Fair Lawn students embark on trip to multiple cultures
Fair Lawn – The cultures of 12 countries were on display last Friday night at H.B. Milnes School.
Travelers received passports to visit each country set up in the gym during Culture Night on Jan. 24. At each booth students could learn about the countries and then got their passport stamped. Culture Night was hosted by the PTA’s Family Fun Night Committee, which includes Josie Coleman and Donna Wall.
"We are a diverse community," said Principal Joseph Fulco.
The 12 countries – India, Dominican Republic, France, Columbia, Jamaica and Guyana, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Japan, Korea, Russia, Italy and Israel – represent just some of the cultures at the school.
For each of the countries, Coleman explained that Milnes families volunteered to share their culture with their school community.
Each of the booths contained information to help students learn about the countries such as the flag, what people wear, the language they speak and games they play. Travelers were also welcome to try a variety of different foods from each of the countries like empanadas in the Dominican Republic, coconut kisses from Puerto Rico, egg rolls in the Philippines, sushi from Japan and ptitim and hummus from Israel.
In Italy, students could make a necklace out of the pasta in the color of the Italian flag. While stopping by the French table students could make nametags that said, "Bonjour, Je m’appelle." In Columbia, students could get a lollipop if they could find the country on the globe.
After traveling, the visitors stopped by U.S. Customs where Fulco served as the customs officer to check passports before students could return to the United States.
"I give them a quick quiz," said Fulco, who then presented students with a goody bag that had a pencil, pencil sharpener and a beach ball that looks like a globe in it.
During the evening students had to check their passports as numbers were called for a trip to one of the countries for a special souvenir.
After traveling, students enjoyed performances representing five of the countries.
"We will all embark on an adventure," said Coleman.
First was Israel with the welcoming of the Sabbath with a candle lighting and Kiddush followed by a performance of Hava Nagila dance. For India, the Jai Ho group dance was performed followed by a slideshow, solo dances and an instrumental performance.
The famous people of France were on display with musical selections. For Russia, Katusha, a war song, was performed. Representing the Philippines there was a presentation with a video of a traditional bamboo dance.
The evening concluded with Louis Armstrong’s, "What a Wonderful World," performed by students.
For more information about the HB Milnes School PTA, visit www.hbmilnes.my-pta.org/.