Furnace Woods Enjoys a Weeklong Celebration of Hendrick Hudson's Diversity

For the first time in her life, Lina Olsen plans to fast in school during Ramadan. In past years, Lina has only abstained from eating when at home on weekends; not during the school day while other students around her enjoyed their lunch.

“It’s going to be hard,” she admitted.

However, after this week, Lina expects she’ll receive some much-needed support from her friends. Many of them learned more about the Islamic holy month of fasting, which begins March 11, when her mother, Fatima Sehba, a native of Pakistan, visited Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Nightingale’s fifth-grade classroom to read “Tell Me More About Ramadan.”

The visit was part of a weeklong celebration at Furnace Woods designed to celebrate the diversity of the Hendrick Hudson community. Students enjoyed music from various cultures, discussed the origin of their names, sampled international food in the cafeteria, and more.

“I felt a very warm feeling from knowing I am in such a diverse place,” Lina said.

After her mother read the book to students and donated it to the class library, Lina handed out dates for classmates to sample. Dates are traditionally used by Muslims to break their fast during Ramadan, Fatima said.

Fatima welcomed the opportunity to share more about that and other aspects of her culture, which is so important to her daughter and her family as a whole.

“Now, Lina isn’t going to be shy about her culture,” she said. “I hope this will help the other kids encourage her, too, and that she will receive support from everyone. I think this will teach her to feel comfortable in her own skin.”

Other students throughout the building said they appreciated the chance to sample new foods and see their classmates wearing traditional attire to school, which they did on Tuesday. They also appreciated the chance to listen to new music — from Irish songs on Monday to Nigerian music on Tuesday. Hip hop, bluegrass and salsa music will be performed as well this week by Furnace Woods’ “Three Musketeers.”

The weeklong effort led to many students learning more about their own names based on conversations with family members. When preparing for the class discussion, one student said she hadn’t known before what her last name translated to in Italian.

“It was about 50-50,” FWS principal Josh Cohen said. “Some knew the significance of their names and some had to ask.”

The idea for a week to celebrate diversity started with ideas generated by the school’s Fifth-Grade Ambassadors. One of their suggestions included the cafeteria serving international food items, which included orange chicken and fortune cookies, a gyro and Greek salad, a burrito, and more.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Nightingale’s class also welcomed a presentation from another parent, Maira Bonilla-Sullivan, who read a story to highlight Puerto Rican culture and answered questions from students.

“I loved the questions the children had for me, especially the one on how I cook my rice,” Maira said. I hope I was able to connect with the children. I did not learn to speak English until third grade. I always remind my four children to show compassion when they meet a classmate who does not speak English. Many years ago, I was that student.”

The celebration will conclude this week with students creating posters about themselves to hang in the hallways. One class has already completed many of their designs, which include pictures of their faces divided in half, with each half representing the culture or cultures that form their identity.

“I think it’s great for people to celebrate what makes everybody different,” Fatima said. “When we can celebrate and learn about what makes everyone different, it makes us stronger.”