This week, the annual Global Village fair will take place. Each day will have its own theme and festivities, excluding Feb. 18 because school is not in session.
Students can get henna drawings and create origami Tuesday, attend an international dance in the cafeteria during both lunch periods on Wednesday and watch an international fashion runway show Thursday during both lunch periods.
On Friday, students will follow an altered schedule dependent on their first block class allowing students to visit student run booths representing countries for approximately 40 minutes
Assistant Principal Dr. Lisa Nieuwenhuizen is in charge of organizing the events for the week, getting tables set up and assembling directions for students.
“This year we’ve sort of decentralized the operation of Global Village,” Dr.Nieuwenhuizen said. “We met as a steering committee and divided the activities. Each one of the chairs took one of those things and organized it.”
Junior Gabriela Tella has run the Brazil booth since her freshman year. Tella will wear a soccer jersey while hosting the booth to symbolize her country’s favorite sport.
“What I like the most about Global Village is that I show the country and culture I grew up and spent most of my life in,” Tella said. “We normally have food, posters, with some information about Brazil like typical foods, some pictures of different cities and we also play some music.”
Teachers will also participate in the festivities. English Language Learners (ELL) teacher Lilia Ben Ayed helps with the fashion show during Global Village and has done it for several years. Over the years, participants have grown from just 30 models 10 years ago to now almost 50, Ayed said.
“I think the more we advertise and the more we encourage students to represent countries and participate in the fashion show or henna, the more exposure we get,” Ayed said.
Both Ayed and Dr. Nieuwenhuizen said it’s good for students to experience cultures that might otherwise never learn about.
“I think it’s so important for students to explore different countries,” Ayed said. “I think it’s important for the body of students to discover the diversity because a lot of students do not know that we have students from over 30 countries around the world.”
Nieuwenhuizen went on to say Global Village over the years extended its reach to those outside the student body.
“You have people from the community that come and look around, you have school board members that come and look around, and you have families that get involved and cook a bunch of stuff,” Dr.Nieuwenhuizen said. “It’s just cool to see the whole school come together.”
Tella agrees with Dr.Nieuwenhuizen and said Global Village goes beyond offering students a good time.
“I think students learn a lot about different cultures and even break some stereotypes that some countries have,” Tella said. “I think global village is not only fun but also beneficial for a lot of students.”
What are your plans for Global Village? Let us know in the comments below!