Who says you can’t fit 5,000 years of history in three hours?
On Tuesday, June 14, the students and faculty of Jose Marti Middle School brought the Union City community on a virtual tour through some of Europe and Asia’s most famous places, from the Great Wall of China to the mountainous regions of Greece.
“I came up with the project, and I think it’s very important to celebrate culture, especially with the diversity here in Union City,” said Teresita Diaz, assistant principal at Jose Marti. “They learn to respect one another, and appreciate each others traditions.”
The sixth grade classes each took a country to research and represent throughout time.
Passport
Visitors to the school, as well as the students, each received a passport, which would get a sticker or stamp at each country. Students were on hand in each classroom to offer a small tour of the country they represent, and give a little bit of information as to whether it was about customs, the food, or history.
“I like it because you get to learn a lot about another country, and all the classes did a really good job,” said Josephine Pacheco, 12, representing China and Japan. “We did research on Mt. Fuji, and the Great Wall of China, and for Japan, we also had cherry blossom trees and bonsai trees.”
The tours were concluded with a lunch reception in the gymnasium, which offered food from all over the world including many Latin American favorites.
“We offered a taste of culture in the gym,” said Diaz.
A look at the world
One of Jose Marti’s main missions is to support and incorporate the curriculum throughout the entire year in many different ways, whether in the classroom or during celebration events. The celebration of 5,000 years of history was the culminating event for the sixth grade’s studies of Europe and Asia throughout the whole year. It also incorporated their math, language arts, social studies, and art work.
“We planned it through the whole fourth marking period,” said Diaz, who originally coordinated this multi-cultural program annually at Woodrow Wilson School. “At first we met with all the sixth grade teachers, and told them about the big project. Then they each adopted a country in Europe or in Asia because it’s part of the sixth grade curriculum.”
One of the stops on the tour included a trip to France, where visitors were greeted by mimes at the doors and then treated to a very special performance by the girls of the Moulin Rouge.
“France is known for its mimes, theatre, and [of course] the Eiffel Tower,” said Krystle Aste, sixth grade humanities teacher, France. “The whole class got together and collaborated, and came up with the Moulin Rouge theme. Everyone had a part in doing something; it was very creative.”
Eat in Italy
After leaving France, visitors could stop and get a bite to eat where else but one of Italy’s fine cafés in Tuscany, where the food is as plentiful as the hospitality.
“Italians like to eat, and [in this project] we took a trip to Tuscany, which particularly is my heritage,” said Marilyn Trevelise, sixth grade math and science teacher. “They researched the food, did the menu, figured tax and tip, and converted Roman money to American dollars. They also mathematically planned out a trip to Italy.”
In Asia visitors got to see the great pyramids of Egypt, as well ancient hieroglyphics as represented by Derick Valera’s sixth grade math class with a real life mummy, or at least a brave volunteer who allowed himself to be wrapped up and placed in a box for a few minutes.
“I was very fortunate to get Egypt,” said Valera. “They did a really good job. I gave them tips and helped along the way, but they did a lot of work independently, and everything we put up we had to write about it.”
In addition to collecting original pieces and information about the countries they represented, many of the students also had the chance to exhibit some of their original art work in the presentations.
“I got to paint and shoe my art work, so I had fun with that,” said Amaury Torres, 12, Greece.
Community effort
However, the school wanted to be able to incorporate a little of all countries, so the project was then extended to the seventh grade class. Their project, which incorporated their language arts and social studies curriculum for the year, was to cover the United States during different time periods from the birth of the nation to the ’90s. It also included research countries throughout Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
“They did a lot of research and they did term papers, so they really learned a lot,” said Diaz.
This particular display was set up in the school gymnasium along with the luncheon reception, which concluded the tour.
“Ms. Diaz had the vision, and the students and teachers went above and beyond what we expected,” said Kevin Carroll, assistant principal at Jose Marti. “They did a great job with it.”
“This is possible because of teamwork, and I just want to give thanks to all the teachers and students for their dedication and hard work; to the parents, of course, parental involvement is very important; and all the staff of Jose Marti,” said Diaz.
Next year the staff hopes to integrate the whole school in this program.