The colorful poster is full of pictures. On the right side it shows a picture of Grand Canyon, Thanksgiving festival, American flag and Collard Green dish. On the left side it sports a Jamaican flag, mangoes, ackee dish and Dunns river falls of Jamaica. Titled “Jamerica“, the poster tried to show the essence of two cultures a College Park school child treasures most.
“I was born in America, but my parents are from Pakistan – so I’ve two cultures” – reads another poster by Sakeenah Dosti, a student from AlHuda school, one of six schools in the city. In another area, Sakeenah draws the flag of his parent’s country and asks to pronounce the names of her favorite foods. “Say it for Yourself” – she challenges her poster’s visitors, who gathered in the large gymnasium at the College Park Day, where the posters were on display.
These were only two of the 70 colorful posters, beautifully done by our young city residents as part of the “This is My Culture,” poster contest. The contest asked College Park’s children to use pencil, crayon, and paint or pictures to show how they see their culture. “The poster can demonstrate the languages they speak, the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the places they visit, etc. If the child was born in a foreign country, or has ties to that country, he or she can also feature the culture of that country.” – explains the event’s website about the rule of the contest.
The contest helped our young citizens explore dozens of cultures that our city is so proud of. We’re planning to award each of the artist a certificate and a College Park Day souvenir. Each school will get to choose two winners – one in the grade 1-3 categories, and another in the grade 4-6. The winners will get special prizes from the City’s Mayor in a special City Council session.
