Each year, St. Agnes Academy's annual Diversity Week celebrates the beauty of cultural diversity in the school community while also encouraging students to thoughtfully consider and respond to a particular social justice issue. For Diversity Week 2012, the theme of which was "Word Choice = World Change," St. Agnes Academy students were challenged to examine the language choices they make on a daily basis and to commit themselves to selecting inclusive and empowering language rather than that which can be divisive and cruel.
This year's week long celebration featured morning prayers in various languages and from a variety of traditions, cultural music played in between classes, and a culminating, activity-filled Solidarity Day on Friday, January 27. Dressed in clothing celebrating their backgrounds and ancestry, St. Agnes Academy students began their day with a morning assembly facilitated and organized by the students and sponsors of the Diversity Club. Theology teacher Anne Doyle, who co-sponsors the Diversity Club with English teachers Stephanie Granito and Lesli Vollrath, began the assembly by highlighting the power of speech as a reflection of one's thoughts, attitudes, and intentions. Citing examples ranging from God's language of creation and empowerment in The Bible to Hitler's destructive manipulation of language during the Holocaust, Mrs. Doyle drew the students into thoughtful contemplation of the power of their words . Her speech was followed by a video, created by Erica Moriarty, one of the senior presidents of the Diversity Club, in which various students and teachers were interviewed and expressed their views on why language matters. The assembly concluded with personal testimonies from both students and teachers which highlighted the various effects - both positive and negative - of language in their lives.
After brief twenty-five minute classes, the student body then reconvened in the old gym for the annual International Food Festival. Hosted by the Mothers' Club in conjunction with the Diversity Club, the festival fed more than 900 students, faculty, and staff with dishes from around the globe. After eating their fill, the students returned to the auditorium for the Ancestral Dress Pageant and International Performances Assembly in which over 70 students participated in a celebration of St. Agnes' cultural diversity. Beginning with a parade of flags, the assembly included songs and dances from a variety of cultures as well as student models who showed off colorful and diverse outfits while educating the student body about traditional attire from various parts of the world. The assembly concluded with a performance by Lee's Golden Dragon lion dance troupe, who delighted students, faculty, and visitors alike and helped St. Agnes celebrate the Lunar Year of the Dragon with much pomp and circumstance.
