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Thomas Edison Students Enjoy Multicultural Day

April 16th, 2013

MERIDEN — Students at Thomas Edison Middle School held a multicultural day on Friday to celebrate their study of different countries.

Sixth-grade special education teacher Nancy Dey stood in a classroom that resembled a museum exhibit on Egypt. A model of the Nile River stood against the back wall near two students who were dressed as Cleopatra and a mummy.

“I like Egypt best because there’s more figures you can study, like Cleopatra and King Tut,” said sixth-grader Rebecca Nerbonne, who said that her social studies class is learning about Egypt.

“We wanted them to create,” said physical education teacher Dennis Edsinger.

Both students and faculty had been planning the events for months.

“Basically, we had them pick a country and everything is their idea,” said eighth-grade math teacher Gina Zaleski. “It’s product-based learning; they do all the research and then make products to show what they’ve learned.”

On the opposite side of the room, Mexican paraphernalia, including a piñata, decorated the walls. Sadique Williams researched Mexican sports and learned that although many people believe that the country’s most popular sport is soccer, boxing is even more popular.

Students wore sombreros and danced the salsa. Other parts of the display included cookbooks, music and geography.

Eighth-grade student Maria Rodrigues said that she already knew a lot about Mexico because her family is from that country. Her group presented a video of themselves playing soccer and eating traditional Mexican dishes, along with a display of the country’s flag and basic information.

The students made their own passports and received stickers for each country display the visited. Other countries included France, Italy and Canada.

Samantha Zatarain, seventh-grade social studies teacher, sparked the idea for a multicultural day.

“It was a little hard to put together logistically, but in the end to see the kids’ excitement and to see them so into what they created was a blast,” said Zatarain.

As part of the festivities, the school brought in a professional dancer from Ghana to perform.

“It was just to show them that different cultures have different aspects to them but any culture you go to, there is going to be dancing,” explained Zatarain.

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