Multicultural Day in Marlborough

To celebrate “2005: The Year of Languages”, the school community of the Elmer Thienes-Mary Hall Elementary School in Marlborough, CT, hosted its first annual Multicultural Day in late March. The event, organized by a committee led by the school’s FLES teacher, Marilyn Horton, included all members of the school community in the day’s activities.

As children entered school that morning, they were greeted by a huge world map prepared by members of the school’s Multicultural Club and displayed in the school’s main entryway. The map highlighted countries of origin of the members of the school community. The information for this map was gathered through a survey that was sent to parents to complete. In addition, other multicultural artwork, created by students in their art classes, was displayed throughout the school.

Each grade level in the K-6 elementary school prepared a multicultural display to share with all the children. These displays included collages, story books, drawings, graphs, and other types of projects that integrated the theme of multiculturalism with all aspects of the school’s curriculum. All classes were able to view these displays showcased in the school’s Community Room throughout the morning. The children then enjoyed a special luncheon of ethnic foods prepared by the school’s cafeteria staff.

The afternoon concluded with an hour-long assembly in which all the children were involved. Each grade level, under the guidance of the Music Department, sang a song from a different country. Interspersed between these songs were performances by individual students who speak languages other than English. For example, two fifth graders of Polish heritage performed a skit in which they carried on a telephone conversation in Polish; one child sang a song in French; other children performed rhymes in Ukranian, Finnish, Spanish, and Greek; and four children showed their skills as Irish Step Dancers. The children who had performed for CT COLT’s Rhyme Celebration performed their rhyme. All in all, it was a very exciting day for all involved, receiving accolades from the children and adults in attendance, with a wish to celebrate this day again next year.

Return to the CT COLT Year Of Languages Scrapbook Page