On October 20th, UNIS students celebrated the traditions and cultural diversity of the UNIS community in observation of the 70th anniversary of U.N. Day. The event, which celebrated the founding of the United Nations, drew praise from the UNIS community for its new and improved activities.

The morning of U.N. Day consisted of a 90-minute symposium featuring prominent outside speakers and performances. This was followed by an international brunch and a series of student- and teacher-led workshops.

Students enjoyed the workshops, which covered an especially diverse range of topics from ‘90s hip hop to the history of UNIS to global economic development. Sophie Hafter, a T1 participant in the Tribal Dance workshop, recalled her experience, “We actually danced during the workshop, and it was so much fun!”

Some people also preferred the structure of this year’s UN day.  “I love that this year’s symposium was short, as students seemed to lose interest in the past years’ longer assemblies,” said T3, Ethan Ngai. “Shorter symposiums leave more time for workshops, which are usually more interactive.”

Furthermore, this U.N. Day gave Tut House students the opportunity to cross grade boundaries and meet new faces. For example, the Tribal Dance workshop provided an easy channel for Tut House students to engage in intergrade bonding, according to Sophie.

Later in the day, Tut House students and Junior School students worked together to create an art project called “The Dot.”  Isis Dickinson, T2, said that this collaborative project helped her realize that Tut House students and Junior School students have more in common than she thought.  As one of the supervisors of the Tut House-Junior School project, English Department team leader Tom Moore hopes that inter-grade events like UN day will become more frequent in the future. “This event really increases the sense of community in UNIS,” he said.