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This field day covers the globe
By LORRI HELFAND © St. Petersburg Times, published March 17, 2001 The aroma of crepes, churros and tabbouleh will waft down the halls of Osceola High School as students practice tai chi, play Spanish Jeopardy! and craft Guatemalan Worry Dolls. Today
The field day, titled "Languages Connect: Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day," resembles a miniature folk festival for foreign language students as well as English speakers of other languages. The day opens with multicultural song and dance presentations, including a lip-synch rendition of Selena's Cumbia Medley by Osceola High Spanish students. Students will journey from classroom to classroom, collecting stamps on imaginary passports. Parents and siblings who tag along will learn about Mexican bark painting, American Sign Language, Oriental paper folding and numerous other activities from around the world. Lizzy Tayman, 18, who has participated in the field day for the past three years, said she has gained a lot from the experience. "It's really neat to learn about different cultures and how everybody does things differently." Her sister, Jessica Tayman, 16, said she learned to respect different cultures. "Different words mean different things in different countries. And the food is different," she said. "I just thought that was awesome." Along with eating, dancing and crafting, there's also a healthy sense of competition. Hundreds of students will wipe sweaty palms as they test their skills by reciting poetry and telling stories in different languages. Students also team up by school to compete in the Academic Bowl, a multilanguage quiz game. But Tayman and Alexandra Garcia, 17, who have competed in the field day before, said the competition isn't too stressful. Carmine Zinn, who originated the field day 14 years ago, said that all competition is in the spirit of fun. "We try to make to make it so they're not competing with each other. They're competing with themselves," said Zinn, who retired in June as foreign-language supervisor for the school district. Jan Kucerik, the new supervisor of world languages for Pinellas County Schools, thinks the field day boosts students' confidence because everybody wins. There are no losers. All competitors will go home with first-, second- or third-place ribbons. Zinn said she decided to create the festival because she and another teacher wanted to create a fun day for foreign language activities. Over the years, the festival has grown, she said. "Each year the kids would say, "We want more workshops. And more food,' " she said. So little by little, Zinn networked and pulled more community members into the fold. The title of the field day also changed this year from "foreign languages" to "world languages" to be more inclusive, she said. Zinn, who considers the field day her "baby," said that even though she's not at the helm this year, she wishes she could be. If it weren't for recent hip surgery, she said, "I would be there with bells on."
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