The first International Knights Festival was held on April 13, 2018, where various countries were displayed on ACP’s very own campus grounds. Families of different origins (such as Swedish and Egyptian) shared their small aspects of their cultures through food, games, and trinkets. The entire field was packed with students, their friends, and their family, tasting food and drink samples traditional to each country shown there and learning more about the cultures which surround them. By the time the sun went down and the stars came out, the night was buzzing with success.

We are lucky to announce we will be having a second International Knights Festival this year. I was involved in a small part of the preparation for the festival last year, and as a result, was able to experience first-hand some of the hard work put into making it a fun and eventful night of sharing diversity in the Knights community. When I first heard we were continuing the event, I immediately became excited. I wanted people to be more aware of such an brilliant opportunity to experience the amazing cultures in our school; therefore, I decided to interview one of the teachers who helped make that night possible. I reached out to Ms. Lindstrom and asked her a few questions on what to expect for this year’s International Knights Festival:

Q: What are your plans for this year?

A: About the same as last year, just hoping to have even more families and students involved to share their traditions and promote UNITY through our diversity. Other little changes or plans will come once the student committee is form (2nd quarter probably), and we really dig into the nuts & bolts of planning the event. This quarter is focused on foundational parts, like the logo (and setting the date, Friday, April 12th, and reserving some equipment).

The overall plan is the same though: some type of opening assembly, daily activities and lessons representing various countries, and the big festival on Friday night with students performing on stage their traditional routines.

Q: What are you most excited about?

A: I’m just so excited about the entire event—period. From the whole week from the opening assembly with the fashion show, to the traditional outfits people wore each day, to the lessons about the different continents, to the performances the night of the Festival and all the good food, games, traditions shared, the entire event was just spectacular!

Oh, wait, I just thought what I’m most excited about: the students’ reaction to and their engagement with the various aspects of this week long event and festival!

Q: I know you are planning a contest for a logo. Can you tell us a little bit more about this contest?

A: Like last year, the inaugural year, Ms. Bastidas, Ms. Nath, and the planning committee thought that having students create the logo to represent this event was of utmost importance. Even though we absolutely love last year’s designs (thank you Devon, Solika, & Farah), we think each year should represent the growing cultural awareness and closeness of the ACP family.

So, we once again, are having students submit designs that represent ACP students and staff and the international culture of unity at ACP. Designs will be accepted until 3 p.m. Thursday, September 6,  in hard copy format but A DIGITAL FORMAT of the design IS PREFERRED as the winning design (or designs) will be used for marketing material for campus and for the public community. Designs will be judged by the planning committee (Bastidas, Nath, Lindstrom, Bickes), with the chosen artist earning “a prize.”

Last year, Farah Eltohamy (Class of 2018) and I partnered up in designing the logo used for the event. The process of creating a logo that displayed the diversity in our community was incredibly fun, and seeing the artwork Farah and I worked to create filled me with pride. I encourage other students out there with artistic skills to submit a design. It is a great opportunity to show off your talent and to create an art piece that incorporates the various cultures among our students.

The International Festival was amazing last year. There, I was able visit booths from various countries and experience what allows each one to be unique. I enjoyed interacting with the different cultures each countries had to offer, and cannot wait to see what this year’s festival will deliver.