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One School-One World Draws BB&N Community Together

The origami table hummed with activity all day long.

In the annals of BB&N events, One School-One World was one for the ages. The all-campus multicultural festival—which had been envisioned as a way to highlight and celebrate the depth and breadth of the BB&N community—more than lived up to the billing.

Hundreds of BB&N students, families, and faculty walked through the doors of Nicholas Athletic Center on November 17 to take part. Once inside, they joined a celebration that brought together the entire School community in a way that few events in recent memory have done.

“In the twelve years our family has been at BB&N,” says Laura Nevill (P ’10, ’13), “it was the first event I have been to in which families, faculty, and students from all three campuses came together. Excellent!”

“As I looked out at all the action, it was just awesome, so exciting,” says event producer Kate O’Kelly (P ’09, ’13), “I watched people talking with each other, connecting, laughing, chatting, simply hanging out—enjoying each other and the many aspects and elements of our School.

“The depth and range of talent on our stage, on the floor of our gym, was so exhilarating. And the way people pitched in, took initiative, and got things done was such a testament to the vibrancy and commitment of our community.”

The event was the brainchild of Lewis Bryant, BB&N’s director of multicultural services. “The festival not only brought greater awareness of all the diversity programs and initiatives at the school,” says Bryant, “it also gave everyone a chance to celebrate our community under one roof.”

The gym floor was jam-packed with performances, activities, information tables, and food—all reflecting the broad array of cultures, traditions, and histories of BB&N community members. The center stage was the heart of the festival, as BB&N students unveiled a plethora of attention-grabbing dance, theatrical, and musical performances. The coda to the day was a three-song set by the Lower School band Preface, which transformed the gym floor into a dance hall during their cover of House of the Rising Sun.

Woven around the rest of the gymnasium floor was a fascinating medley of places to visit: from the donated moonwalk in one corner (“The Russian Club brings St. Basil’s Cathedral to BB&N!” Armen Dedekian proudly proclaimed), to the origami and Chinese calligraphy craft tables, to the oversized map on which families pinned their points of origin, to the chess tables and Skype workstations, to a Multicultural library, to tables featuring information about everything from the Upper School history curriculum to the Community Gay Straight Alliance, to home-cooked lunches and desserts from all corners of the globe.

The event, fittingly, reflected the collaborative work of countless members of the BB&N community. “There are so many people to thank for making the event such an amazing success,” says Kate O’Kelly. “But isn’t that the beauty of this celebration? To understand how many people had a hand, a voice, in this festival.”

O’Kelly’s name belongs at the head of the thank-you list; her work as event producer has earned her the unofficial nickname of “Superwoman” among her counterparts. In addition, Lewis Bryant and campus coordinators Ada Snider, Rebecca Geary, and Libby Maclaren and, of course, scores of parent and faculty volunteers were critical to the event’s success.

The buzz circulating around the community in the days following the event has made one thing clear: You can be sure that One School-One World won’t be a one-time event at BB&N.

Please CLICK HERE to link to a password-protected photo gallery.