In honor of Arab American Heritage Month, members of the CIE Council presented at the Middle School assembly on Thursday, April 20. Students spoke about the history of the commemorative month and about people from the Arab American community who have made significant contributions to our world.

The second part of the presentation, led by eighth grader Adnan H., helped to explain common misunderstandings about who Arab people are and what it means to be Arab. He also read poetry — in Arabic and English — by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

“We are glad that you shared your heritage with us,” said Head of Middle School Armond Lawson. His takeaways from the poem: “It doesn’t matter where you’re from and what your history is; you should be proud of who you are.” He reminded the students of the importance of being “conscious of the variety of people” around us. “The more we learn about each other, the more we appreciate each other.”

Middle School CIE Council

• Siddh A.
• Solomon B.
• Osai C.
• Carson D.
• Levi G.
• Adnan H.
• Eamon K.
• Ryan L.
• Teddy M.
• Menelik M.
• Benjamin R.

Faculty Advisors

• Megan Brenner, Middle School Science Teacher 
• Jessica Nelson, Middle School World Languages Teacher
• Taushaunna Patience, Middle School Science Teacher 
• Joe Valentine-White, Interim Director of Community, Inclusion, and Equity