Apollo Somali students to share culture

Apollo Somali students to share culture
By Dave Aeikens • daeikens@stcloudtimes.com • May 5, 2010

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Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A Somali students at Apollo High School on Friday plan to honor some of their teachers and tell fellow students a little bit about their culture and background.



The event, which is being conducted for the first time, is from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Apollo auditorium and commons. It is free and open to the public and includes food, dance, a fashion show and information about the Somali culture. Students will also present awards to the top 10 teachers.
"What I am looking forward to is showing people how we care about the community and how we love our teachers; how we love school," senior Liban Abdi said. He is one of the organizers of the event.
The group selected its top 10 teachers and will hand out certificates and trophies Friday, senior Ali Gure said. Gore is vice president of the Somali Student Association. About 200 and 300 people are expected.
The student group got help from the school and raised some money to cover its costs.
The program will help create solidarity at Apollo, which has students who come from many different backgrounds, races, cultures and speak a number of languages, said Abdinor Sigat, an Apollo employee whose job is to work with the students. He is also adviser to the Somali student group.
"They need to share the culture. There is not cultural awareness," Sigat said.
The event has been in the works since January.
Apollo in March had attention brought to relations between its Somali students and white students. Somali students complained they were being harassed by students and staff.
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in St. Paul, on behalf of the students, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's civil rights division asking for it to investigate a number of incidents at Apollo and Technical high schools.
No decision has been made on whether there will be a federal investigation.
The school district is still investigating several of the incidents that Minnesota CAIR brought to its attention