By Michelle Love
Photos by Lisa Cheek & Contributed
Faith Lenhart has been an educator with Vestavia Hills City Schools (VHCS) for more than 20 years, and in that time, she has seen a lot of development in the city’s cultural diversity. Even when she was a dance teacher at Vestavia Hills High School (VHHS), she wanted to give students a safe space to express pride in their culture and heritage.
Faith, who is now the Director of Arts Education for VHCS, and other hard-working educators in the system are celebrating the success of its second annual “I Am Vestavia Festival.” The event is dedicated to spreading knowledge and acceptance of the diverse cultures that live in the city and attend VHCS.
The event began three years ago when teachers held International Night for English Second-Language students and their families. Faith says while the event was small, it was very impressive, though she felt a different audience could benefit from the experience.
“I was really impressed, and I thought it was great,” Faith says. “After I left, I thought these are not the people who need to be in the room. It needs to be the rest of the community who needs to be here to understand this rich heritage we have…they don’t understand the type of diversity we have.”
Faith worked with her fellow educators and came up with the idea of “I Am Vestavia Week” for all the city’s schools in 2023. For example, the elementary school students have boxed lesson plans that cover 15 different countries with various artifacts, activities and a ready-made lesson plan for the classroom teachers.
Several of the schools hold cultural diversity assemblies with guest speakers and videos, while others celebrate in their own way. Part of the “I Am Vestavia Week” festivities include the “I Am Vestavia Festival,” which has been a huge hit, and this year, Faith and the board expanded the event from the high school to the Vestavia Hills Civic Center.
“We had great attendance,” she says. “We had just as many or more people attend than we did the previous year.”
For the first hour, participants experienced what was called the “Village Festival,” which involved families from all over the community getting to know each other. There were approximately 25 different tables where each table represented a different country, and the families could bring in cultural artifacts, wear native attire, tell stories and experience cuisine special to each country.
The second hour of the festival involved multiple performances from dancers and choirs, a keynote speaker and other events. This year, they also added a fashion show where the students wear their native dress, and they also have a parade of flags honoring the 55 countries that are represented in the district.
“It was really, really cool,” Faith says. “We’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback from families. My favorite was a student told one of the teachers she felt seen. It was really great. This year at the ceremony, we had a dance and choral group from the Ukraine, and it was so moving. You cried when they performed because it was so moving. The majority of the people from that group have come to Vestavia from the Ukraine since the war started, so it’s just been really cool for the students to be exposed to that.”
Faith says the demographic of what makes up the school system has grown considerably since she began teaching.
“I taught at the high school for 23 years before I came to the board, and our demographic has changed a lot, like we’re way more diverse than we were when I first started in 2000,” she says. “I’m just really proud that we’re recognizing that now. We’ve really evolved, and we have so much more cultural diversity than we did before.”
The event has even gained recognition from outside organizations.
“After the first year, we had a recruiting company that recruits for UAB come,” Faith says. “When they’re hiring for those high-end positions at UAB like doctors and professors, they bring them to area schools because they’re trying to figure out where they’re going to live. The recruiting company came to our festival because they wanted to be able to go back and say, ‘This is the type of community you should live in if you move here.’”
Faith says having the first-hand experience of meeting and forming a bond with someone from a different cultural background is much more effective than students learning about cultures from things such as the internet or social media.
“It’s been really cool for the kids to celebrate their different cultures, but it’s also great for the other kids that are born and raised here who are being introduced to so much more that they weren’t aware of,” she says. “They’re having conversations with people, [with whom] they can ask questions, and they can touch and feel and see actual artifacts from that country and that culture. They can also identify with their peers. They can recognize they know someone from that country or has that cultural background, and when you’re learning about cultures through a screen, it’s just not the same.”
VHCS Superintendent Dr. Todd Freeman relayed his support and appreciation for the “I Am Vestavia Festival” and how it reflects the system’s overall mission to spread acceptance.
“Expressing appreciation for the diversity of our students is a core belief in Vestavia Hills City Schools,” he says. “‘I am Vestavia’ captures the essence of the rich and diverse cultural heritages that make up Vestavia Hills. The weeklong celebration provides many opportunities for students and families to learn more about how our various backgrounds and experiences make us a stronger community. It affirms the greatness of our nation and lives out the motto, ‘e pluribus unum,’ out of many, one.”
Ruogu Lei, a senior at VHHS, says events such as the festival can help communities get a better understanding of each other.
“There are a lot of differences, and right now, I can see a lot of those differences start to boil up and create tension,” Ruogu says. “Being able to have this place where everyone can see the beauty of everything around them and share these ideas is important. Cultural diversity is not just having different viewpoints and different cultures, but to me, it’s being able for everyone to understand the differences. It is important for us to evolve and have a deeper understanding of where we are in the world.”
Azul Gonzalez-Reyes, a 10th grader at VHHS, enjoyed experiencing the various customs and food the festival offered. Sophie Knight-Garcia, another VHHS 10th grader, says cultural diversity festivals can make a huge difference in community conversations.
“Cultural diversity is about connections,” Sophie says. “It gives a broader space to talk and share your experience and meet new people. This event gives everyone a peek into what the rest of the world is like.”
Looking forward, Faith says VHCS will continue to celebrate diversity in the classroom, ensuring every student’s voice is heard and appreciated. By viewing cultural differences as reasons to learn and celebrate rather than critique, the school system will forge a lasting era of love and acceptance for all.
Stay in Touch
The 2025 “I Am Vestavia Festival” will take place on Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center. Be sure to follow Vestavia Hills City Schools on Facebook (Vestavia Hills City Schools) and Instagram (@vhcschools) for more details.
