NEWS RELEASE

CENTENNIAL CVI

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On Friday, May 19, Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute (CCVI) celebrated its second annual Culture Day. It was a beautiful sight to see so many students dressed up in cultural clothing, while others wore sports jerseys or colours that represented their culture.

Students from CCVI’s Multicultural Club and BIPOC Club planned and executed Culture Day activities with support from Desi (South Asian) club and the South East and East Asian Club. As part of the activities, students had the opportunity to place a sticker on a world map to represent their country of origin, take a photo in front of a beautiful photo wall and also to get a mehndi (henna tattoo) design on their hands.

As well, a variety of different music from different cultures played each morning and each afternoon all week on the PA system, as students made their way to class.

Students also had the option of buying a $2 ticket to attend a cultural event during the last period class on Friday. The $2 ticket provided admission to the school cafeteria which was set up for a cultural show and also had different food stalls which sold different cultural foods including kimbap, Jamaican patties, samosas, pakoras, puff puffs, dumplings and empanadas. All profits from this event will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross Earthquake Relief Efforts in Turkiye and Syria.

The excitement was palpable as over 400 students filled the cafeteria on Friday and rushed to buy food and secure good seats for the show. The Cultural Show kicked off with a dynamic K-Pop dance performance followed by a student band rocking the crowd with their performance of the Cantonese song Sky (by Beyond) and the English song Run to You by Bryan Adams. The show continued with an incredible solo guitar and vocal performance by a Venezuelan student followed by an energy-filled Bhangra dance performance. CCVI’s K-Pop dance crew then rocked the stage again, after which there was a Pipes and Drums musical performance by two very talented students.

The performances continued with an amazing solo Bollywood dance performance and a fabulous K-Pop Dance collaboration between students from Centennial, GCVI and John F. Ross. The show then concluded with a Cultural Fashion Show with students representing a variety of cultural clothing including Afghani, Tamil Eelam, Filipino, Slavic, Japanese, Vietnamese, Venezuelan, Palestinian, Ghanaian, Ewe, Cameroon, Sri Lankan, Indian and Pakistani clothing. Students in the crowd loudly cheered and supported the volunteer student fashion show participants.

All in all, CCVI’s Culture Day 2023 was a huge success due to the hard work of the students in Multicultural Club and BIPOC Club who organized this event under the guidance of their teacher supervisors – Teri Osmond, Colleen Kowaleski, Rachel Woodand Gillian Currie.

All profits from this event will be added to profits made from the previous cultural event of Vaisakhi and Puthandu at Centennial and these will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross earthquake relief efforts in Turkiye and Syria (estimated $1,500).

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