Faculty, staff, students, and their families gathered in colorful traditional garbs and displayed festive poster boards from around the globe for Multicultural Night at St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville, Maryland, on Jan. 26.

The event began with a Holy Hour and Eucharistic Adoration at St. Joseph’s Church. Then, attendees moved to the school for a potluck and presentations. 

Students and parents performed dances, including an Eritrean Tigrayan dance, a Filipino Tinikling dance, and an El Torito Pinto dance from El Salvador. 

Carolyn Kelley and Sandra Maciuba, school parents and members of the St. Joseph’s Parish Intercultural Committee, helped coordinate the event. They described how vital the Multicultural Night is to the students. The event was back for the first time since the pandemic.

Kelley, who has three sons attending St. Joseph’s, explained that her husband is from the Dominican Republic, the country her family represented.

“I brought all of our musical instruments, some drums, some statues, and we brought coffee from the Dominican Republic. My husband, Jorge Aguilera, cooked all of the food. He prepared moro, which is rice and beans, pastelón, which is plantains and beef lasagna, and fried salami, which explains itself... Morir soñando, which translates to ‘die dreaming,’ (is) a milk and orange juice drink,” Kelley said.

Kelley said that celebrating diversity is the cornerstone of the community at St. Joseph’s. 

“I think it’s just so amazing that multiculturalism makes St. Joseph’s, St. Joseph’s. You can see that the community is extremely diverse, and children have the extreme honor and pleasure of growing up in this environment, because you don’t find that everywhere,” Kelley said.

Maciuba, whose family was representing Poland, brought kielbasa and pierogies. 

“People were ready for [Multicultural Night]. They remembered what it was like before COVID and what it is: a really big celebration of food, family, dancing, and performances. This was a joint parish and school event, which was really nice,” Maciuba said. “We’re really pleased.”

Her family shared a table with a Polish and Korean family and embraced both cultures in their display.

“The mother is Polish, and the father is Korean, so we just joined our efforts,” Maciuba said. “We get very excited when we talk about food.”

Other tables reflected families with more than one culture, such as booths that combined Argentina and Spain, as well as the Dominican Republic and Mexico. 

Fifth grader Amy Vielman-Alvarado was one of the performers representing El Salvador in the performance of “El Torito Pinto.” Her mother, Olga Alvarado, who grew up in El Salvador, explained that the folkloric dance is typically performed to celebrate their Independence Day on Sept. 15. 

“We really enjoy Multicultural Night,” Alvarado said. “I just love this, to see different cultures together praising the Lord, because that’s the most important thing. We are here to praise the Lord and to teach [the kids] the culture, that there are a lot of cultures that we can learn from and share with others.”