Ahead of Diwali officially starting on Oct. 31, many Surrey schools, including Newton Elementary, have been recognizing and celebrating the day all week long.
Diwali, often called the Festival of Lights, is observed by different religious groups from India to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. With Surrey having a large Indian population, the holiday has been marked in many schools for many years.
"It wasn't this way when I grew up, or maybe when you grew up, but right now, we recognize that in order to bring your cultural celebrations and festivities into the building, it's honouring of those people and their traditions," said principal Amy Newman in an interview with Peace Arch News on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 29).
"Celebrating Diwali is really important to our community because we have a large Punjabi student population, but I think it's also important for other students and staff to learn about celebrations and festivities that they don't participate in themselves, and it's part of our equity work in schools."
For the school's assembly, students prepared traditional dances and poetry to share with the community, including many students' families who were present. After the assembly, families from the community were invited to attend a Diwali community celebration at Newton Elementary.
One student who participated in a dance was Kirsten, who became interested through many of her friends who celebrate Diwali with their families. Although not Indian herself, Kirsten became interested in Bhangra and has found it to be a fun way to connect with her friends, she said.
"Everybody who celebrates it is really passionate about it, and everybody takes it seriously. I'm looking forward to people who have never danced to see us and how it's performed."
Also recognized at the assembly was longtime retired teacher Manjeet Brar, who created the Punjabi language department in the Surrey school district in 2002.
"It's good to be honoured and with the service I've done, I'm grateful for that," Brar said to PAN.
The program changed and adapted to the students and families who were interested in the program and has attracted both Punjabi and non-Punjabi students through the years.
In addition to Diwali, Newton Elementary recognizes, teaches and celebrates many different cultural days so that all across the school feel included in the building.
"We honour and recognize Black History Month, we have some Muslim population from different parts so we make sure to recognize Eid and Ramadan, those are important in our community. ... Some of our community celebrates Halloween, some doesn't. Some in our community celebrate Christmas, some don't, so just as the year unfolds, there's so many cultural events we try to highlight them and honour them, even if there isn't somebody in the building of that culture," Newman shared.
"I think every student should see themselves represented in school. It's very important for them to feel like they can express their cultural practices and beliefs in the school and not just have it be a home thing and then have to somewhat leave that at the door of the school."