Grades K through 4 gathered in the Lower School library on Wednesday morning to learn about Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated around the world by people who practice the Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist religions.
Mrs. Nikita Desai, a third grade teacher, opened with a slideshow presentation about the holiday and shared her personal experiences while holding a diya — a lamp, she said, that “is a symbol of the inner flame, your awareness. It’s the steady light within you that remains in darkness. Even when you’re sad, that light is still in you.”
“There’s a lot of meaning behind this,” she added. “We light this up inside and outside our homes. It’s not just for show.”
Mrs. Desai (pictured above, center) explained how lighting diyas represents good over evil; light over darkness; knowledge over ignorance; kindness; the goodness inside of us; and positive energy over negative energy.
Upper School students Aleena Zaidi, Sydney Wang, Julian Yang, Armaan Parkash, Sharon Chen, and Shreya Kedia co-led a group inquiry, asking Lower School students two questions: Why is it important to shine your light with others? And what can you do to shine your light with others?
They went around the room and called on the Lower School students, who sat on the floor and took up nearly the entire space between bookshelves at one end of the room and a cozy reading corner on the other. In the back, a fourth-grade girl raised her hand and answered the first question — why it’s important — by saying, “Sometimes they just really need a friend to know that they’re loved and cared for.”
The lesson then pivoted into an activity, with all students answering the second part — what you can do — by writing or drawing examples that connected to their inner light. They made their own diyas out of paper plates, construction paper, tape, and crayons.
Near the end of the lesson, Lower and Middle School principal Mr. Alfred (Rik) Dugan walked around the library and interacted with students, leaning in as they shared answers such as “giving compliments . . . being helpful . . . being kind.”
His smile reflected their own light back at them.
“Taking slow time to celebrate Diwali by listening to members of our diverse community share their cultural traditions inspires us to both seek the light in each other and ask ourselves how we may shine our lights to the world,” Mr. Dugan says. “Seeing the light in everyone is core to our Quaker philosophy of education. We are able to embody the core principles of Diwali by letting our lives speak as our mission calls us to do everyday.”
Photography by Alvin Caal / Friends Academy
Download Premium
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
