UN Day

The JIS UN Day celebration was on Oct. 30th and 31st. As with most International Schools, JIS really celebrates UN Day in a BIG way. The JIS grade school student body comes from 60 countries. Many students claim two countries as their "home" as their parents come from separate countries.

All the students dress in their home country's traditional clothing and most everyone participates. WOW! Some of those outfits were really beautiful. The Flag Parade serpentined through the campus with each country flag followed by the students from that country. Some smaller countries such as El Salvador were represented by just the one student holding the flag, and other countries were more largely represented. More than 30 students followed the American Flag.

The ceremony concluded in the theater where groups from several countries performed. All the countries with parents willing to help organize participated. I led the American group and it was pretty simple. The kids all sang along with a recording of several traditional American songs and we made up some fun motions to accompany. Another Mom collected photos from the families participating to put together a slide show of our home state, and it played on a screen behind the kids while they sang. We only had one practice but it went quite well- everyone already knows... Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,

I've Been Workin' On the Railroad,

Row Row, Row you Boat,

The Hokey Pokey, and

This Land is Your Land....

Student brought a food item traditional to their home country and each class shared their lunch from around the world together. Mmmm! Tia and Sara each brought chocolate chip cookies. The Students had a super day learning about each other's cultures. It was fun to watch them appreciate both the similarities and the differences; amazing how many countries have their own version of "fried rice".