Ryan Snyder

Students wave flags of countries that represent their cultural heritage during the Parade of Nations on Feb. 5. Students celebrated the tenth annual Parade of Nations by displaying important elements of their culture to represent how unique each individual Ladue student is. “Through the parade, students can gain an understanding of people they don’t usually talk to and who they are and what they represent,” Esayas said.

Students at Ladue High School expressed their individual cultures in the Parade of Nations during seminar Feb. 5.

Junior Adam Esayas has participated in the Parade of Nations for all three years of his high school experience. His Ethiopian culture plays a large role in his daily life and who he is.

“The Parade of Nations is an opportunity for us to express our unique culture and show how diverse Ladue is,” Esayas said.

Cultural heritage can often be lost over time as we shift our focus to the now and away from the past. However, Esayas sees his participation in the Parade of Nations as a way to combat this.

“You’re gonna be passing your heritage on from generations to generations so understanding and appreciating that is very important,” Esayas said.

While the act of participating in the parade may not be monumental, what the participation represents is. Taking time to celebrate your culture ensures that its presence in your life won’t diminish over time.

“I want to spread my culture to others and make sure it’s not forgotten over time,” Easyas said.

No one culture is the same, but Ladue comes together each year with all of its cultures to form one community. Junior Avi Levin sees the parade as a way to appreciate the differences between the unique cultures at Ladue. 

“I think it’s important to demonstrate that we’re all different culturally yet we can all come together as a community,” Levin said.

Levin identifies with a variety of cultures, being Jewish yet having Russian ancestors. Levin was able to represent both his Jewish and Russian heritage with the Israeli and Russian flags.

“My ancestors were mostly Russian Jews, and being able to represent both of these aspects of their culture was a good way to honor and respect who they were,” Levin said.

Depending on how long someone has been in Ladue, it could be easy for one to take our diversity for granted. However, if you explore outside the boundaries of Ladue, many schools are made up of only a few major cultures.

“We’re lucky that we have enough cultures to support a whole parade celebrating all these cultures,” Levin said. “Most schools don’t have enough different cultures to support a parade a third of the size as ours.”