Wyoming — Students and their families took a flight around the world recently at West Elementary, making stops in Cuba, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Canada, Africa, the United States and several other countries in a celebration of cultures and holiday traditions.
The annual Multicultural Night began with families picking up simulated passports, maps and plane tickets from teachers and staff members, and following airplane stickers on the floor that provided a route from class to class and activity to activity. They received stamps as they traveled, and their journeys wrapped up in the gymnasium with a feast of international dishes brought in by families and local businesses.
In classrooms representing countries, families worked on holiday-related crafts and activities, fashioning paper lotus flowers, coloring dancing lions and red envelopes, cutting out flags and symbols and decorating dazzling masks.
At West, students represent 29 different languages and come from all over the world, said Megan Macgraw, EL teacher. Multicultural Night is a way to celebrate one another.
“Each country (celebrated in the classrooms) is a country that is represented by our students,” Macgraw said. “We wanted to build some community so students and their families feel seen as part of the school community.”
She said students take pride in where they are from.
“I love seeing their faces light up when they see, ‘That’s my flag or that’s my country!’” she said.
In teacher Sarah Lichti’s third-grade classroom, families learned about Guatemala and Semana Santa, the country’s Holy Week. The country is known for weaving, dating back to the Mayan civilization, and students weaved mats out of strips of paper.
Lichti said honoring where students are from is an important part of her classroom.
“We need that representation, and the kids feel special about the country where they are from, (so) we try to do it every day in some way,” Lichti said.
Fourth-grader Damian Martin Perez said he was excited to learn about Guatemala, Canada and Brazil.
“Guatemala is where my family is from. I’ve been to Canada and I want to learn more, and Brazil, I just want to learn about it.”
Second-grader Julian Sanchez had five stamps on his passport after “flying” around his school.
Excited to learn about Cuba, Brazil and Africa, he joined his dad, Christopher Sanchez, to learn about how many different countries celebrate holidays.
“This is our second time we have come to (this event). Last time, (Julian) was searching about other countries after he got home,” Christopher Sanchez said.
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