The transition from late winter to early spring is celebrated in many cultures around the world. Last year, The Quad Preparatory School launched its first ever Carnival event as a way to join in the celebration while using curricular ties to study various cultures and traditions. Each class studied a spring-related festival that focused on rebirth, growth, and celebrating life. This year, the celebration continued as classes across Quad Prep began to prepare for their own contributions. This year, recognized cultural celebrations included Israel, India, Belgium, International/Global focus, Japan, Italy, USA, and areas in Eastern Europe. Each classroom was decorated in the theme of the festival - teachers and students prepared activities and games to help other classes and each visitor learn more about their festival and culture.
In culture classes, each prep studied a country and its associated culture and Spring festival. In some cases, such as in Quasar Prep, teachers focused on the overall message of peace and the celebration of humanity. Luna Prep focused their study around Holi, a Hindu festival of colors and love that is growing popular across the globe. In celebration of Japanese culture, Aurora Prep studied the Cherry blossom festival. In each class, the students learned about the culture's customs, people, and the significance of the celebration.
Carnival was also taught in congruence with the monthly psychosocial theme of relationships and February’s theme of self and others. When studying other cultures and traditions, it is important for students to understand our interconnectedness with all people and the relationship that exists between even the most seemingly different cultures.
Reflecting on our our own culture while learning & understanding the relationships that exist with others was a large part of psychosocial teaching through February & March.
Overall, our second year of Carnival was a big hit! Teachers, students, and parents seemed in good spirits; many won fun prizes and laughed during games. When asked her opinion about how the event went, a lower school teacher remarked that the teachers "really came together to create a wonderful experience with multiple festivals." A student in Quasar says his favorite part of the event was, "Getting to put teachers in jail!" with a big smile on his face. One student added in, "It was great, but it needs to last until midnight!"
Carnival was a great time to learn about the world and its rich cultures, while connecting with the Quad Prep community and celebrating the coming of Spring.
