Breaking bread: a tasty cultural celebration at École Bellevue School
Staff members at École Bellevue School came together to celebrate the diverse cultures in their workplace through a special event centered around bread from around the world.
The breaking bread diversity event, brought the entire EBS staff together, a couple weeks ago over a lunch time break.
Organizers say that because bread is a part of every culture, it can bring people together, and serve to emphasize a message of unity and diversity at the same time.
The event was funded by the Alberta Teachers Association’s Diversity, Equality, and Human Rights group through a microgrant.
The microgrants issued up to $250 for projects and events held for students, teachers and facility members, or the community at large, that highlighted diversity, equality, or human rights in some way.
The Breaking Bread diversity event is one of ten projects throughout the division being funded through this program.
Lara Gibb, a member of EBS’s secretary team and the event organizer, says her goal for the event was to bring people together and find connections between their cultures. “We all have our own unique cultures, but at the same time, we’re all here together as one team,” she says.
For the event, several staff members brought bread from their own cultures, sharing the significance it has in their life. Staff members who were unable to bake their own bread sent recipes to Gibb and she baked some of the goods herself.
She also set up a corresponding slide show explaining the cultural significance of each type of bread and created take home packages for the leftovers.
Attendees were happy to share about their culture, and learn about other cultures.
Teacher Rym Basly, who brought some Tunisian flatbread to the event, says it felt good to get to share part of her culture with her colleagues.
“It felt great, and we learned so much about other people’s cultures,” she says. “It made me proud too, to share my culture.”
Basly notes that the event was also very informative, as she didn’t know a lot of the cultural backgrounds of her colleagues.
Another event attendee, teacher Karen Gifford, says she really appreciated having a time to share stories and memories with her coworkers.
“The event was advertised as a grab-and-go event," she says. “But, it was more than that. It was a come-and-stay event.”
Gifford adds that while she enjoyed the event itself and getting to know her colleagues better, the biggest takeaway was what she took back into her classroom.
When students asked her what was in her take-home package, she was able to share cultural knowledge she received.
“It’s extra important because you've got this diverse student population, and having events like this increases understanding and increases a sense of belonging.” Gifford says, “And I saw that when I brought the bread back to the classroom and we got to talk about those things. Activities like this pull everyone together.”
