Montini celebrates Cultural Awareness Week

Students at Lombard's Montini Catholic High School celebrated their diversity during a recent Cultural Awareness Week celebration sponsored by the school's Foreign Language Department.

The week started with an all-school Mass that welcomed the Rev. Clive Otieno, parochial vicar at St. Isidore Parish in Bloomingdale. Rev. Otieno came to the United States from Nairobi, Africa.

"When I first came to the United States, I didn't know much about the culture here," he told the students. "But I have come to learn that among our differences, lies our strengths."

Foreign language students also participated in a Procession of Flags from 34 countries, and the flags then were displayed by the school entrance for the rest of the week.

Since Montini opened in 1966, the school has grown into a more diverse community, with students coming from Italy, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Lithuania.

"We have worked hard at Montini to provide our students with a diverse community in which to learn," Principal Maryann O'Neill said. "Our goal is to find ways to not only celebrate, but provide opportunities for our students to learn and experience other cultures, races and religions."

"We come to Montini with our own experiences, understandings and views of the world. We also bring a few misconceptions and stereotypes," Campus Minister Michael Blanchette told students.

"We learn that there are other views than our own. Diversity refers to an inclusive community with varied human characteristics, ideas, and worldviews, and whose interactions both benefit and challenge each other to grow while making our community a better place."

"We are more than one person, we are more than our culture, we are more than ourselves," O'Neill said.