Graduations or transition celebrations are typically planned by school staff, and they do not always reflect the culture and values of the families we serve. Adelante Mujeres was inspired by our community and our beautiful Latina culture, and we wanted to find ways to celebrate the accomplishments of children and families in a culturally responsive way.

Families collaborated with the Family Engagement team and the teachers to plan a graduation event. The families chose foods like birria, rice, beans, cakes, aguas, homemade salsas, churros, etc. There was enough food for families to eat twice and take leftovers home!

One class decided that during the ceremony the families would walk alongside their children, as it was a joint accomplishment. Another class decided to have games and activities that the parents created. A different class had an Aztec dancer who performed a special dance to honor the children.

Our celebrations should resonate with families, and we hoped this change idea would help them feel seen, heard, and excited to share in these celebrations.

Families collaborated well together and even built relationships outside of school. They had a budget, created a plan, executed it, and celebrated in the process. We learned that our budget needs to be abundant for these events. Why wouldn’t we invest in these accomplishments? All year we have been talking about the importance of milestones. Now we had the opportunity to celebrate all the growth that happened during the school year!

The pandemic taught us that life is precious and must be lived to the fullest. We must invest in celebrations as much as we invest in the other parts of education. Big or small, the milestones of our children and families should be celebrated in a way that is meaningful. When we come from a place of abundance and community, we can find the resources to endorse our celebrations.