The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.
Bahá’u’lláh
School of the Nations held its 36th Nations Festival on Saturday, September 10. Our most important and popular annual schoolwide event, Nations’ Festival gives the entire school community the opportunity to practice one of our most important values, Unity in Diversity.
Nations’ Festival celebrates the beauty of human diversity. Besides appreciating the unique cultures of the countries represented by each grade, students also explore their chosen country’s history, culinary habits, dance, music, religions and customs. This year, students honored Portugal, Nigeria, Canada, Peru, the United Arab Emirates, Holland, Ireland, England, Fiji, Scotland, Australia, Belgium, Japan, France, Italy and the United States.
Our theme this year is “Build a Happy World.” During in-service week, teachers and staff studied the science of happiness and analyzed statistics on the happiness of children and young adults from many different parts of the world. From the first day of school, students and teachers learned about what makes people happy and how this reflects in specific countries and their cultures.
We received great support from the Embassies, with many lending us printed materials, flags, traditional outfits for the parade, among other items. Teachers visited the Embassies of Canada, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Peru, Australia, France and the United States to speak with representatives about ways students could best represent their countries.
The Embassy of Peru organized a cooking class to teach students in Kindergarten how to cook Arroz con Leche. Students in Grade 1 learned a lot from the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Khalid Khalifa Al-Mualla, whose wife also taught them some traditional dance steps. The Ambassador of Holland, Mr. Han Peters, visited students in Grade 2 to share his country and culture with them. The Embassy of Fiji kindly made a donation to our Festival based on the wonderful work and research carried out by our students in Grade 5. A representative from the French Embassy, Ms. Audrey Blanguernon, spoke with students in Grade 10 to answer their questions about her country, and she shared her personal experience as a foreigner in Brazil.
This year all the decorations for Nations’ Festival were made from recycled materials. Students and staff created all the event decorations, from the panels set up behind the stage to everything that decorated the halls and the sports court.
We certainly put into practice this year’s theme of “Build a Happy World.” Just take a look at the photos on our Facebook page at /EscolaDasNacoes. You can share your photos of the Festival too at #NationsFestival2016.
Thank you for helping make this year’s Festival such a success!