Friday, February 02, 2007

International Night A Huge Success

From our PTO president, Lola Killey:

International Night was a HUGE SUCCESS! The performances by our children were beautiful and fantastic. It was a delight to watch every single performance, and to see our children learning about different cultures and the world through food, music, and dance. What a joyous and gratifying occasion!

Just so you can understand the impact International Night has on our children, let me quote two of them:

2nd grader: "Mrs. Killey, today is the best day of my life. I get to go to my babysitter's house after school and play with her four new kittens and her two dogs, then tonight I get to dance in International Night. It is the best day of my life."

3rd grader: "I am so happy and excited to dance at International Night. I love my costume, and I am learning about (this country's) folkdance. How cool is that!"

Now to quote two parents (as best as I can remember!):

"At first, my daughter was afraid to dance with the group because she wasn't from that culture and it seemed foreign and scary to her. But after she went to a few practices, she became very excited and thrilled to dance and to learn something new about other people."

"International Night at King school is fantastic because my daughter is welcomed into several dance groups even though she is from a culture different from all of them. It is so important that she learn about different cultures in an activity like this. She will remember this experience forever, and it will change her life for the better."

Indeed, this is what International Night is all about - children and parents learning and experiencing other cultures, and appreciating and enjoying all of them through the joy of food, music, and dance.

There are so many people to thank, and at this point in time, I do not have all of the names. We will have them for next week's newsletter. However, I will mention the one person responsible for putting this great event together, Frances Wang. Frances has been working since last fall on International Night. Her great leadership, intelligence, project management, and hard work has made this event one of the highlight's of the year.

Frances, on behalf of everyone in our King community, thank you for making this extraordinary experience possible for all of us. Our community is a better place, and our children's world has expanded beyond the borders of Ann Arbor because of you.