Grandparents Day

At our Wadi Ara School, we celebrate “Grandparents Day”.  Members of the Wadi Ara community work together with school staff to create an event inviting grandparents to Hand in Hand to celebrate the community’s diverse heritages: once a year, Jewish and Arab grandparents of students come together to celebrate with their grandchildren.

Grandparents day is our way to show the continuity and intergenerational context. Grandparents bring traditional homemade foods from their respective cultures, and the children enjoy presenting and sharing the food and their grandparents with their friends. This day reflects the importance Hand in Hand gives to family, community and involvement in school life. The impact of this day is reflected every year by the high level of excitement from our students, staff, parents and the tears of joy on their grandparents’ faces.

Two grandparents shared their thoughts on annual event. One Arab grandmother explained how when asked about her grandson Muhamad’s education at a shared school she feels very proud that he has grown up “exposed to the complex reality in which we all live”. Her feelings are echoed by a Jewish grandmother, who said “This was an incredible privilege for me. We were born in a bilingual country, but unfortunately we didn’t know how to teach bilingualism. Hand in Hand does know how.”