Four members of the Elevating Student Voices program at CHS hosted the first Cultural Diversity Fair during lunch periods as a way to unite students of all backgrounds. It was the culminating event of a week full of lessons on food, history and more.
Organized by sophomore Hibah Junaid and her team that includes Theadora Avarmidis, Randy Castillo-Leo and Chayse Winslow, she encouraged fellow classmates to create displays about their culture and share knowledge (and food samples!) with students and teachers.
Countries represented include: Brazil, China, Ecuador, Ireland, Ukraine, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Sudan and Venezuela.
Hibah, representing her Pakistan culture, spent time painting temporary henna tattoos on students and teachers.
“This fair was such a success for a first-time event and I’m so glad to see so many of my peers of various backgrounds coming together and visiting each table to learn about the many cultures that represent Cohoes High School,” said Hibah, who is already thinking about new ideas for next year’s fair.
CHS Principal Laura Tarlo praised Hibah for her hard work.
“Hibah is a natural born leader. She saw an opportunity to grow the knowledge of the diverse cultures within our school community and she ran with it. With the help and support of other amazing students at CHS, that vision came to fruition and the outcome was incredible!”