Inaugural Heritage Festival a Hit with Greensboro Academy Scholars, Families

There is plenty happening at Greensboro Academy in North Carolina. The school, which has outperformed the local district for 15 years, held its first Heritage Festival recently and Seventh Grade Language Arts teacher Amber Mirise wrote this story to describe some highlights from the event:
 
March 31st, 2023 was not your typical school day at Greensboro Academy. Anyone walking into the building on that day would have been immediately transported to a different place, or many different places to be exact, as the first annual Heritage Festival was in full swing. The event consisted of two major parts; the multicultural hallway walk and the festival of booths. 
 
Each classroom was assigned a country connected to one or more students at the school. The students made a poster of facts about their assigned country, which was hung outside of the classroom. Students were then given a scavenger hunt activity that allowed them to walk the hallways and view interesting facts about a variety of cultures. Students of all ages were engaged in learning about the diverse cultures represented at the school and were empowered to better understand their classmates and peers.


After the hallway walk, students entered the gym to behold a plethora of booths, constructed and hosted by parents and family members of GA students, that each represented a different country. Many booths contained art, food, and music from their culture. Adults were dressed in authentic clothing, and discussion about each culture flowed freely as students wandered from booth to booth. There were families from India, Pakistan, Sudan, Italy, Russia, Egypt, Afghanistan, and many more.
 
The day was a huge success, and seeing the smiles on the faces of so many different students and families was the best part.  Diversity is one of the many things that make our country great, and by sharing ideas and engaging with people from all over the world we only strengthen the message that we are all of the human race, and it is our differences that make us strong.
 
Great work celebrating culture, Greensboro!
About Greensboro Academy
Greensboro Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Greensboro, North Carolina, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.

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