The 22nd annual Diversity Day celebration brought culture and perspective to Piedmont Middle School (PMS) on Monday, May 12. Guests shared their stories and talents, granting Piedmont students the chance to learn from poets, musicians, dancers, and storytellers about many wonders from all corners of the globe.
Diversity Day at PMS teaches many things in many different ways – lessons on wheelchair basketball, salsa dancing, and hambone body percussion got students up and participating by actively dancing and experiencing.
PMS Yearbook teacher Anne Smith and Piedmont resident Mady Hall started the event in 2001. While many special events take over parts of the middle school throughout the year, Diversity Day is the only all-day, all-school event at the school.
“This day, near the end of the school year, brings PMS together as a community of students, staff, and parents who want to provide the best learning opportunities for every student, where we all belong,” said Smith.
A dozen workshops were held by leaders of the larger community, teaching about culturally diverse topics spanning all facets of life on earth and the many variants of music, history, dance, and cuisine. Each student took part in two workshops, class discussions prepared students for their presenters in the morning and unpacked the important lessons at the end of the day.
Masaru Yoshimoto shared his journey as a survivor of a Japanese Internment Camp during WW II. Julia Chigamba shared dances and stories from Zimbabwe.
PHS students passed down their cultural understanding to their middle school counterparts as well. Shayna Chau and Cora Chun, PHS Mandarin students, presented a workshop on Chinese food and the use of chopsticks. PHS Affinity Mentors also shared their personal experiences on the culture of kindness and belonging with middle schoolers.
To solidify the lessons of Diversity Day, students made wish and action tags, consisting of wishful and actionable ideals to improve the world, and hung them from trees on campus.
Diversity Day has celebrated diversity in a fun, effective, and educational manner for the last two decades. The event has become an indispensable tradition with far reaching and pivotal lessons much needed for Piedmont students.
