SAMIS@16: Celebrating Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity is one of SAMIS’ many strong points. Appreciation for these cultures is necessary for maintaining unity and harmony in the SAMIS community, and Foundation Week is known for bringing acceptance in a fun and interactive way.

With the theme “Strengthening the Cultural Exchange in SAMIS,” SAMISians celebrated the school’s 16th Foundation Day from October 18-20, 2022.

The foundation day commemorated the school’s achievements. They reflect on these accomplishments by integrating a showcase of different cultures, clothes, dances, and food. This delivers the important message that the success of the SAMIS community is not a solo endeavor, but it is the work of hundreds of talented teachers, staff, and students from all over the globe.

Students are tasked to represent the culture of a specific country with support from their adviser. The teacher and the students coordinate a dance that represents the themes of the culture.

In addition, the students are also tasked to create a costume that complements the dance and the country, as well as creating an expo that showcases the history, customs, and foods of the country.

“It creates a great opportunity for students and teachers to interact and get to know each other on a more personal level,” Sir Paolo Azul S. Canicosa, Adviser and Mathematics teacher of Grade 10 Ambassadors, said.

The represented countries this year were The Philippines (Grade 7), Japan (Grade 8), South Korea (Grade 9), Finland (Grade 10), South Africa (Grade 11), and Nigeria (Grade 12).

The winners of the Cultural Expo were South Korea (1st Place) represented by Grade 9 and their adviser Sir Kristian Lego; Nigeria (2nd Place) represented by Grade 12 and their adviser Sir Kenneth Sibal; and South Africa (3rd Place) represented by Grade 11 and their adviser Sir Klarc Luis Tamayo.

The winners of the cultural presentation were South Africa (1st Place); South Korea (2nd Place); and Finland, represented by Grade 10 and their adviser Sir Paolo Azul Canicosa.

“It was great seeing all our hard work pay off. It was really entertaining to see the other performances, and exciting when it was our turn to present,” Sir Kris said.

The event showcased the true unity of the SAMIS community, and it demonstrates the strong moral lesson that no one can achieve greatness on their own. We wish SAMIS greater success in the future, and the SAMIS community wishes to share this success equally.