BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Brookdale Elementary School hosted its 14th annual Small World Day festival on Feb. 28 in the school gymnasium. Sponsored by the Home and School Association, the event celebrates the ethnic diversity of Brookdale students.
The festival was an all-day event, with each class having the opportunity to “visit” nine countries and Puerto Rico. Parents waited at festive tables to speak about their native lands and offer traditional foods. The ports of call this year were Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, the Kingdom of Tonga, India, South Korea, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Passports have always been a part of Small World Day fun, and children made sure theirs were officially stamped at each table before departing for another destination.
At the Ireland table, parents Maeve McVeigh and Jean Beeks taught Gaelic by having children say their names in Gaelic or count to 10 in that ancient tongue. Irish soda bread spread with goat butter could be sampled, while a traditional Irish dancing dress might make a young traveler think of that boldly patterned costume on a dancing girl. McVeigh was born in Nenagh, Ireland, and although Beeks was born in England, her parents are Dubliners.
Yoly Martinez, born in Bogota, was at the Colombia table. She told the children where to locate her country on a map and that it was as large as Texas and California combined. A visitor also learned that Bogota has 7 million inhabitants living one and a half miles above sea level.
Children sampled empanadas while Martinez told them that the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, divided by Panama, gave Colombia two shorelines. The children learned that Colombia sits on the Ring of Fire, an area of considerable volcanic activity that travels the Pacific rim from southernmost South America, north to the Aleutian Islands, west across the Bering Strait, and south to Japan and Australia.
Nigel Wood represented the United Kingdom. From him, the children learned that the U.K. is not just England.
“A lot of kids get the names mixed up,” he said. “They say England and that’s just a part. The U.K. is four distinct countries.”
He told the children that the U.K. is England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and definitely not Ireland. Wood talked about U.K. sports and famous authors, including David Williams, who is a popular children’s author now and one, he said, the children know. Wood treated his visitors to strawberries and whipped cream in paper cups and told them that the small, tasseled pocketbook worn on a kilt is a called a sporran.
“It’s not a kilt without a sporran,” he said.
Landing in Puerto Rico, the children met parents Eve Kalloudis and Militza Diaz. Diaz told them that Puerto Ricans are American citizens, too.
“A lot of people don’t know that,” she said.
The children were offered rice and red beans, a pork dish called pernil and Malta soda. On display they saw a mortar and pestle, large straw hats used by field workers, a toy machete, and domino tiles on a board. Salsa dance music, the children learned, is something they would definitely hear in Puerto Rico.
Because of their cultural affinity, the Dominican Republic and Cuba were one port of call. Here, the children learned about colonization and tourism and discovered that Christopher Columbus’ son, Diego, had a home in the Dominican Republic. It is now a popular museum; a photograph of it was displayed.
There was plenty of real fruit at this stop — coconuts, mangos, pineapples — plus cassava, tobacco and more. For tasting, there was Cuban arroz moro, which is a rice and black bean mixture, and chicken and beef empanadas. The informative parents were Marlyn Fernandez, Manuel Checo, Aida Mota and Anna Beam.
The HSA co-chairwomen for the event were Michelle Lopez and Fareeda Ehtesham.
Photos by Daniel Jackovino
Students explore cultures at the Small World Day festival added by Daniel Jackovino on
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