On Monday afternoons, Meridian High School students meet with Irene Reither Elementary School students whose home language is Punjabi, Spanish, Russian or Ukrainian.
The weekly club was created after feedback from families who said it was important to them that their children learned about their culture and language in school. The club gives IRE students the opportunity to learn about their culture and heritage, and interact with older students.
For the high school students, it is a great opportunity for them to learn and share more about their culture, and to act as a role model for the younger students.
Recently the club focused on cultural holidays that occur in during the spring. Our Commitments, Meridian’s new strategic plan, has belonging as a core value. We want students to experience a community that embraces and honors who they are and that they feel represented in their educational environment.
The club is supported by multilingual learner specialists Twan Mathijssen and Larisa Shuvalova.