Remote New Hyde Park Road School students in Vanessa Motto’s third grade class joined together on Google Meet to discuss the Muslim holiday of Ramadan on April 13.

Students Inaya Muhammad and Fatimah Chaudry created Google Slides that they shared with their classmates. They taught their peers about basic facts regarding the holiday and elaborated on how they celebrate with their own families. Additionally, students Leyla Gervais and Ambrin Namera spoke about how they commemorate Ramadan and answered some classmates’ questions.

Following the Google Slides, Motto shared a district-provided Ramadan Matching Game and vocabulary sheet that further explained important practices and phrases, such as “Iftar,” the evening meal taken after sunset to break the daily fast, and “Zakat,” a payment to a charity that Muslims must give to once a year based on their ability to give.

“There are so many similarities between all of our cultures and religions,” Motto said at the conclusion of the virtual meeting. “Even though we come from different places, there are so many things that bring us together.”

While a fun and informative lesson, this virtual activity also tied into the board of education’s district goal of “ensuring a focus on inclusive and culturally proficient practices that improve learning and school cultures.”

During the month of February, New Hyde Park Road School focused on the theme of “Inclusion and Diversity.” Each month, the school highlights character education themes as part of a social-emotional learning initiative.

As part of the monthly theme, students in grades K-6 were able to enter the Power of Inclusion Poster Challenge. They were asked to design a poster, by hand or computer, depicting the character traits of tolerance, diversity and inclusion. Six students were chosen as winners.