The first “World Culture Night” was held at SMS on Oct. 27. This idea spurred from a conversation between Title 1 administrator Dave Walpole, an administration position at SMS, the 6th grade academy and the SMS student council.
SMS administrators and staff collaborated and ended up showcasing nine different cultures. These included: Myanmar, Spain, Israel, France, Germany, Central and South America and countries of Africa and Eastern Europe.
All booths were run by teachers and students with an affinity for that culture or people who are a part of the culture. Many teachers were contacted directly and asked if they would be interested in helping while many others volunteered.
One student council member and 8th grader, Dakota Cramer, ran their own booth about the culture of South Korea.
“With a lot of people getting into K-pop and K-dramas, being able to teach them the actual culture and what it’s about, I think people were really happy about that,” Cramer said.
The booths included information about said culture, their customs, games and most had a sample of the culture’s food. Some booths focused more on their culture’s religion, such as the Israel booth. Others focused on their customs and foods.
Not only were there booths to educate people about world cultures, there was also a booth to help parents get connected with the school. Here, they encouraged parents to sign up for Parent Square messages. Walpole feels the students and parents really enjoyed learning about other cultures around them. SMS plans to make this an annual event and would love for SHS to participate too.
“We wanted to celebrate both the culture in the building and the diversity that we have,” Walpole said.