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Schools

Students take classy trip through world cultures

France, China, Egypt - Homosassa Elementary kids experience them and other countries during a cultural festival at the school.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published April 22, 2005

HOMOSASSA - Passports in hand, visitors to the Cultural Festival at Homosassa Elementary School traveled from country to country - or, rather, classroom to classroom - listening, seeing and tasting things that they might encounter in those particular places.

From Australia to Egypt, students, their parents and siblings examined exhibits, nibbled on snacks and worked on crafts. At the Australia display - sponsored by exceptional-student education teacher Priscilla Kennedy and teacher's assistant Vicki Woodhead and their students - there were books, koala puzzles and fried onion flowers to eat.

Visitors to France were welcomed with a sign reading Bon Jour Bienvenue en France. There were displays of Eiffel Towers and perfume bottles and a lavish spread of French bread, Brie and Camembert cheeses, Nutella hazelnut chocolate cream and Perrier water. Children had the opportunity to color French flags and to get a drawn-on mustache. The French exhibit was put together by prekindergarten and exceptional-student education students with teachers Janet DeRosa and Dorothy Scott, speech therapist Tammy Preter and teacher's assistant Joyce Weinbel.

Homosassa's Parent Teacher Organization put together the China room, where children made colored lanterns and practiced playing with tangrams - seven sections of a square that can be used to make shapes.

Kindergarten teachers Anita Stephens and Bonnie Warner with exceptional-student education teachers Kate Zimmerman and Gary Morrow and their students created a Guatemala exhibit. Treats included salsa, tortilla chips, refried beans, mangos and bananas. The room was very colorful, decorated with student-made renditions of Guatemalan street carpets, used to cover the streets for Easter Sunday processions.

The Brazilian room was put together by the first grades and teachers Pauletta Hawk, Andrianne Clendenney and Kim Arnett. A 25-foot paper anaconda in the hallway, the vines, frogs and paper bromeliads gave visitors a feel for the tropical rain forests of the largest South American country. Visitors could taste fresh coconut and bananas.

Italy was sponsored by the fifth grade and teachers Dianne Balkind, Patricia Dvorscak and Tom Stokes. They offered Italian cookies and crackers with pepperoni and cheese. Student work was on display, including work with Roman numerals.

The fourth grade put together Mexico under the direction of teachers Richard Crowley, Sherri Hicks and Pam Turner. A pinata hung from the ceiling, and chips, salsa and mangos were served. Students performed the Mexican hat dance around a sombrero.

Third grade and teachers Nancy Chambers and Diane Hart were assisted in Egypt by art teacher Mary Pate, whose students made clay sarcophagi with little clay mummies inside.

Ireland was represented by a pot of gold from which spilled golden pieces of butterscotch. Title I teacher Charlotte May and Americorps member Amy Colasanti helped students make little leprechaun hats and serve Irish coffee with whipped cream.

Most student judgment of the exhibits seemed to center on the food that was served. First-grader Peyton Snyder, 8, liked Ireland because of the whipped cream and butterscotch.

First-grader Tyler Main, 7, liked China, " 'cause you got fortune cookies."

Kindergartener Matthew Main, 5, was happy to get fortune cookies, too, but he also liked Guatemala, he said, "because there was a lot of food there."

Fourth-grader Hunter Griffith, 9, favored Brazil. "They had a bunch of peanuts," he said.

First-grade 7-year-olds Katherine Alexander and Samantha Alexander (no relation) looked beyond the treats. Katherine said she liked all the displays. "We got to make stuff," she said, such as the leprechaun hat and the French flag.

Samantha figured the Brazilian exhibit was the best because "that's what we made."

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 00:43:11]