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Tribune News Network
Pearling Season International (PSI) School has been making big strides this year. Its latest success has been its incredible International Day, organised by school staff Hershey Ansay and parent Sabika Shaban. With nearly 600 in attendance, students and parents from various countries joined the celebrations.
"The PSI community of parents, students, teachers and staff comprise more than 50 nationalities," said Ansay."The International Day was an opportunity to celebrate national pride and identity, and to diversity at its best."
The festival represented 14 national and regional booths: Algeria, The Americas (Canada, Venezuela and USA), Continental Europe (Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden), Egypt, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar and the United Kingdom. Each showcased their customs, traditions, clothing, ornaments, food, art and iconic facts. Teams of parents and staff worked together to share their country's charm and wonder with students and visitors.
Activities included flag painting, henna designs, chopsticks challenge, Arabic calligraphy writing of visitors' names, and art and crafts. The final installment was a celebration of national music and dance, with an incredible variety of performances by students, from Arabic poetry and ballet to songs in different languages. Professional African drum artist Mr P was invited to perform.
"The response was more than we could have ever anticipated," said Shaban."Embassies had come forward to support select countries, parents passionately shared the enchanting beauty of their countries, and students pleaded for opportunities to take the stage for impromptu performances of songs and dances from their own countries. There wasn't a single face in the crowd, young or old, foreign or local, that did not have a smile or a laugh on their faces as they learned more about each other's national culture."
The PSI International Day was the grand finale of Week Without Walls (WWW) a week specifically designated to education outside the classroom."The WWW programme this year has been a phenomenal success," said PSI Head Teacher Delores Thompson."It is designed to allow students to implement knowledge learned at home and in school into real-life experiences, reinforcing the skills and content of the curriculum. This helps students to understand the world we live in and their role in it. It also reinforces many of the personal goals taught throughout the IPC curriculum, such as cooperation, resilience, communication and internationalism."
