On Sunday October 31, I went to the weekend school to help with the students. I worked there for two hours. When I first got to the school, the students were learning some Arabic and practicing their writing. They continued for a little bit until the Imam came in the classroom to teach them about the origins of Halloween. He told them that the term comes from All Hallows Eve, and that the following day is All Saints Day. They also asked me to talk about All Souls Day. At the school, they try their best to expose the students to other religions and cultures and explain the meaning behind some rituals. Most of the students have family members who are not Muslim, and a lot of the adults in their community have converted. They seem to place an emphasis on acceptance, and they use education to achieve this.
After the Halloween lesson, I helped set some things up in the other classrooms. I then taught the students some Chinese. I only taught them simple phrases and words, but they seemed to enjoy it. I taught them how to ask where the bathroom was, and they thought this was funny. After teaching some Chinese, I helped the two youngest kids with reading. Before I left for the day, I played catch with a few of the students outside.
I really enjoyed this day with the school. I had fun teaching the students some Chinese, I also always enjoy learning more about the community and listening to some of the teachings. Listening to the Imam during his talk about Halloween helped me better understand their mission at the Weekend School. In the past weeks they have told me that one of their goals is to expose the students to as many things as they can. They do this in many ways, including having Butler students with foreign language knowledge teach some words or phrases. They also make it a point to teach the students about other religions. Today was the first time I was actually able to listen to one of these lessons.