The Lifting Our Cultures & Families’ Parade Celebrates Ethnic Diversity
(Philadelphia, PA) May 27, 2010 – The third, fourth and fifth grades of Feltonville Intermediate School will be joined by their teachers, families and administrators in a parade through the streets of their North Philadelphia neighborhood at 1:00pm on Friday, May 28th. The 250 students will carry handmade, life-sized puppets along with signs, banners and hats they created as a celebration of their school’s cultural diversity.
The parade is the finale of the Lifting Our Cultures and Families project, a collaboration between Spiral Q Puppet Theater and the Picasso Project of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), the region’s leading children’s advocacy organization. To address tensions arising from an influx of students that boosted the school’s population 50 percent and changed its ethnic mix, four years ago Spiral Q was invited to engage the kids with their unique blend of arts education and community-building techniques.
“Arts bring an essential element to their learning experience,” explains Gretchen Elise Walker, Picasso Project Coordinator. “It gives them an avenue of expression, alternate ways to succeed and different approaches to problem solving.”
This year’s project included an afterschool component, allowing more family members to participate, says guidance counselor Pam Turner-Bunyon, noting the parents and older siblings who joined the students in the construction of the artwork for this year’s parade, Feltonville’s third. “The focus became working on it as a family to build a stronger sense of community.”
The effect of the neighborhood’s involvement has been profound in and outside of the school as Lifting Our Cultures and Families is an event the entire community looks forward to seeing. “It’s bigger than just an art project,” Turner-Bunyon notes. “The children are building confidence in themselves and developing social skills that will enable them to be more successful in their education.”
Friday’s parade begins at Feltonville Intermediate School, 238 East Wyoming Avenue. Rain date is Tuesday, June 1st.
Fundada en 1980, Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) se dedica a mejorar las vidas y oportunidades de vida de los niños en el Valle de Delaware. A través de una defensa reflexiva e informada, educación comunitaria, proyectos de servicios específicos y análisis de políticas y presupuestos, la PCCY busca proteger y defender a los niños de la región. PCCY es una organización independiente sin fines de lucro.
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