Editor, The Cheshire Herald:
Up until 2019, Cheshire High School observed World Awareness Week every year. Students from the World Languages Department would create posters about various places across the world and bring in dishes from many cultures to highlight diversity in the community during Global Awareness Week — that is, until the pandemic hit. Since then, the school was reluctant to hold the event for three years due to the COVID restrictions and the aftermath of the pandemic.
After a long absence, Global Awareness Week was once again celebrated at Cheshire High School. World language classes arrived in the Commons the morning of the event to set up their food and posters — students could be heard debating what they thought of the many cuisines throughout the hallways. There was also background music, which contributed to the lively atmosphere. A special guest was also welcomed by Cheshire High School to participate in the celebration of diversity.
A new group called the Cheshire Cultural Diversity Association (CCDA), which is dedicated to fostering the celebration of diversity here in Cheshire, hosted a table with a range of cultural goods, food, and games at the entrance to the Commons, including Polish fried dough. Since it was founded in 2021, the CCDA has worked to advance diversity in our town’s population, like helping people who do not speak English, in the area of health care by making topics like Medicare easy for them to understand. The most noticeable and exciting part of their visit was when they performed traditional dances for the students and taught them a few steps as well! Dances from Ecuador and the Dominican Republic were prepared early on the festival’s opening day, followed by Tibetan, Mongolian, and Traditional Chinese dances at noon. The students were taught the steps to these dances, and everyone swayed to the music. On the second day of the festival, they presented three more Chinese dances.
The school was anticipating this effective continuation of the tradition after being unable to celebrate Global Awareness Week for three years. Let’s hope that we will be able to celebrate many more successful Global Awareness Weeks in the future and that the CCDA will expand and join us once more.
Mahrukh Ahmed
Cheshire