JOIN US FOR OUR 4th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN"S DAY FESTIVAL

At the Berkeley Turkish School, we work to connect our past with our future and celebrate our children every day.  As the Native American saying goes “We do not inherit the world from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.”  

As the borrowers of this world, we celebrate this important day hoping to leave it with a strong foundation for a sustainable and peaceful future for ALL the children in the world, not just ours.  How do we do this? At the Berkeley Turkish School, we believe in the importance of teaching and learning from our children the value of empathy, democracy and the richness that diversity brings to our lives.  These values are woven into the tapestry of our curriculum through songs, games, and stories.  

And by celebrating this important day, we as a community are also taking a stance, sending a message that we are united in our efforts to protect our children’s rights no matter where we come from.

HISTORY BEHIND INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY

 In 1925, in an effort to raise funds for children and families in need after the many years of wars, and to bring the nation’s attention to the orphans’, the National Child Protection Agency in Turkey with Modern Turkey's founder Ataturk created Children’s Celebration Day, choosing the 23rd of April in honor of the foundation of the Turkish Republic. Today, the name of this day is “National Sovereignty and Children’s Day”. 

As we celebrate this important day with you all, our hope is to help leave a better future for our children. We want to trust the world to them, and let them sing their own songs and speak their own minds and grow up to be free thinkers.

Translation of our favorite song of the day: “Leave a world for us, the children” goes a long way to get this idea across we hope:

Come children and play, Holding hands together

Open up the skies, so we can fly kites together

Let our songs reach the sun, the moon and the stars

So, let’s all appreciate all of the children in this world while they carry peace and freedom, and let’s help their songs reach up high, together.