Unity Fest's coming to Lockport High School and everyone's invited
May 20—The Lockport City School District is welcoming the community to a new event on May 31.
It's an outgrowth of Unity Fest, held this past school year in the Aaron Mossell Junior High School cafeteria as an opportunity to celebrate diversity.
"Students came in and participated by sharing things from their culture. Also, some of their families came in and shared things in their cultures, such as food and games," Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Director Heather McClain said.
It coincided with Superintendent Mathis Calvin III's first year in the district. McClain said Calvin was more than happy with the experience.
"What a wonderful way to share the various cultures that we have in our district with our community!" McClain continued. "He felt it'd be a great learning experience and a great opportunity to affirm cultures. To affirm our cultures. Affirm our families."
That event in the cafeteria has now grown into a multi-field festival being held behind the high school that's open to the entire community.
Festivities include multiple cultural performances on stages in the lacrosse field with some of the groups coming as far away as Buffalo.
"We have 'Elevated Drill Team' coming," McClain said. "Drilling is a long-time tradition in the African-American community. It's something you do with your hands and your feet and you do it in a certain rhythm. Sometimes it has to do with certain phrases. I grew up drilling, as a kid."
Other musical acts include the Devi Bollywood Dancers, The Emerald Isles and Family FUNKtion and the Sitar Jams.
In an adjacent field, 30 tables will be set up with students and staff showing off parts of their different cultures. At the My Brother's Keeper table, McClain said there will be temporary cultural tattoos for interested parties.
"You might go to another table where they're doing cultural rock paintings," she said.
Another part of the day's exchange will focus on cultures that aren't defined by ethnicities.
The Kenan Center will have a table commemorating quilting, and Niagara Pride, a local LGBTQ group, will also be in attendance.
Another event at the Unity Fest will be the Chain Parade.
According to the district's website, LCSD has "embraced" Rachel's Challenge, which commemorates the life of Rachel Joy Scott, the first student to die in the Columbine school shooting.
To that effect, each school has taken part in what's called a "chain reaction," where students wrote down acts of kindness or positive messages on pieces of paper and started a paper chain.
Tens of thousands of these recorded acts of kindness have been linked and a chain parade will be presented to the community as a whole at 6 p.m. at the LHS soccer fields.
According to McClain, the event is the culmination of everything the district has been doing by highlighting different cultures throughout the year with quarterly assemblies.
"It's what we did all year long with the different cultures coming out on super-charge," McClain said.
The event takes place between 4 and 8 p.m. May 31 in the fields behind Lockport High School.
