Manor students makes connections with the world

The pandemic could not stop a highly anticipated annual tradition at Seaford Manor Elementary School: International Week. From Jan. 11 to 15, the cultures and traditions of countries spanning the seven continents were in focus as students learned about their peers’ cultural backgrounds and shared their families’ traditions.

Every year, the school welcomes family members of students to talk about their ancestors’ countries or origin and the show went on this year over Zoom. Fourth-grade students learned about Guatemala with Patricia Weniger, grandmother of student Max DiMola. She also sent his class a scarf and coins for students to look at while she was speaking about the culture of the Central American nation.

First-grade students received a virtual visit from Jillian Lau, mother of Jonathan Lau. She taught students about the Philippines and Jonathan’s grandparents’ upbringing in the Pacific islands, including a few Filipino phrases and the symbolism of the flag. And Diego Aldanna spoke to his grandson, James Aldanna, and his kindergarten classmates about Colombian culture.

Assistant Principal Mary-Ellen Kakalos said the videoconference visits opened up new doors because some of the guest speakers don’t live locally. This gave them a chance to participate in International Week for the first time.

In addition to learning from the guest speakers, students created paper suitcases with facts about their ancestors’ countries. Art teacher Jamie LaSota talked to students about her trip to an art village in China a few years ago. She showed them a tea set she brought back as an example of ceramic art. For International Week art projects, third-grade students painted cherry blossom trees on rice paper, while fourth and fifth-grade students created pieces based on traditional meals in their families.

Librarian Samantha Simon visited third grade classes to help students with research projects on other nations. She said they could pick any country in the world other than the United States, and showed them how to find information through World Book Online.

—Brian Stieglitz