The Olympics won't arrive in France until summer, but the spirit of the international games was celebrated in Lower Merion on Thursday, May 9, 2024, when the District's English Language Learners and their families enjoyed an Olympic-themed Family Fun Night and mini-Resource Fair.
Student volunteers from the high schools assisted members of LMSD's dedicated English Language Development staff in running an array of athletic challenges, games and art projects, as well as dishing out delicious ice cream treats.
Among the many fun activities were paint-your-own Olympic flag, Olympic-themed BINGO, make-your-own Olympic torch, badminton and races, which took place in the Lower Merion High School cafeteria and Kobe Bryant Gymnasium.
Families were assisted by volunteer interpreters, bilingual members of the school community identified by their bright yellow shirts, who helped answer questions in Chinese, Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew and made all of the participants feel welcome.
In the gym lobby, a family resource fair featured tables hosted by the Lower Merion Township Police Department, Lower Merion Fire Department and Neighbors Helping Neighbors of the Main Line, along with the Home & School Associations, the Interschool Council and LMSD's Student Services and Nutritional Services teams. The fire department even parked at fire truck outside, which children could explore.
After students participated in the Olympic activities, they received medals and took turns posing proudly on the Olympic podium.
Approximately 291 LMSD students are English Language Learners and more than 2200 District students are multilingual. The ELD Family Night is one way LMSD works to build belonging and celebrate diversity in our District, where our students speak 105 different languages. #LMSDBuildingBelonging
To see photos of all the fun on ELD Family Night, click through the slide show below: