Glen Grove Community Project

In my family, you know there's a birthday coming up because a few days prior, someone starts asking about an essential birthday food: noodles.

Where are you going to get the noodles? What kind of noodles do you want? Who is going to deliver the noodles? How much should you buy?

Don't get me wrong- cake is important too. However, my Filipino family's birthdays revolve around noodles. We eat cooked long noodles of any variety (pancit, lomi, mami, spaghetti, ramen, etc.) to symbolize long life. Also, it's important to share it with your family and friends. It's like sharing your life with them... if noodles are life, then you have many people to share it with, no matter how old you are.

Even when I was living out of state in college, I remember having to heat up ramen or buy a plate of pasta on my birthday and share it with my dormmates. My brother, when he was abroad in Germany, purchased nudeln on his birthday and ate it with his new German friends. Most recently, I celebrated my 30th birthday and shared a late-night bowl of udon with my best friend.

That's my tradition; I'm sure that others have different ways of celebrating. Some people go to their favorite restaurants and others eat with their entire family, including extended families. Others might throw flour at the birthday celebrant, like they do in Jamaica and Brazil, or have butter smeared on their faces (which is a Canadian tradition). For some cultures, certain ages have particular significance, such as 1 year old for dol, 13 for bat and bar mitzvahs, 15 for quinceañeras, 18 for Filipina debuts, and so much more. Not to mention, there are Golden Birthdays, when you have a special celebration on the age that correlates to the date of your birth (i.e., if you were born February 14, your Golden Birthday would be when you turn 14). In addition, there are specific days that people celebrate their names, which they derive from someone to emulate like a saint or other notable person. There are also days that particularly celebrate young people, like Children's Day in Japan. Across the world and across beliefs - milestones hold a special place in communities.

I can have noodles anytime, but birthday noodles are extra special. It's not because of the flavor or the type - but what they stand for: another milestone. It's not about the age or the stage in life, but the ways we get to the milestone and who is with us on the journey.

Want to share your birthday pictures? Send them to Ms. Joaquin and we will show them on the GGCP bulletin board

We asked students to draw their birthday celebrations. This is what they shared!

This student celebrates their grandmother's birthday with a Kentucky Derby-themed party. People wear bonnets and cowboy hats as well as fancy clothing. Mint juleps and cake are served at the party.

This student said that they eat seaweed soup on their birthday as well as cake. They receive presents from their family and family and enjoy the day with them.

Thank you to everyone who helped and attended the Lunar New Year event on February 3. We had so many families celebrate with us! If you missed it, see some of the event's pictures in our special edition newsletter.

We are looking for community members to join us at the table as we plan for events, resources, and more. We are also looking for parent and community volunteers to help assemble the displays and bulletin board at the front of Glen Grove as well as provide suggestions on what to include on our website. Please contact any of the GGCP members to learn more!

Fly Like a Girl is a documentary featuring young girls and women with passions, aspirations, and experience in the field of aviation. From combat pilots, astronauts, and even senators, this movie delves into women's contributions to flight and the trials and tribulations they face in a male dominated field.

Not Rated, but is a Common Sense Selection for Families by Common Sense Media

What what do you do on your birthday?

Committee Members

• Katherine Ellison, Glen Grove Principal
• Aurora Joaquin, Glen Grove Speech-Language Pathologist
• Katelyn Kelleher, Glen Grove Psychologist
• Hedy Helfand, Glen Grove English Langauge Learning Teacher
• Marie Chang-Pisano, Glen Grove Reading Intervention Associate
• Sylvia Gorski Duarte, District Title III Family Resource Teacher
• Lindsey Lurie, District Multilingual Instructional Coach

Email: GGCommunityProject@gmail.com

(Published 11/15/2022)

The Glen Grove Community Project acknowledges that the land on which their community, Glenview District 34, lives and works today is in the original homelands of the Peoria, Bodwéwadmi (Potawatomi), Myaamia, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk), and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) People and pay respects to the elders and communities of past and present.

In conjunction with this land acknowledgment, we want to provide resources to learn more about the original peoples and communities of the land.

Resources

• A Story of Survival: The Wampanoag and the English (A Native American Perspective of Thanksgiving)
• The Wampanoag Way (video)
• Native Americans (BrainPop video)
• Native America: A Documentary Exploring the World of America's First Peoples (PBS trailer)
• Glenview Public Library resources
• Visit The Grove to learn more about Native American groups that originally inhabited the area.