Kelloggsville — Linnae Smalley’s second-grade class studied the display of Mexico, which featured brightly colored paper dolls mixed with tissue paper flowers and sombreros.
“Ok, now I want everyone to turn around,” Smalley said to the class as they looked across the hallway at another display. “Where are we?”
“The Dominican Republic,” second-graders replied.
Students at Southeast Kelloggsville created 14 displays featuring countries from Central and South America and the Caribbean in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Once the displays were up, the students then received a passport, and with their class, toured the halls to visit the different countries.
“I thought we were actually going to visit the countries,” said Asler Eliseo Mendez Hernandez. “This was fun, too.”
First-grade teacher Areli Berlanga, who helped organize the activity, said the district strives to embrace all students in the Kelloggsville area, ensuring they feel recognized and heard. Berlanga noted that this has included programs celebrating various nationalities and supporting diverse abilities.
Every classroom chose a country that reflected the backgrounds of the students in that class, Berlanga said. Then they selected a craft or decoration that best represented the country and included information about the country in their display, she said, adding that the high school’s Latino Student Union created a Day of the Dead display around the Disney movie “Coco.”
As Smalley’s class traveled through the displays, they discovered that the Galapagos Islands are known for giant tortoises and sea turtles, and that Puerto Rico’s cultural symbol is the tree frog, coqui.
“Frogs are something we have been studying in class,” Smalley noted as the students looked over the display.
Second-grader Aylen Vallejo said she enjoyed the opportunity to visit the different countries.
“I liked Mexico,” Aylen said. “I liked it because (my family and I have) have visited there.”
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