Annual celebration serves as another reminder about what makes this community great.

Here’s the thing about the weather in Wisconsin – it gets pretty weird and unpredictable. Especially this time of year. However, no matter what patterns may or may not swirl and cohese in the troposphere above, down here on campus there’s always a 100% chance of intentionality.

On Monday, as is tradition, the Prairie community gathered outside for Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights which celebrates light over darkness and good over evil. The weather was crisp fall perfection as students lined either side of the driveway that winds its way past the Leipold Johnson Early Childhood Center. After Upper School students Triya Kalidindi ’27, Keshav Doshi ’29, and Ishir Mehra ’26 addressed the student body about the Diwali customs and traditions that have played a pivotal part in their own lives, a series of fireworks were ignited in celebration.

Early school students, wide-eyed and eager, huddled together in anticipation. Middle and Upper School students clapped and hollered. Educators beamed. Like so many community-building events at Prairie, it was a spectacle to behold.

And, believe it or not, the 10:00AM fireworks in the middle of a Monday morning weren’t even the best part.

That came later, following the assembly when the entire student body paired off with their buddies to decorate the school’s parking lots and sidewalks with rangoli, a traditional Indian art form utilizing intricate patterns. Many believe rangoli serves as a way to welcome good energy into the spaces where the art appears, and if we’re using Diwali 2025 at Prairie as an example, it’s hard to argue otherwise.

In true Wisconsin fashion, the weather turned dour late Monday night, bringing cold, intermittent drizzle to Wind Point. However, when students and faculty began showing up Tuesday morning to find much of the sidewalk art smudged, no one even batted an eye.

After all, when it comes to the memories made the day before, those are permanent, forever etched into the hearts and minds of everyone in the Prairie community who gathered together in celebration of Diwali 2025.