The stands of Good Counsel cheered as students emerged one by one proudly hoisting the flags of their respective countries above their heads. The colorful fabric of their traditional attire caught the attention of the spectators as the Culture Day parade crossed the gym floor.
With the cultural parade wrapping up the school-wide assembly, Culture Week came to an official end.
The week-long celebration of the diverse student body in Good Counsel highlights the unique cultural identity of the community. From starting and ending the day with prayer in a different language, to hosting teach-ins and workshops, to a grand celebration at the end of the week with a parade of cultural attire and performances, GC succeeded in celebrating the myriad of customs and traditions of the student body. .
During the culture day assembly and parade on Friday, students showed off dances, music, poetry and even martial arts from their respective countries. The audience was enthralled by the student performances.
After witnessing sophomore Logan Cheng and his spectacular performance of martial arts, GC sophomore Veronica Zadecky stated “It was a really fun way to get a sneak peek into his culture. Everybody in the crowd, including me, was absolutely loving it.”
Participant Athena How ‘26, who performed a TWICE K-pop dance choreography during the assembly reflects that Culture Week “provides a way for people to celebrate their own cultures and learn about different cultures. This strengthens our community’s diversity.”
Additionally, she stated that the event was “very meaningful” to her because she gets to celebrate her own culture with her friends and have fun.
Culture Week organizer and Director of Multicultural Affairs and Inclusion Wordna Meskheniten put an incredible amount of effort into organizing the weekly events. At the beginning of the assembly on Friday she encouraged the audience to be present and attentive to the student performers by recognizing the courage of the students to display their cultures.
Ms. Meskheniten also took quite a bit of time to organize other events that took place such as a guest speaker workshop on the 25th on cultural preservation. Culture Week truly would not have been the same without her here.
Quite a bit of effort was put in from both the students and the faculty to make Culture Week as enticing as possible for the entire student body. Various clubs and organizations put together booths to share both food and culture with others, allowing students to experience other countries directly through their sense of taste and smell.
Culture Week continues to be one of the highlights of the Good Counsel school year, showcasing the diversity of the student body. A special thanks is deserved for all the staff and students who work so tirelessly to organize this event for the Good Counsel community.
*For more photographs of the Culture Day Assembly, please see the Week in Pictures.
