This is the recommend class party day. In certain cases there may be an exception, please look for the announcement from your teacher/room parent to confirm your class’s party date.
This is also an optional Dress-Up Day. Details from the RET team are below:
Friday, November 1st. will also be an (optional) Dress-Up Day! Students can choose (or choose not) to wear appropriate costumes* like favorite book characters, goal career, etc. or even just pajamas! No masks or weapons will be allowed. Please leave accessories at home as children tend to lose them.
A note about Costumes from our Race and Equity Team:
With Halloween and other fall festivities approaching, Cascadia’s Race & Equity Team and the Department of Racial Equity Advancement wants to remind our community to be mindful of religious, cultural, and ethnic differences. This is also a reminder for everyone that costuming in the form of ethnic and cultural clothing may have religious or spiritual significance. Such costumes should not be worn unless the clothing is within your own culture. Cultural appropriation perpetuates inaccurate stereotypes which can create hostile and uncomfortable conditions for our diverse communities.
Some common examples of inappropriate costumes are:
- a ninja or geisha
- “Pocahontas” or other figures in traditional indigenous attire, e.g. a Native American headdress
- A Mexican “hombre,” e.g. a poncho, sombrero, and mustache
- “Gypsy” costumes often mock and caricature Roma people, for whom the G-word is an ethnic slur. Such costumes perpetuate harmful stereotypes.
- Any figure for which one would alter their skin/skin color to look like a different ethnic group, e.g. “blackface” or traditional Maori or Inuit tattoos
While appreciation of food, cultural experiences, and language are acceptable, appropriating clothing that is not representative of an individual’s self-identity is often harmful. As you consider a school costume, please consider if the costume is modeling “appropriation” or “appreciation.”
For more information related to this topic, we suggest the following resources:
- YouTube: My Culture is NOT a Costume
- USA Today: Halloween & Cultural Appropriation
- Huffington Post: Cultural Appropriation: What You Need to Know
- The Conversation: University of California: When Borrowing Becomes Exploitation
- New York Times: Is Cultural Appropriation Always Wrong?
