By Jonty Ralphsmith
A smoking ceremony, African drumming classes and Bollywood classes were all part of Dandenong High School’s Cultural Celebration Week to close out term three.
With 89 nationalities currently making up the school’s enrolments, the student leaders expressed a desire to celebrate the rich cultural tapestry on a leadership camp on Phillip Island in April.
They have since spent many hours throughout the years planning the week’s events, with meetings and preparation well in advance crucial to ensure the leaders still had time to study for final VCE exams.
Speaking to the backdrop of international music that replaced bells during the week, president Anna Olsen said the week had been embraced by everyone involved.
“We want to celebrate students as individuals and in previous years (before Covid-19) we have had Cultural Week and Harmony Week but it wasn’t a celebration of everyone – people would perform and everyone else would just sit and watch,” she said.
“We want everyone to get involved, and everyone seems to have loved it, so many people have dressed up.”
The week started off with a smoking ceremony on Monday, African drumming on Tuesday, and Bollywood Dancing on Wednesday, before Thursday’s Cultural Dress Day which also saw students dancing to music throughout lunchtime.
The canteen even got involved, serving specialty food to highlight different cuisines throughout the week, and each house displayed different countries’ flags.
The proceeds of the cultural dress day will go to the Save the Children Foundation.
While the week promoted fun and symbols of different cultures such as board games, music and food, the sentiment was emblematic of an inclusive school culture.
“Seeing people dressed up like that not only brings joy but also inclusiveness within ourselves and others and also knowing more about others culture, it feels like we are finally at that point where we know more about other cultures besides just my own,” said house captain Ina Ibrahim.
Many years ago, the school had an International Week for several years where similar celebrations occurred, before that eventually died.
The students this year, however, hope their efforts are built upon: they want 2022’s celebration to be part of something far bigger for their school.
“We need to learn to each other’s culture and things that we don’t share but need to so we can overcome discrimination,” Ms Ibrahim said.
“Sometimes people say it is OK but it might not be OK so we want to continue our efforts beyond this year.”
