On March 16th, the Mount Vernon community celebrated its diversity and collaborative spirit at the first annual MV Global gathering. American families and families with cultural ties from around the globe joined together. They created beautiful national presentations of each country’s flags, fun facts, traditional foods, cultural symbols, garb, artwork, musical instruments, maps, and other fun displays.
The event was introduced by Stacey Lee and IDEA, and the MV Global Affinity Group leaders Christine Gilmour, Laura von Vieregge, and Lejla Ibrahimbegovic, who described the impetus behind the event and expressed gratitude for the support of Mount Vernon’s community and administration, which was highlighted by the Head of Upper School’s Kristy Lundstrom’s presence at the event.
Attendees enjoyed a variety of displays and activities, including a set-up of Haft-Sin to represent the Persian New Year (Norooz),” the Persian bracelet-making craft as protection from the ‘evil eye,’ and the beautiful and elaborate Indian Mehndi. The performances included the Columbian Cumbia performance by G1 students, a special guest appearance of the Los Nińos Primero choir, a Bollywood dance by Tara Patel, and a Classical Indian Dance by Maya Chopra, an interactive exceptional performance and audience participation in dancing the South American dances Salsa and Bachata.
The delicious international food offerings included Russian and Ukranian pierogi, Baranka cookies, gingerbread, and crepes, Indian samosas, Persian Mirza Ghasseni, feta and mint stuffed dates and raisin cookies, Bosnian pita, South African Malva pudding, Pannekoek, Babotie, and rooibos tea, Croatian fritule, German sausages, meatballs, and cheeses, Denmark’s Danishes and cookies, Korean rice cakes and bulgogi, Eritrean bread, Ethiopian traditional vegetarian fare, American peach cobbler, chili, cornbread, and Gullah Geechee shrimp dishes, British cucumber sandwiches, scones, and Eaton mess, Czech candy and cola, Taiwan’s pineapple cakes, Malaysian Pandan cake and cocoa, Nigerian stewed chicken and rice, and Colombian empanadas, among other treats.
With a global playlist in the background, we presented a Global Fun Facts and Trivia slideshow with educational information about the countries represented at the event. Everyone was invited to answer questions on the back of their event passports and use them as their entry for the prize draw at the end of the event. Ms. Hayes was the lucky grand prize winner of a staycation at Avalon hotel!
Thanks again to the MV community for making this event a success! The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are excited to continue and grow this tradition next year!