Culture and community bring Oak Point together on Multicultural Night

It’s a chilly November night when you enter the front doors of Oak Point Elementary. Students wait at the top of the stairs to greet you and welcome you to an adventure around the world. You step into the bright lights of the lunchroom and are immediately greeted with the sights and sounds (and smells!) of the globe — all in one place. More than 20 countries and 30 cultures are represented at booths that encircle the room: Kenya is just a few steps from Finland; El Salvador is next door to England. Children dressed in green and gold silk saris from the Indian state of Karnataka watch a demonstration of ayatori, a traditional Japanese game played with string. It’s Oak Point Multicultural Night, and the school community has come together to celebrate.

“It’s just such an amazing community,” said Oak Point Principal Theresa Marty as she watched one of the many groups performing cultural dances that evening. “It’s all represented here in such a beautiful, kind way.” Nearby, people were lined up for a buffet of traditional foods from Mexico to China, and chatter and music from the country booths filled the air. Marty was struck by the willingness of families to share their culture in such an open way. She smiled at the dancers. Oak Point was a place where people felt comfortable sharing this experience together, she thought. Not just families, but staff, too. Paraprofessional Amirthavalli Candala, who also runs the Taraangini School of Dance in Eden Prairie, had brought some of her students along to perform Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance. They were up next.

Meanwhile, brother and sister Damari and Da’Miya Lewis, who are in fifth and second grade at Oak Point, were browsing the booths, where families were sharing fun facts, music, art, games and more from their countries of heritage. It was Da’Miya’s first time at Multicultural Night, and she was excited to see her friends from backgrounds that stretched all over the world. “I like to travel,” she said. Going from booth to booth was an easy way to traverse the globe, but it wasn’t any less rich of an experience. Da’Miya learned the art of ayatori at the Japan booth, running a soft string through her fingers to create fun shapes. Oak Point third grader Tsuguharu Yamamoto was doing the demonstration, while his mother, Tomoko Yamamoto, a paraprofessional at Eagle Heights, admired from behind. “When I see the students complete [the string shape], the look on their faces…” she said with a smile. She was excited to see visitors to the booth learning something new. “We have lots of traditional play in Japan, but I like to share those traditions and culture with students from all different countries.”

Nearby, Eden Prairie Schools’ American Indian Cultural Liaison Yolanda Spry was showing off furs and other traditionally significant items from cultures across indigenous America. For her, “being able to share through an indigenous lens” was an important part of the role she played, both in her work across the district and that night at Oak Point. Now in her fourth year as a cultural liaison, Spry was often invited to teach, where she found groups of students to be extremely engaged. “They eat it up,” she said, excitedly. Learning Native American history — both past and present — was crucial to bringing to the forefront the “visibility of indigenous people.”

That same sentiment towards visibility filled the room as families, students and community members shared their cultures, demonstrating the strength and significance of belonging both at Oak Point and within the wider district. Marty especially noticed it among the younger attendees, who were so excited to point out their families to her. “Kids are so proud,” she smiled.