Cultural Day is one of the loudest days in the Life Baker calendar, and one of the best. Primary and secondary each stage their own, and the whole school arrives in traditional dress.
There is dancing, there is drumming, there is drama, and there is food. Students perform for each other and for staff, and the standard is higher than a visitor tends to expect.
It is easy to write this sort of thing off as a break from lessons. It is not. A child who stands up in front of the entire school, in costume, and performs, has learned something about nerve and preparation that no examination measures. The students who dread it in the morning are usually the ones still talking about it a week later.
It also does something quieter. Nigeria is not one culture, and neither is a Life Baker classroom. A day given over to showing each other where you are from is a day spent learning that difference is worth looking at rather than ignoring.
Our thanks to the staff who rehearsed it, the parents who put the outfits together, and every student who got up and performed.