Country School Hosts First Culture & Collaboration Day
New Canaan Country School and Horizons celebrated their first annual Culture and Collaboration Day, Saturday, Jan. 25. Culture & Collaboration Live Blog
The event, attended by 300 parents and children, marked last year’s 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The event also celebrated the 50th anniversary of New Canaan Country School’s Horizons program and the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
“It was a day layered with important and age-appropriate educational lessons about courage, transformation and acceptance,” said organizer Lynn Sullivan, Director of Community Development and Inclusion.
The day began with opening remarks from Congressman Jim Himes and two-time March on Washington participant Dolores Burgess, who spoke about the struggle for equal rights. The joint NCCS and Horizons children’s choir performed and 9th graders spoke about their experiences at the Student Diversity Leadership Conference, which they attended in early December in Maryland.
“When we bring our children to events that celebrate diversity, we are being role models for them,” said Ms. Burgess.
After the presentation, attendees made crafts that reflected specific themes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.They made hope lanterns, freedom bells and friendship bracelets. They wrote their dreams onto “dream boards.” Student-made ceramic bowls were on sale as part of the “Empty Bowls Project” – a fundraiser for Inspirica, a non-profit that provides services to the homeless in lower Fairfield County. The event concluded with an elaborate potluck lunch with food from all over the world.
“It was great to see our whole community come together in this way,” said Head of School Tim Bazemore. “We have so much to learn from one another.”
New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.
