These amazing Malverne students celebrated with style. Find out why they were so excited.

With an auditorium of kids smiling, enjoying food and jamming out to drums, Malverne School District’s third annual Juneteenth Jubilee embodied joy and cultural celebration.

School district administration, faculty, and students worked with the PTA, Lakeview Civic Association, and local NAACP to plan this year’s jubilee.

Malverne began celebrating Juneteenth a year before it became a federally recognized holiday, thanks in part to the efforts of Assistant Principal Stephen Benfonte. To him, the Juneteenth Jubilee is a way to make sure all of American culture is being celebrated. He wants all children regardless of race to feel included, to feel acknowledged, and to feel appreciated.

Juneteenth honors the anniversary of when enslaved people in Texas were declared free under the Emancipation Proclamation, despite the executive order having been signed by Lincoln nearly three years earlier.

Malverne’s celebration was originally planned to kick off with an outdoor parade, but other plans had to be made due to rain. Despite the hidden sun, the Pride of Malverne marching band shined. Attendees were impressed by both the students’ musical skill and their ability to switch gears last-minute.

“It speaks to our motto: We are unstoppable,” Benfonte said. “We’d never allow the Juneteenth Jubilee to stop.”

Students from kindergarten through 12th grade, from all four of Malverne’s schools, celebrated at the jubilee. The auditorium — and when the rain cleared up, the blacktop outside — was full of children and their parents enjoying music, food, and friends. School Board Trustee Nicole Henderson, whose son is entering fifth grade, said this kind of togetherness is what the Juneteenth Jubilee is all about.

“Bridging the gap between ages, bridging the gap between schools, bridging the gap between ethnicities, nationalities,” Henderson said. “We’re bridging the gap across all.”

The event featured food trucks, musical performances, and vendors offering snacks, shirts, jewelry, and more. There was also a booth run by representatives of the Divine Nine, an organization of elite historically Black sororities and fraternities. Their presence contributed to the celebration of Black excellence, and was likely particularly impactful to young students planning their futures.

“It’s important for us to be a part of the community and show our young people that we have longevity, we’re here for service, and we’re here for teaching and cultural enrichment,” said Trudi McKinley, First Vice President of Membership.

Providing that positive outlook for the kids is part of why the Juneteenth Jubilee began in Malverne in the first place. Henderson, who is also a co-founder of the Lakeview Civic Association, said the district first began its annual celebration in 2020, which was a difficult time in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“This was a way to kind of shift the negative into the positive,” Henderson said. “I think people of color were really down — there was a lot of negative stuff happening. Having this, and appreciating the positive, shifted the feeling a little bit. And I think it brought us together.”