b'Students and staff were excited to display and admire traditional clothing, flags, and other representations of culture. Many students prepared presentations, including photos, videos, music, and traditional dancing. The whole school buzzed with excitement. The conversations were full of appreciation and learning. After school, more than seven hundred people from the school community attended the barbeque. Many families dressed in traditional clothing, talked, danced and sang along to multicultural music. Everyone also gathered around to watch a guest Indigenous hoop dancer in complete awe of his unbelievable talent. The entire experience was unforgettable.When asked how she felt about her accomplishment, Zeinab shared a few reflections:When I came to Canada, everything changed. Food, clothing, language, culture. All gone. Cultural Day brought some of this back. The response in the school was unbelievable. I did not schools in the future to celebrate the event simultaneously.expect my idea to turn out be a big, whole-school event. This Zeinab asked the questions she had prepared and found theexperience helped me realize that anyone can make a change,discussion helpful in planning our special day.not just people in power like principals and presidents. Zeinabs next step was communicating the plan to the entireAs Zeinab moves into high school, she says she hopes to come school population. Zeinab prepared another presentation andback to Victor Mager School to plan the second-annual Culture visited every classroom to explain that on June 16, the schoolDay. She also hopes to be involved in planning a similar event at would be celebrating the first-ever Cultural Day, followed by aDakota Collegiate. community barbeque. She invited students, staff, and families to wear traditional clothing, flag colours, or accessories to representI would like to think that my purpose is to help other people. their culture or country of origin. Students were also invited toI believe I inspired others to feel more comfortable to embrace bring cultural artifacts to school to share with their peers. their culture publicly, both in and outside of school, she said. My goal would be to see Cultural Day throughout Louis Riel On June 16, 2022, Zeinabs hope of celebrating a Cultural DaySchool Division to help build feelings of belonging, equitycame true. The day started with an outdoor school-wide walk.and inclusion.23'