The week of April 24 was Multicultural Week for the Ardmore Eagles, culminating with a Multicultural Fair held in the school’s gymnasium on April 28. Parent volunteers set up table stations around the gym with the help and support of Ardmore’s multilingual learning community and Ardmore’s English Language Learning Resource Teacher, Mrs. Mia Bohlin.
“At Ardmore, our families speak over ten languages, and today, we have six of those countries represented,” said Mrs. Bohlin. “The Ardmore parent at each table comes from the country and speaks the language.” Countries represented included Senegal, Romania, Japan, Mexico, Morocco and Brazil.
Parents arranged their schedules to volunteer for the day to share their culture with students. At each table, parents shared items representing their country of origin. Items included photos, artifacts, books, clothing, musical instruments and more.
Music and a soccer net were incorporated into the presentation at the Brazil table. The table representing Japan featured origami and clipboards where students could try writing in Japanese.
“This is a culminating project for the year of our Ardmore multilingual learning community supporting multilingual students,” said Bohlin. “We do different events and projects and also look at student data, so our focus is on academic and social.”
The Fair allowed all Ardmore students the opportunity to learn about other cultures.
Multicultural Week at Ardmore was a school-wide effort, with music students learning cultural songs, physical education classes learning games from around the world, and art students creating multiculturalism-related projects. In the school’s Learning Resource Center, students created little people from around the world, a poster with flags, and explored multicultural literature.
Bohlin was pleased with the activity and grateful to the parent volunteers who gave their time to the Fair.
“Through this activity, we hope our students better understand the importance of multilingualism and learn to celebrate their cultural heritage and the heritage of others.”