World Hijab Day is an annual event meant to encourage women of all backgrounds to wear and experience the hijab. On Feb. 1, this day of recognition was introduced at Park. During lunchtime, students had the opportunity to try on hijabs, take pictures and ask questions about the head-covering.
A group of freshman girls took this day to educate their peers about the meaning behind the hijab. The advisor of the group, social worker Kjirsten Hanson, said she wanted the event to educate Park students.
“I have a 9th grade muslim girls group, and we wanted to educate people about ‘why do they choose to wear the hijab,’ ‘what is it’ and demystify it for some people and let people have an opportunity to try it on,” Hanson said.
Students and staff had the opportunity to try on hijabs with the assistance of the girls’ group. Freshman Zabriin Mahamed said she appreciated the space to share her religion with her peers.
“(My favorite part was) seeing a bunch of other people who don’t know much about our religion — just seeing them try on the stuff and us telling them what we do, why we wear it and just (our) experience,” Mahamad said.
According to Muna Said, the girls group had been planning on celebrating the occasion. She said faculty played a role in making the event possible by providing supplies that helped the group advertise.
“We have a girls group, and it’s mostly hijabi, muslim girls, and we were already planning to do World Hijab Day — they gave us poster-boards, and you see the posters around the school,” Said said.
The group advertised the event by making posters to spread awareness. Hanson said the group played a large role in making the event possible.
“First of all, the girls did the posters around the school — that was really cool,” Hanson said. “They did the poster that is hanging up which they did a beautiful job on, they helped order the hijabs and the abayas, which are the dresses being worn. They really rose to the occasion and, as 9th graders, it’s a really nice way to feel more connected to the community.”
Said said she hopes her peers learned more about the hijab and the meaning behind it. Aside from sharing her lived experiences, she said the poster boards created by the group also had information.
“(I hope they took away) on a day-to-day (basis), like ‘why do they have to wear it everyday’,” Said said. “Now, they can see and try it on. On the poster board we did, they can see why — to be modest, and it’s for our religion.”
Mahamed said she hopes her peers learn to understand the hijab rather than judge those who chose to wear it.
“I hope other students take the info in and not just judge us for one second of wearing it and really just listen and hear us out,” Mahamed said.
