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Diwali celebrated with cultural gaiety at Fulton County Board of Education

BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE

Atlanta, GA, November 8, 2019: Diwali lights brightened the halls of the Administration Building of Fulton County Board of Education (FCBOE) at Powers Ferry Road on Oct 15th, 2019 at a luncheon held in celebration of the festival. With attendees in Indian clothing, vibrant Rangoli decorations and perfumed candles, music in the background and the exotic aroma of Indian food spread across, the spirit of Diwali had descended in full bloom across the room.

A presentation elaborating the meaning of the festival and various ways it is celebrated was very well received by the attendees.

“It is great to see all staff members regardless of race or color sitting down and having a celebratory luncheon at work alongside of the custodians, building maintenance and security resource officers,” said Poonam Bhavinani, who serves as a Systems Analyst at the FCBOE, and put together the event.

Poonam Bhavinani (Center) with her colleagues.

Serena Sacks, Chief Information Officer, Marvin Dereef, Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Burke, Chief of Operations, Ron Wade, Chief of Human Resources, Cliff Jones, Chief of Academics, along with Directors of different departments in IT, Kenny Wilder- Director of  IT Infrastructure, Emily Bell, Director of Enterprise Applications, Jennifer DeDuonni, Director of Student Information Solutions, Raymond Lee, Director of Data Warehouse, Derrick Johnson, Director of Information Security and various staff members were happy attendees of the event.

Bhavinani initiated the celebrations when she joined the county office 3 years ago. Having served in IT at a school in Alpharetta, Bhavinani decided to educate the staff about Diwali when the tests at school were scheduled on the day of Diwali.

“The staff and administrators enjoyed the festivities and getting to know our culture. I simply decided to continue the tradition to the Administrative building where it has also been received very favorably,” she added.

I am still wearing my dot!” commented one of attendees about the bindi she was wearing as part of the celebrations. Bhavinani and her team received many compliments from their team for sharing Indian culture.

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