Week 17: Kwanzaa

December 27, 2010:  Diversity is any kind of variety that makes our world a better place.

There are seven principles of Kwanzaa. Which one is your favorite? Do you strive for unity in your family and community? Do you define who you are, instead of letting others do it for you? Are you generous in helping others with their problems? Do you support your neighborhood businesses? Do you build upon your family’s traditions? Do you beautify your community? Do you believe in your own inner goodness and the goodness of your parents, teachers, and leaders?

Kwanzaa is a week-long holiday that some African-Americans celebrate. But whether you are African-American or not, let’s all take time to reflect upon who we are and to reaffirm our commitment to building a stronger community.

Remember, you don’t have to travel as far as a neighborhood cultural center to find diversity. There are hundreds of opportunities to celebrate diversity right here at your own school. Find one today!

Week 16: Winter Solstice

December 20, 2010: Diversity is any kind of variety that makes our world a better place.

The diversity of our four seasons is a result of the 23 ½ degree tilt in the earth’s axis as it orbits around the sun. We experience winter because it’s the time of year when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun. The Southern Hemisphere, however, is currently tilted towards the Sun, which means people there are right in the middle of summer!

But instead of being jealous of our friends from Australia, South Africa, and Argentina, let’s look at things in a positive way. The Winter Solstice occurs this week on December 21. That is the day of the year with the shortest amount of daytime and the longest amount of nighttime. How is that positive? Because from that day forward, our daytime hours will get a little bit longer each day. Now that’s what you literally call, “looking on the bright side.”

Remember, you don’t have to travel as far as the Southern Hemisphere to find diversity. There are hundreds of opportunities to celebrate diversity right here at your own school. Find one today!

Week 15: Sports Around the World

December 13, 2010: Diversity is any kind of variety that makes our world a better place.

Congratulations to Beaverton's own Aloha High School Warriors for becoming Oregon state champions last weekend!  As for college football, the regular season has ended, and this week sports fans are settling in for a month and a half of bowl games. The first bowl game, "the New Mexico Bowl," will be played later this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Football is the king of all sports in the United States. But let’s take some time to recognize other fantastic sports that have a large following around the world. You might have already known that soccer is the world’s most popular sport. But you may not have known that the second most popular is cricket, a sport that is particularly loved in countries of the former British Empire, like India, Australia, and South Africa. Field hockey, volleyball, and table tennis are other sports with larger followings than basketball, baseball, or football.

Of course, what matters more than what sports we watch, is what sports we play. There’s a diverse selection of sports to choose from. Make sure you take time to participate in as many as you can!

Remember, you don’t have to travel as far as Albuquerque, New Mexico to find diversity. There are hundreds of opportunities to celebrate diversity right here at your own school. Find one today!

Week 14: Emily Dickinson

December 6, 2010:  Diversity is any kind of variety that makes our world a better place. 

Emily Dickinson is one of our country’s most beloved poets.    She was born this week in 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts.  Here’s one of her most famous poems:

I'm nobody, who are you?

Are you nobody too?

There's a pair of us, don't tell!

They'd banish us, you know!

How dreary to be somebody!

How public like a frog,

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

Dickinson wrote over 1800 poems, but did you know that almost all of them remained hidden in her room until after she died?  Dickinson struggled throughout her life with shyness and sometimes depression.  As an adult she spent most of her time inside her home.  Neighbors even thought she was strange.  And yet she was an individual with a talent and expressive vision that was far ahead of the times. 

As we celebrate the lovely poems of Emily Dickinson today, let’s each remember to do our part to make our school a place where everyone feels welcome to be who they are.

Remember, you don’t have to travel as far as Amherst, Massachusetts to find diversity.  There are hundreds of opportunities to celebrate diversity right here at your own school.  Find one today!