Cultural Day at Seneca
CRANBERRY TWP — Nearly 700 students at Haine Middle School on Friday learned about a bevy of other cultures during the school's annual Cultural Day celebration.
School counselor Jennifer Shipe said there were 23 cultures represented. Speakers from around the area, including Pittsburgh, came to the school to teach the 5th and 6th graders about different peoples and their experiences.
The event featured students learning languages, traditional dances and histories. One class even had a drum circle, Shipe said.
“It's important for our students to embrace other cultures in this world,” she said. “There's a whole world outside of Cranberry Township that's different, and it's about embracing those differences.”
Sixth-grader Nickolas Winters sat in the school's cafeteria, awaiting the start of an assembly that featured a traditional Indian dance team.
He said the best part of Cultural Day was learning a few phrases in Swahili, a language he'd never been exposed to previously.
“It's very interactive,” he said of the event. “They taught us how to speak parts of some languages.”
Sixth grader David Starr, said his favorite part of the day was learning about Africa. However, he added that he particularly enjoyed learning about Ecuador in South America.
Student Tessa DeJeet said for her the best part was learning about Japanese culture, especially because the presenter brought along special toys from her home country.
“It was really neat seeing that stuff because I'm not from any of those cultures,” she said.
Teacher Vicki Knichel said she's been at Haine for more than a dozen years, and that the school has hosted Cultural Day every year.Knichel said Cultural Day is even more necessary now than before, given the ever-changing demographics of families in Cranberry Township.“Our district is changing all of the time with families moving in and families moving out,” she said. “So that means the cultural makeup of our district is always changing, too. That's why it's nice to have people from the community come in to help bring awareness to our student body.”For her part, Shipe said she was extremely pleased at students' reactions during the day.“I think they understood that it's about developing an appreciation and respect for other cultures,” she said.The organizing committee, led by Shipe and eight other teachers, had been working since November to enlist the numerous speakers.
