KCC Celebrates Racial Justice Week 2022
Kishoge Community College’s students, staff and parents kicked off Black History Month 2022 by celebrating their annual Racial Justice Week event. In the first week of October, the West Dublin school have been celebrating their racial diversity through a range of student and staff led initiatives.
Diverse Decorations:
Public areas in the school were adorned in displays and posters of inspirational leaders and difference makers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The men and women represented are from a range of fields including The Arts, Political Activism and Sport. As well as showing individuals from diverse backgrounds, every student was surveyed on their cultural identity and the flag of every country identified by the students and staff was displayed on stairwells. Teachers from different departments created hallway displays with a focus on representation in their subject areas with Chinese kites, Black Footballers and Diversity in STEM being celebrated around the corridors.
Cultural Clothing:
On Friday, all staff and students were encouraged to celebrate their cultural identity on a non-uniform day which collected money for the charity Irish Networks Against Racism (INAR). Hallways and classrooms were awash with colour as students and staff wore traditional clothing from around the world, Irish county jerseys and the colours of their flag.
Food Festival:
All week, TY students were selling snacks from around the world including Japanese Pocky Sticks, Malaysian Oat Cakes and Ghanian Plantain Chips and again all money raised from sales went to support the INAR. On the final day of celebration, the staff and students were joined by members of the Kishoge Parents Council for the inaugural Cultural Food Festival. The festival was a major success with the school selling out of plates and having to raid the staff room for bowls and spoons to continue trading! The food was donated by parents, staff and the Parents Council and included Nigerian Jollof Rice, Indian Curries, Chinese Dumplings and Irish scones to name but a few.
Racial Justice Flag:
The school further demonstrated a commitment to celebrating diversity and campaigning for racial justice through the unveiling of the new Kishoge Racial Justice Flag. In 2021, the Art Department ran a competition for students to design a new flag celebrating the range of cultures within the school. The competition was won by a 5th year student, Cailin Yao and her flag now flies proudly next to the school’s tricolour, LGBTQIA+ and Green Schools flags.
Lessons, ‘Kishoge Talks’ and Ethics:
Throughout the week, each student had an Ethics class on celebrating different cultures and racial justice. The junior year groups had a Black History Month trail and poster creation project while the seniors focussed on how to create racial equality using examples from the past. Many subjects dedicated lessons to the themes of equality and 6th Year Students Noon and Ian have delivered ‘Kishoge Talks’ presentations on the themes of ‘Stop Asian Hate’ and ‘Empowerment Through Hair’.
Overall, students and staff had a fantastic week celebrating their cultural history and planning is underway for Racial Justice Week 2023.