Cultural Diversity platform makes all feel welcome

Special to Leader-Press 

Miniature Miss Five Hills Haelyn Hendrix reads a book with her mom, Hana Hendrix, in the Copperas Cove Library. 
The four-year-old cannot fully read yet, but she does recognize the words on the pages. As her mom reads the book to her, she points to the four words at the bottom on each page. Haelyn responds as if she is reading the words, “All are welcome here.”
Haelyn’s cultural heritage is Korean and African-American. She and her mom chose Cultural Diversity as her platform of service during her yearlong reign as a Copperas Cove titleholder. Haelyn and her mom, Hana, visit daycare centers, preschools, and even summer reading camps to read the book, All are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman. 
“A lot of kids their age can’t read but they understand the pictures,” Hana Hendrix said. “They can see one boy is in a wheelchair, the other one has a turban on not showing his hair.” 
Haelyn raised money through her stand on Lemonade Day Weekend. With a double match from Bush’s Chicken, Haelyn raised $900 with which she has purchased various children’s books highlighting cultural diversity. As she and her mom read to youngsters in their classrooms, they give each student one of the books to take home. The goal is to increase inclusion of all races and cultures to where these differences are appreciated. 
“It is important to teach our kids the importance of cultural diversity and how it is imperative that you have a mutual respect for one another’s differences,” Hana Hendrix said. “Its imperative because everyone has feelings.”
Hendrix said she hopes what she is teaching her children about inclusion is passed to their children and their grandchildren. 
“I think (racism) is a generational curse that has been passed down a long time. Racism is being afraid to accept different cultures or thinking that one is better than another,” Hana Hendrix said as she cited some of her family traditions in the Korean culture that she has shared with her children since they were infants. 
Haelyn smiles as she reads the bottom of every page in the book.
“All are welcome here,” she says. 
Haelyn will crown her successor at the 9th Annual Miss Five Hills Scholarship Pageant scheduled March 26 at the Copperas Cove Civic Center. 
The application period is open through March 1 at https://www.copperascovetx.gov/pio/five_hills_pageant/.