Students from St. Stephen and Milltown are partnering up to bring a multicultural fair to the community.
Teacher Catriona McLanaghan has been helping coordinate the event, which is scheduled for next week at St. Stephen Elementary.
“Because we’ve had so many newcomer families move into the district,” she said in an interview with The Courier. “It is one of the ideas that we had to celebrate diversity in our community and build relationships.”
The event will feature different tables from different countries featuring displays and information, cultural dances, and instruction on different languages, among other activities.
McLanaghan said each child will get a little passport which they can get stamps to show what places they visited during the event.
She said sometimes it can be challenging to introduce yourself or ask questions about someone else and their culture, but this will open the lines of communication between students and their families.
“It’s just this nice, friendly, welcoming and an easy way to start conversations and they realize, like, oh yes, you’re just like me, but you’re from a different place,” she said.
Some cultural associations will be joining the small fair, she said, including the Chinese Cultural Association of New Brunswick, and the Nigerian Cultural Association of New Brunswick, and McLanaghan said she is awaiting a response for some others as well.
One student, she explained, has spent time hand-sowing his Croatian traditional clothing for a dance he intends to perform during the fair.
It is in its first year, but she is hoping this will become something that increases in size in the years to come.
“It’s a way for people to build bridges, come in, have conversations with different people, and learn about where people come from,” she said.
Anyone who wishes to participate in the cultural fair should reach out to McLanaghan through her email: catriona.mclanaghan@nbed.nb.ca.
The fair is on Thursday, Jan. 23, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at St. Stephen Elementary and is open to the public.
