Celebrating Diversity at Dougherty Elementary's Culture Fest

In a first for James Dougherty Elementary a multicultural event was held at the school celebrating multiculturalism, heritage and diversity with the aim of teaching tolerance while developing responsible global citizens in a fun, creative and engaging manner.

The event was an excellent opportunity to bring the community together in a celebration of what makes Dublin a vibrant melting pot of cultures, histories and ethnicities. Students had an entire day of cultural awareness and got to wear traditional costumes. The Culture Fest had different segments throughout the day commencing with two assemblies.

Dougherty Principal Ms Joy Scarpinato set the tone for the celebration by also dressing in her traditional costume and was delighted to see her students waving their flags and reveling in the delight of the shared multicultural experience.

Mayor David Haubert kickstarted the day as a guest speaker at the morning school assembly and the evening event was opened by Vice-Mayor Melissa Hernandez.

Performances included Mr Glock's Choir, Bhavana Nathani's Bhangra dance group, Bollywood dance by Sarika Raj's group and a flag waving interactive song by the Culture Fest Coordinating team. In celebration of Chinese New Year there was also a dynamic and spirited lion dance performed by Hung Sing Martial Arts from Castro Valley.

Cheza Nami, a non profit providing a Taste of Africa and founded by Catherine Ndungu-Case, got the entire assembly moving with their energetic and interactive performances. Their core message was that although we do not all look the same, when we appreciate each other, our community is better.

This event provided conversation starters which were echoed in the speech delivered by Mayor Haubert who greeted the students in a variety of languages and then asked which students had other greetings to share. There was much excitement and the levels just sky rocketed when Cheza Nami invited the Mayor and Dougherty Teachers on stage to dance.

The evening event additionally included a Ukrainian dance by Lana Sokolnikova's group, a classical Indian dance solo by Shilpa Pamula and Jai Ho dance by a first grader and kindergartners. The high-powered and bold South Korean traditional martial arts demonstration by Kuk Sool Won of Dublin even included sword forms so there was plenty of variety for the crowd to enjoy.

Each child who entered the Culture Fest venue was given a passport which set them off on their Culture Fest journey and also showed them where countries were on a world map.

Priyanka Sharma was the compère and announcer for the evening and kept the on stage performances running smoothly throughout the event. "Being a part of and hosting the Culture Fest morning assemblies and evening program at Dougherty was an amazing experience. Dublin is special because of its diversity and the respect we have for all cultures. Everyone including admin staff and teachers, showcased their traditional costumes and that was great to see. It was a fun learning experience for all ages and all the performances were appreciated. My non dancer son, Anay Sharma learnt how to perform dance moves on stage all because of the Culture Fest," said Priyanka.

Despite the wet weather the event was very well attended and the variety of country-specific booths remained very busy until closing time. Booth activities included Chinese paper cutting, bookmark making, face painting, diya making, temporary tattoo application and many others. A "selfie station" photo booth, coordinated by George Sam, was also set up to entertain the families and capture some memorable moments. Student volunteers from Dublin High School and Fallon Middle School were enthusiastic about participating and supporting the fun event.

Country-specific booths provided unique, interactive cultural activities and displayed artifacts from Thailand (Jessica Hill), Afghanistan (Shalaka Kachare), Japan (Kazuki Wilson) , Mexico (Francis Anaya) , Ukraine & Russia (Lana Sokolnikova), South Korea (Cher Andres-Kung), India (Lavanya Rudrashetty), South Africa (Rachna Wadhwani), Argentina (Rosario Ballesteros), America (Shweta Agrawal) and China (Teresa Yue).

The diverse array of activities offered were thanks to a talented village of dedicated volunteers who prepared for months to make sure that children would be engaged and enthralled. The country booths each gave a perspective on traditions, culture and history. These opportunities to work closely together create spaces to get to know each other and increase trust while building bridges of understanding and inclusion.

Bulletin From Google, a live blogging app, hosted a 'Bulletin Buddy' booth where students could pick up great giveaways, send postcards to their friends at school and write a 'Happy Headline' as well. Additional giveaways were provided by Palo Alto Medical Foundation Community Health Resource Center in Dublin.

Celebrating the heritage of the community also involved a space for connecting with the history of the City of Dublin and Steve Minniear , author and historian from the Dublin Historical Preservation Association displayed photographs reflecting on the past of a city which has become home to many of diverse origins.

JDS Teacher, Ms Jamee Sicat thanked the organizing team for an incredible event. "I really enjoyed getting to know my students’ countries of origin and celebrating our diversity in the classroom and on campus. My students who speak different languages were so proud to share with their classmates how they say “Good Morning” in their native tongue. The assembly was amazing, especially seeing students wearing their traditional attire. I also loved discovering my fellow teachers’ cultural backgrounds. Definitely opened up some fascinating conversations with my peers. Thank you again!!! I hope it continues next year." said Ms Sicat.

The Culture Fest core organizing team included Vanessa Thomas, Teresa Yue and Lavanya Rudrashetty. "We had a wonderful response to our request for donations for our activity booths, traditional dancing performances and traditional martial arts demonstrations and are grateful to the Dougherty PFC for providing funding this event" said the team.

We would also like to thank our Sponsors and Supporters: Bulletin From Google, Kuk Sool Won of Dublin, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Safeway, Pleasanton Arts League, EverPro Kids and Dublin Arts Collective . We greatly appreciate your contributions. Thanks were also extended to the vendors from Food Truck Mafia who arrived early and waited patiently in the cold and rain.

When asked about their thoughts on the event the organizing team said that it was very rewarding to see the event come to fruition so successfully and it was amazing to see how well the volunteers worked together to make the event a success. They are already working on volunteering at the next event on March 9, TEDx EmeraldGlenPark.

Culture Fest was a joyous celebration of diversity and a fun, educational evening for the whole family. Given the overwhelming positive response the PFC is planning on hosting this event again next year.