It’s not the first time I witnessed such an event but it was only yesterday while attending the Philippine Heritage and Independence Day Celebration with my family at Maples Collegiate’s Judy Silver Commons that I come to realize the influence Filipino teachers have over the Winnipeg youth’s appreciation of Filipino language and culture.
Many student participants coming from various schools of the Seven Oaks School Division only knew about Filipino traditional dances, songs, riddles, and poems in Heritage Language Classes and while preparing for this cultural show. The encouragement coming from a teacher often makes a lot of difference in the child’s attitude towards learning and doing something new. Indeed their influence extends beyond the immediate Filipino community through their students.
Kudos to the Seven Oaks Filipino Employees Association (SOFEA), with the support of the Manitoba Association of Filipino Teachers Inc. (MAFTI), for organizing what has come to be an annual event and part of the 2016 Philippine Heritage Week in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Some details and schedule of this week-long celebration can be found here.
Indeed Filipinos have a great deal to contribute to Canada’s multiculturalism, and Filipinos teaching in different schools in the country compounds the spread of the “love and advancement of the Filipino culture and language” (which is the theme of this event).
I envision the next generations of Canadians being grateful for the Filipinos’ significant contribution to the Canadian culture. And we as parents, neighbors, coworkers, and friends, together with Filipino teachers, owe it to our children to share what we love about our heritage to the larger community.
