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the lockport legend | May 9, 2019 | 3
Homer 33C celebrates cultural diversity at Heritage Night
Laurie Fanelli
Freelance Reporter
Traditional dances,
beautiful compositions
and cuisines from across
the globe were shared during
Homer Community
Consolidated School District
33C’s Heritage Night.
Held at Goodings Grove
School on the evening of
Thursday, May 2, the event
found schoolmates and
their families showcasing
their cultures while celebrating
the ties that bind
the community together.
Rosalie Leitelt, an English
as a second language
teacher at Goodings Grove
School with the Transitional
Program of Instruction,
English Language
Learners, explained that
the ESL Department was
excited to reintroduce the
event to attendees after a
hiatus.
“The idea is to celebrate
culture, which involves
the art, the traditions,
the dances,” Leitelt said.
“There’s so many components
to culture, and I
really believe that all of
those areas should be a
part of it. We felt that even
though the English Language
Learners were the
focus — and we wanted
to celebrate their particular
traditions — we are all
part of a community, and,
of course, diversity is part
of being unified within
a community, so we expanded
it and invited all of
the different students and
families throughout the
district.”
The Heritage Night performance
program began
with a parade featuring
ELL students carrying the
country flags of their cultures
before singing a song
to say “Hello.” French,
African and Arab folk
songs were later shared,
and traditional Italian and
Middle Eastern dances —
featuring Sandburg High
School iFest participants
and Andrew High School’s
Project Diversity dancers
— also performed.
David Sitkowski played
the music of Polish composer
Frederic Chopin on
the piano, and a Mexican
piñata song, Polanie Dancers
and more added to the
fun. Goodings Grove firstgrader
Skylar Chada and
her mother, Shannon, were
also in attendance to sing
“Hey Nayana,” a Native
American song, as well as
to share a variety of family
heirlooms with the community
in the library.
“My father was a Stockbridge-Munsee
tribal
member, and my mother
is Cherokee,” Shannon
said. “My family made all
of these items. My mother
made these moccasins.
Her godfather made the
fan. My father made the
various turtle shells, the
bowl and the gourd with
the dream catchers.”
Approximately 20 different
cultures are represented
in District 33C’s
ELL students, and families
displayed great generosity
in sharing the cuisines
of their countries. Guacamole,
perogies and much
more were enjoyed in the
refreshment area that lined
the hallway.
Schilling School fourthgrader
Danya Amer said
she liked sharing her Islamic
culture at the event
while learning about “all
the different places and
enjoying the food.”
Along with the ESL
teachers who “came together
as a team” to make
Heritage Night a success,
Leitelt noted that local
businesses, families, members
of the community,
regular education teachers,
district staff and music
teacher Amy Miller were
all instrumental in planning
the event.
“My principal, Ann
Christie, has been extremely
supportive of the
ESL program and was
truly so enthused and motivated
in wanting this
particular Heritage Night
to not only come about
Music teacher Amy Miller leads Goodings Grove
second-graders in a performance of “Hala Lala
Laya,” an Arab folk song, at the Homer Community
Consolidated School District 33C Heritage Night held
Thursday, May 2, at the school.
Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media
but to be successful,” said
Leitelt, noting that Student
Program Coordinator
Christine Graefen was also
at the heart of the program.
Leitelt — who was born
in Sicily and speaks Italian
and French — has
a passion for fostering
a connection to different
cultural traditions and
maintaining native language
learning within the
ELL student body.
“There’s certainly a diverse
population of various
native immigrants in
this community,” Leitelt
said. “I know that Heritage
Night is something that is
highly motivating to our
community and to the district,
in general.”
Shannon echoed her
enthusiasm, saying, “It’s
amazing to see all of the
people of the world coming
together in unity.
That’s what some of our
prophets talked about, how
we are all colors of the
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rainbow. We are all parts
of the medicine wheel. It
takes many tribes coming
together to make this
world so beautiful.”
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