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In high school, there weren't many activities or lessons where I felt included. It was really until I went to college that I started to study about my culture. For example, in my high school, some students celebrated Cinco de Mayo but didn't really know what was celebrated during that day.

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At my middle school, we had Oscar Night where we were able to submit homemade videos we created and edited, and it was a way to engage my love of music, video editing, and side of creativity outside of the classroom. Such a fun learning experience

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Being able to study Mexican Aztec culture and other indigenous groups in Middle school.

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Every year my school held an international night where families organized booths showcasing different cultures (traditions, food, music, etc.). There was also a variety show/cultural fashion show, which my close friends and I performed in.

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I can't remember what grade this was in but we had a day where we shared our families culture and fav dishes etc so it was nice to be able to do that and hear my friends experiences as well.

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I remember in elementary school we would celebrate Cinco de Mayo as a whole school. Our class was in charge of doing a short skit retelling the events. Looking back we were allowed to come up with the lines and make props. Every student had a job whether it was making the outfits or props, or practicing lines. It was exciting as a kid to see our hard work being performed the day of.

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Reading books that helped me feel seen.

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Celebrating all cultures and realizing that many of us came from different countries, yet we had many similarities. Made me feel comfortable and welcomed.

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I really cannot think of a time where I truly felt identified in a school experience. Being Central American, I feel that the spaces that were intended to celebrate Latinx identies were heavily influenced with Mexican cultures.

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In second grade we did a cultural fair where students brought in posters with information about a country and it's culture that the student chose to discuss

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I cannot remember a moment where my Cuban background was incorporated into the classroom (unlike Melanie R-- so jealous that you got to read Marti in class!). The only memory of my Cuban-ness in the classroom is actually negative. On the day that Castro's death was announced, my AP Gov teacher shared that with the class, saying that Castro has a complicated legacy. While I now recognize that Castro did indeed have a complicated legacy, I felt such a moment of discord and even rage that day. I was raised to despise what Castro had done to my country and all of the pain and struggle that was caused by the Revolution. I was raised to want freedom for Cuba, and see Castro as the reason why Cubans cannot be free. My family was  purely celebrating the death of Castro, so it felt controversial at the time to accept that his death was complicated. This was compounded by the fact that he, my teacher, knew I was Cuban, and thus knew such a statement would be controversial. I was not asked for my input on the matter.

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In my eighth grade English class, we read Eli Weisel's Night, and it was the first time during my school career that my classes talked about the Jewish experience during the Holocaust. In my community, it was not common to be Jewish or talk about Eastern European culture, so I enjoyed learning about the Jewish community even though it was a difficult and hard topic.

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This image reminds me of when I was in elementary school and we had an essay writing/speech competition. I believe I was in the 3rd grade when I wrote this speech. My teacher helped with with every day and I ended up coming in second place. I practiced this speech all the time when I was younger. My siblings and my mother helped me and even memorized the speech with me. I was very shy but I worked so hard on this speech and presented it in front of the whole school. I even named my childcare after my speech. I wanted my daycare children to understand what their place as an African American person could be in this world.

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Students asked to explain their roots and what had meaning for them in their culture.

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Unfortunately, I cannot think of a childhood school experience where I felt included or represented. As an Afro-Latin@ woman, my identity was hardly ever taught in our curriculum or celebrated. My school demographic was primarily white and/or white Hispanic with hardly any Black and/or African representation. It wasn't until college where I felt celebrated and proud of my identity and it was taught in the curriculum.

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When I was 8 years old I went to my first soccer game in the stadium. This experience was memorable because everyone supporting LDU was like family. We chanted, cried, celebrated together as ag group whether my team won, ost or tied.

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In junior year of high school, in English class we had a unit of women written poetry and I enjoyed being able to see myself in some of the poems we read.

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Musical Theater all through school exploring so many ways in which creative expression is performed through varying cultural lenses.

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I remember in Spanish class in 7th grade, we studied a poem by Jose Marti. Growing up, my Cuban grandfather often talked about how much he loved Marti's work. It was the first time I'd ever studied a Cuban writer in school before. It made me feel proud of my heritage. As someone who often struggled to find belonging between the two realities of whiteness and Latinidad, studying this poem in a school where the curriculum was mostly whitewashed allowed me to begin celebrating my family's history.

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In senior year of high school, we did a unit of poetry. I used to do a lot of poetry to express myself, and often had thoughts that my school did not really have any curriculum that celebrated those who are more creative. We were able to choose what we could write about, and I
felt like my interests were valued then.

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When I was in the 3rd grade my mom signed me up for a "talent" show where students show their diverse talents. Against my choice, my mom decided that I should do a fan dance routine that I had been learning at a traditional Korean dance studio. I had been very embarrassed and apprehensive to wear a hanbok and make my friends sit through something other than Hannah Montana. As I got on the stage, I started to see my friends be more amazed at the dance. I was able to spark the curiosity of my friends and teachers and they started asking me more about my culture. It was the first time I felt proud and saw the beauty about my culture.

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My school curriculum was very strict in its traditional requirements; however I had two teachers my senior year who inspired a joy of learning within me that was absent until then. My AP Lit teacher allowed us to do discussion based learning, which I found out was the way I learn best in that moment. He also gave personal feedback on essays and allowed us to relate our work to our personal experiences, which I had never been allowed to do until that point. My creative writing teacher similarly broke the bounds of traditional classroom set up, allowing us to work on beanbag chairs, her entire room was set up as a collaborative workspace. In her class, we similarly had many discussions, points of reflection, and idea sharing based on our personal identities.

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When I was 7 years old, my teacher took us on a field trip to the archeological site of Teotihuacan. We learned the mythology of each pyramid and the astronomical knowledge reflected in the architecture. As an adult, I realized what a rare opportunity it was for me to learn this history through firsthand exploration, especially when I saw the US curriculum I experienced did not center early Mesoamerican cultures at any point. It was affirming of my identity and history, but also engaging in a way that many social studies would not do in secondary classrooms.