Sudbury Secondary School makes students feel at home with multicultural fair

When Sophie Tchuente moved to Sudbury, Ont. from Cameroon she said it was difficult to adjust at first.

"I wasn't used to big schools and buses and everything," said Tchuente, who is a Grade 12 student at Sudbury Secondary School.

"So before even getting in my class, I remember I cried in front of the class. I didn't want to get in."

But since those first days at school, Tchuente has become much more comfortable, and has started to adjust to school in Canada.

Sudbury Secondary hosted its first multicultural fair this year, to help students like Tchuente, who are new to the city, and Canada, feel more welcome.

"It's so important for us to build that sense of belonging in our schools and making sure that everybody knows that they're welcome here and that we celebrate our differences that way," said Sudbury Secondary vice-principal Yves Poirier.

Poirier said the school has long had a diverse student population, but the multicultural fair was an opportunity to celebrate that diversity by sharing some local customs and food. 

For her part, Tchunete shared a dish of chicken and fried plantain from Cameroon with her classmates. 

Kamilah Francis, the executive director of Future North, was at the multicultural fair where the organization worked with students to bring some cultural art pieces to life.

Future North is a group dedicated to improving resources and opportunities for young people in northern Ontario.

"So one of the pieces is a giant puzzle piece," said Francis.

"And we created that into stickers, so there are individual sticker pieces as well as a sculpture that will be coming to the school later this year."