May 20, 2004

Exploring ethnic diversity at Bret Harte Middle School’s cultural fair

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

The rich diversity of the Bret Harte Middle School’s students, staff, and community was evident Wednesday as the school’s Community Club and parents hosted their annual international Cultural Fair and Open House.

The festival featured about 20 cultures—portrayed in educational, yet fun booths—ranging from Africa, Argentina and Mexico to the Island of Samoa, Spain, and Greece. Displays included an array of enticing culinary delights, crafts, and artifacts, including sabzi from Iran, sushi from Japan, and a mandab, or traditional wedding tent, from India.

“I think it’s fantastic that we have such a diverse school that can represent so many countries and so many cultures,” said teacher David Rapaport. “And do it very positively with an event that is very student-, parent-, and family-centered. It’s getting better and better every year.”

Students dressed in traditional clothing led a Parade of Nations, and added to the celebration by playing ethnic instruments, including Korean drums and traditional Chinese string instruments, performing traditional dances, including a “Beautiful Flower” feather dance from Vietnam, and participating in martial arts, a Peking opera fashion show, and an excerpt from “Once on this Island.”

“The Cultural Fair celebrates the unique diversity of our student population, and gives us a chance to let others join us in our enlightening event,” commented school Principal Donald McCloskey. “It is events like this that allow our community to show cultural pride while at the same time, educating others about different cultures.”
“It’s important for the kids to learn about their heritage, to learn who they are, and learn about other cultures,” shared one parent. “You can experience the whole world at Bret Harte,” commented another.

The Mexican booth featured the Mexican flag, a map of the Republic of Mexico, a sombrero, piñata, and a reboso, or traditional shawl, that women wore to carry their babies. The Middle Eastern booth included holy books, traditional clothing, and food.

“I think the Cultural Fair is a very good opportunity for people to come together and show off their cultures,” said student Pooja Rao. “I’m really proud to be a part of it.”

“It’s really fun,” added student Nupur Vokras. “You get to see so many cultures, and get exposed to different countries.” Both girls also enjoyed participating in traditional Indian dances.

Assistant Principal Karen Heverling considers the Cultural Fair extremely worthwhile.

“The students take away an appreciation for cultures other than their own,” she commented. A parent from the German booth, which featured German potato salad and Black Forest cake, believed that the fair was a great opportunity for the students and parents to learn about other cultures through food, dance, and art, as well as the diversity of this area.

“The fair is bigger and better than it has ever been before,” observed parent volunteer Louise Gill. “They ran a design competition for the program cover and had 84 students submit designs. We had huge numbers of students take part in the entertainment, and about 63 who took part in the parade. A number of them assisted their parents in putting the booths together, and have been very involved.” Gill appreciated both the students and parents’ dedication in creating this event. “Deanne Chen did a Wushu martial art presentation on her own,” she mentioned. “It’s a big thing for a student to get up and perform before such a wide audience, and she did a fantastic job. In recent years, we’ve been very fortunate to have an incredibly committed parent body at Bret Harte, and people who have been willing to get involved and make things happen. They made this happen, and that’s why we had such a wide range of booths.”

In addition to the booths and performances, Bret Harte Middle School took this opportunity to showcase its outstanding facilities, class projects, and programs, including tours of its new broadcast studio, finalist student films from their iMovie competition, Claymation, an Anne Frank wall project, and historical research on 1800s pioneer druggist Julius Deetken. “To have more of the whole school’s activities showcased was lovely,” noted Gill.

The Anne Frank Wall Project, created by students in Mr. DeLong’s Language Arts classes (Almaden Times Weekly, May 13 issue), portrays the triumph of the human spirit over adversity, as well as the students’ perseverance in collecting photographs from friends, relatives, and strangers around the world, who each posed with Anne Frank’s diary in one of the 60 languages it has been translated into.

Rapaport’s eighth grade history class students researched the life of pioneer pharmacist Julius Deetken, based upon the contents of a century-old brown leather bag Rapaport came upon at a flea market in Santa Cruz. “Everything you see on this table was a direct result of their investigation,” shared Rapaport. “These items were in the bag, and I’ll be going to the City of Deadwood in South Dakota to install the bag in their visitor’s center display.” The students’ research has been featured in Deadwood Magazine, and they are also creating a video documentary and a 40-page book on their findings.

Gill hopes that the Cultural Fair provided students with a better understanding of the different cultures that make up their community. “I hope the students were excited to see the artifacts from different countries, to taste food from other countries, and to see people in different dresses and costumes,” she said. “I think understanding cultural differences goes a long way to promoting harmony.”