Photo Gallery of Event:

Bloomington high schools mark Diversity Day, May 2

The Diversity and Peace Day Celebration begins with the

Jefferson High School Drumline.

Photo at Left: Joshua Harris, a Kennedy High School ninth grade student, writes a message of hope on the fabric of one of two "refugee" tents set up at the high school for the annual Diversity and Peace Day, May 2. The tents were part of the Camp Darfur Genocide Project, an interactive awareness and education event to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Sudan and other parts of the world. The tents were provided by the organization, Stop Genocide Now, and were sponsored by the Bloomington Human Rights Commission.

Photo at Right: Larry Hawkins (left) and Donzel Howard read messages of hope before writing their own entry inside one of two tents set up at Kennedy High School for their annual Diversity and Peace Day activities. The refugee tents will be returned to Darfur, Sudan when refugees are allowed to return home. The tents are part of the Camp Darfur Genocide Project, an educational event to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Sudan and other parts of the world. Hawkins is a senior, and Howard, a junior, at Kennedy High School.

NEWS--

For immediate release

April 24, 2008

Bloomington's two high schools will come together on Friday, May 2 to celebrate their annual Diversity Day with a Peace Run between the schools and programs scheduled throughout the day.

The cross-town Peace Run will depart from John F. Kennedy High School, 9700 Nicollet Ave., at 10 a.m. and loop across Bloomington to finish at Thomas Jefferson High School, 4001 W. 102nd St. Runners will head west on 98th St. to Penn Ave., then south to 102nd St., and then west to finish at the school. The run is expected to take 45 minutes to complete.

Senior citizens at Creekside Community Center, 9801 Penn Ave., will staff the halfway water stop with help from students at nearby Hillcrest Community School.

Both schools will start their day with special welcomes by guests, such as Superintendent Les Fujitake and Lynn Elling, founder of World Citizen, Inc. Student presentations and diversity activity booths will also be on display at the schools.

A unique feature to this year's Diversity Day activities will be the Camp Darfur Genocide Project, an interactive awareness and education event to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Sudan and other parts of the world. An arts group will erect and display a series of tents designed to simulate the living conditions found in earlier genocidal campaigns. The tents are from the organization, Stop Genocide Now, and are sponsored by the Bloomington Human Rights Commission.

Kennedy High School is also featuring Upstanders, a theater production by students in the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The performance dramatizes the history of the 20th and 21st century genocide events.

# # #