The Writing Studio Heritage/Awareness Months celebrations began in the Fall of ‘22 with the aim to increase students’ sense of belonging and allyship (being able to stand up for someone with an unheard voice) in school. These celebrations are based on the Harvard Heritage and Awareness Month calendar, whose aim is to educate and highlight the history, culture, and social identities of various groups. The aim of this initiative is to celebrate their stories and their triumphs but also to acknowledge the challenges that they faced.  

Students can participate in any of the following four ways: 

• Create original art or bring in a cultural artifact for decoration (poster, sculpture, flag, etc.);
• Write an article/poem or essay on any given prompt or topic of their choice to enter to win the “Cultural Writer of the Month” Award;
• Read a few short articles and participate in the Kahoot game on the day of our party to win the “Cultural Researcher of the Month” Award;
• Join us for a Heritage/Awareness party where the winners are announced, listen to music, eat snacks, and read aloud some of the writing pieces.

This year’s list of Cultural Heritage/Awareness Celebrations includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• September: Hispanic Heritage
• October: Jewish Heritage 
• November: Native American Heritage
• December: Disabilities Awareness 
• February: Black History Month
• March: Women’s History Month
• April: Arabic Heritage
• May: Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage
• June: Pride Month

“Diversity is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice, and belonging is having that voice be heard.”

- Liz Fosslie

Here is one student poetry entry for Native American Heritage Month:

Sorrow

By Kai Yuet Zhang, in response to Henry Real Bird’s ‘Thought’

Grade 9

Sorrow is like a cloud.

It's a shadow touching your heart and mine,

Passing over many things, 

Things both fickle, strange and fine.

Undeniable was its presence,

In the hearts of those who grieve,

In the hearts of those with greed.

Insatiable was its appetite,

Claiming soil, lands, mountains,

The peace and calm of our minds. 

With the east winds high and lifted,

It sailed above us all,

And left us in a deep, deep fog,

Greater than who we’re not.

It paused on the branches of thought,

—Then it was no more,

For skies do turn and fruits do rot,

Such is the certainty of sorrow.