Hello Harrington Families and Friends,

I hope you are having a wonderful week and for those of you who have had conferences already and were here in person, it was great to see you!

We started on Monday with many of our families celebrating Diwali and some of our staff, students and their families shared information about their culture and the importance of this holiday. Some staff were fortunate to taste some of the delicious sweet treats too! I have shared a few photos below. Please remember if your student would like to share about your family's culture and traditions, we have the opportunity for anyone to participate in "We All Belong Wednesdays", information can be found at the end of this newsletter on how to get involved.

This week has also been been full of fall fun with pumpkin math, pumpkin activities, leaf collecting and Halloween themed stories. As we have done for the past few years we will continue with fall themed celebrations next week too (don't forget to keep an eye out for mini pumpkins decorated by our staff when you visit the building!) Consistent with all of the elementary schools, we do request that students refrain from wearing costumes to school on Halloween itself and keep them for parties and trick-or-treating that will occur outside of school. Thank you for you help with this. I have included some safety tips from the Lexington Police Dept. below those of you who may go out to celebrate either over the weekend or on Monday. Be safe and have fun!!

We also had our second ALL HAWKS meeting this week and below you will see a video of two of our second grade students singing Happy Birthday in Mandarin to students and staff celebrating October birthdays.

Enjoy the upcoming beautiful weekend weather!

Warm regards,

Jackie

Come and join us for a wonderful event at Harrington that celebrates our diverse community. Have a great evening learning about the different cultures of our students through booths, demonstrations, food tasting, performances, and a cultural fashion show. The event is taking place @ Harrington Cafeteria and Gym on November 5th at Harrington from 6:00-8:30 PM.

International Cultural Night Registration Link: https://harringtonelem.membershiptoolkit.com/open_forms ($10/family)

You will see that the Harrington spirit wear is now on sale until November 10th, using the link below.

Nanak Jayanti

November 7, 2022 Guru Nanak Jayanti is a Sikh festival which celebrates the birth of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikhism. Sikhism shares Hindu concepts of karma, dharma, maya, and samsara (reincarnation). Nanak Jayanti is celebrated by Sikhs as well as Sindhi, Punjabi, and Afghan Hindus. Festivities include processions, food donation, and community service. Guru Nanak Jayanti is celebrated in the month of November. Guru Nanak was the first among 10 Sikh gurus who is considered sacred to Sikhs. His teachings are compiled in a sacred book, Guru Granth Sahib which promotes service to humanity. On this day, Sikh Gurudwaras organize readings of the Guru Granth Sahib, sing songs, perform martial arts. Devotees prepare community meals called langar and offer it to all visitors in the Gurudwara.

National Day of Mourning

November 24, 2022

The National Day of Mourning is an annual protest organized since 1970 by Native Americans of New England on the fourth Thursday of November, the same day as Thanksgiving in the United States. It coincides with an unrelated similar protest and counter-celebration, Unthanksgiving Day, held on the West Coast. (Source)

Thanksgiving

November 24, 2022
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. (Source)