By Claire Corrigan
LAST Thursday, Mullingar Community College held a successful International Day event, which allowed students to celebrate the various nationalities that attend the school.
The school canteen was a symphony of colour and laughter with an array of flags, food and of course students from over 20 countries.
Guest speaker for the day was Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, who spoke to fifth year students about his role, and the importance of highlighting issues of inclusion and celebrating diversity.
The school has a strong tradition of celebrating all their students’ cultures and in 2014, Ms Ridgeway and her students collaborated with Educate Together N.S. to hold a large event celebrating the traditions of all their students, which was attended by the Latvian Ambassador and featured on RTÉ ‘News2day’
The school has also been acknowledged by the Teaching Council of Ireland and received a showcase at their 2014 Féilte event.
“We have over 20 nationalities at the school and different languages from Arabic to French and German. We currently have three German students doing their academic year in our school this year from Berlin and just outside Munich. They made fresh pretzels for today in the Home Ec room yesterday for our food table. We have a large Polish and Lithuian contingent here as well.”
Ms. Ridgeway said the event featured a number of new elements this year, including a French rap and a brush dance! “There is a lot of preparation and it is literally all the students’ work because they have to do all the research. If they contact their own embassies, they can get things sent to them in the post. South African girl Lili got a video sent to her and was able to show it on her tablet at her desk and the others got things like small flags and brought things in from home.”
The school also held their annual ‘Lá Glás’ where the students are encouraged to dress in their own native colours. “The Irish students wear their green jumpers or jerseys and the international kids wear the colours of their own flags.”
“The aim of the day really is to try and combine celebrating the country’s national day with embracing the nationalities of everyone in the school.” concluded Ms. Ridgeway.