Every year, the humanities department gears up for Festival of Nations, and of course, there would be no event without planning. The Festival of Nations is one of MIA’s most anticipated events, and it takes a lot of work behind the scenes to make it as successful as it is.
Planning starts in mid-October, almost a month before the actual event starts. Rather than splitting up and each teacher taking a certain aspect of the event, the humanities department works as a team. Sra. Walther, one of the Spanish teachers and head planners of Festival of Nations, says, “It truly takes a lot of hands and hard work to make it a successful event each year.”
With Mrs. G’s retirement from MIA, planning has been very different from the years past. For example, this year each department is assigned which items to bring in, something we haven’t done before. And, with the new addition of Mr. Figuroa to the humanities department and his amazing skill set in video editing and organization, this event will continue to be a massive success.
According to Sra., the most difficult part of planning is getting every student to fill out the survey and bring food in or perform. There is so much talent and skill here at MIA, but it is hard to get students to share it, as many of them are shy to perform in front of their peers.
A way to encourage student participation is the spirit week that takes place the same week. Spirit week gets students excited for the event and allows them to express themselves and dress up according to the day’s theme. This year, the themes are ‘Merica Day for Monday, Jersey Day for Tuesday, Mardi Gras Day for Wednesday, Dress Like a Flag Day for Thursday, and on Friday, it is Dress to Represent Your Ethnicity Day. Jordan Rodden, senior, expresses “I’m excited to dress up for this spirit week, I’m glad they decided to add one for Festival of Nations.”
Sra. Walther and the rest of the department have an optimistic outlook on this year’s event: “Our humanities team is so excited for this year, it’s going to be great!”
