Beaconsfield High School celebrates multiculturalism

Students at Beaconsfield High School in Montreal's West Island are celebrating Multicultural Day, and they say the initiative is especially important.

“Multicultural Day is very important to BHS and to all of us,” said BHS Principal Rachel Wilson.

“I think we love to celebrate the differences in diversity in the school.

“We live in a homogenous part of Montreal, and I think the more we share about our cultures, our experiences, our customs, the more people will know what's out there and what's out there for non-Westerners. The island you saw 10 years ago.”

Maya, an 8th grader, says, “It really excites me because we get to see so many different cultures and how diverse they are.”

Maya also shared that she “loves that there's a lot of variety and food, and I think it's really cool, like all cultures.”

The West Indian stand was famous for its fried baked goods, macaroni pies and Jamaican pies.

Shay, a Year 8 student from Trinidad and Tobago, explained, “There aren't many cultured people here, so everyone is interested in our booth because they don't know much about it. It feels special, I think, and if you went to a cultural school, everyone would know more about the culture.”

Shay and her peers shared interesting facts about where Caribbean culture came from. Shay read from a presentation he had prepared. “So we have some East Indian, Spanish, and mostly sub-Saharan African influences.”

Kyle, an 11th-grader, “enjoyed trying food from all over the world. It was really good, like when I went to Croatia to eat sausage. And I'm Italian, that's a big thing.”

Brycen, an 11th grader, weighed in as a student of color. “Being a visible minority at BHS is great to find some representation, but for my cultures, for other cultures, it's a great way to feel at home while at BHS.”

Wilson talked about the evolving demographics of the West Island. “We're in the West Island, the diversity is increasing, the population is slowly changing,” he said.

“We get students from off-island, where the multicultural aspects of our communities are more present.”

“When you look around, it's really hard for us to set an example of being a diverse school, but often, not everyone is the same.”

“This is slowly changing. We don't necessarily choose who teaches at our school or who goes to our school, but we want to celebrate differences and diversity in a way that people feel welcome.”

Thank you Brycen, “I know I'm going to leave here proud to be a BHS graduate, so I'm excited to be able to participate in events like this.”