have a big range of different cultures and kids were really keen to participate and to share about their cultures,” said Ghuman about the students at the school.
More than 25 students took part in the presentation from kindergarten to Grade 7.
A Bollywood dance, called Badri Ki Dulhania, in celebration of the festival of Holi was demonstrated for the school.
READ MORE: Bhangra dancers celebrate Vaisakhi in Maple Ridge
One of the Grade 2 students only joined the dance group a day before the assembly because she wanted to show other students her culture. The other students had already been practising for about a week.
When she asked to join the group she told the teachers that she had learned all the steps by herself.
“She was watching us practise after school and during lunch,” explained Budshah.
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The assembly took up to a month of planning, noted Tsai.
Budshah also noted they wanted to recognise as many cultures at the school as they could. In March and April, with the arrival of spring, there are so many festivals, she said.
“I think at Harry Hooge we are so fortunate to celebrate all these festivals together,” Budshah added.
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