Chatham Families Together (CFT) is a community group organized by the parents and guardians of Chatham Park Elementary School interested in creating and promoting programming that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and doing everything we can to ensure every student at Chatham Park feels a sense of belonging. CFT is a sub-committee of HASA. Check out our calendar of events below. Read more about CFT and its mission and leaders below.
Get up to date with CFT's latest news...
Save the Date for this year's Culture Share Evening — April 4, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Scroll down to see images from previous year's' evenings.
Learn more about Culture Share Evenings via our FAQs.
Sign up to participate via this form.
Have any other questions? Email us anytime.
Join us for our first Book Discussion — Wednesday, March 19 @ 7 PM in CP Library
We will be reading and discussing Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me. Let us know if you'll join us.
Welcome New Families and Welcome Back to all our Bulldogs!
Help plan and make decisions on CFT's programming and direction. Click here to become a leader and/or join a committee to plan:
Ideas for 24/25:
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Park Meet-ups
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World Holiday Celebrations
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Culture Share
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Celebrating Pride
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Celebrating Juneteenth
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Book club
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Parent Educational Seminars
2023/24 Events
Culture Share Evening - Friday, April 12
The Chatham Park community traveled the world wihtout leaving school at CFT's 3rd annual Culture Share Evening.
Multicultural Day - Friday, April 12
Chatham Families Together secured an enriching and engaging assembly for all grades.
Chaunkah Meetup - Thursday, December 14
Diwali Meetup - Friday, November 10
We had fun creating chalk Rangolis in front of the school. The all day light rain stopped in time for us and made for a great canvas. Thanks to those who came out.
PAST EVENTS (2022-23)
2nd Annual End-of-School Year Party celebrating Pride, Juneteenth, and Summer
Culture Share Evening
Friday, March 10, 2022
CFT's 2nd annual Culture Share Evening was a fantastic night celebrating our differences. Families from the CFT community hosted tables sharing a piece of their culture. We celebrated holidays such as St. Patrick's Day, Ramadan, Purim, and Passover with our Irish, Muslim and Jewish American families. A family of restaurant owners shared delicious food from Vietnam, Laos, and Lebanon. We shared in Turkish delights. Our European roots were represented with tables celebrating Italy, France, and England. We learned all about the amazing contributions Cost Rica makes to our day-to-day and shared tasty treats from Venezuela. We played games and learned things about the huge world we live in and, most importantly, we had fun together as one large community.
Holiday Share Evening
Friday, December 9, 2022
CFT's inaugural Holiday Share Evening was a celebration of celebrations! We invited the community to share their favorite holiday traditions. We experienced a kinara lighting for Kwanzaa and indulged in sweets, celebrating Ramadan, Diwali, Chanukah, and Christmas (both mainland and Hawaiian). We sang songs, held story time and got messy making crafts. Check out some favorite images from the evening below.
2021-22 Events
Culture Share Evening
Friday, April 29, 2022
CFT's inaugural Culture Share Evening was coordinated along with Chatham Park's Multicultural Day. The evening was filled with games, crafts, dancing, storytelling, and snacks, all shared by Chatham Park families. Every Chatham Park family was invited to host a table to share any part of their culture that they wanted. The results were magical with hundreds of attendees that evening that got to experience cultures from Turkey, Venezuela, Israel, New York City, Italy, France, India, Serbia, and Ecuador. Take a look at a sampling of the evening below. Let us know if you want to host a table this year or want to be involved in the planning by emailing us.
CFT End-of-Year Party in the Park celebrating Juneteenth, LGBTQ Pride, and Summer
Saturday, June 11, 2022
CFT's inaugural End-of-Year Party in the Park was held at Grange Field in Havertown and included family-friendly music, food samplings, crafts, and activities to celebrate the many wonders of June and all it brings, namely Pride, Juneteenth, and Summer! Members of the CFT Leadership group put together theme-related tables to celebrate. Even though it drizzled throughout the three-hour event, it was a huge success and a ton of fun. Take a look at some of the fun below. Let us know if you want to be involved in the planning at this year's by emailing us.
About Chatham Families Together
Chatham Families Together was born from parents who were interested in family programming that supported BASIS (Belonging and Sociocultural Identities in Schools). An initial inquiry on social media and word-of-mouth brought on a flood of interest. The 2021/2022 school year was its first and an incredible heartwarming success. See the events completed in its inaugural year and stay tuned for new plans for the 2022/2023 year ahead.
CFT's Mission
The mission of Chatham Families Together is to promote and encourage a sense of belonging amongst the entire Chatham Park community, celebrating our differences to create a deeper unity. To get involved or for more information, contact ChathamFamiliesTogether@gmail.com.