Middle School Celebrates Inaugural Cultural Fair – The Newtown Bee

Newtown Middle School students, staff, and parents were invited to celebrate countries from around the world at the school’s inaugural Cultural Fair on Thursday, December 5. The event was split into multiple parts between the school’s cafeteria and auditorium.

Pitched as a “night of food, art, and dance,” the Cultural Fair lived up to its promise and blended different meals, art activities, and dance performances that encouraged NMS families to embrace and learn about cultures spread across the globe.

The headline activity in the cafeteria was “Around the World Tasting,” where attendees could taste delicious food from multiple cultural origins. Dishes from 26 different countries, ranging from Italy, Nepal, and Mexico to El Salvador, Egypt, and China, were represented that night. NMS families and local restaurants provided all the food.

Three different long tables were set up along three sides of the cafeteria, with restaurant owners, along with parents and students, serving excited attendees at their own station.

The smell of food such as samosas from Bangladesh, roasted butternut squash soup from Mexico, and ghorayeba from Egypt wafted through the air. Each table also had a sign, where people could see the ingredients and cultural significance for every dish.

The Raamot/Mowery family, representing Estonia, was one of many groups who brought food that night. Liia Raamot, as well as her husband Richard Mowery and their seventh grader Aili Mowery, served kringle, a traditional celebratory sweetbread that is served in Estonia.

Raamot said that her parents are from Estonia, and that they, like many other middle school families, are very proud of their culture. Since she also loves volunteering, Raamot added that she could not be more excited to represent Estonia with her family. They all wanted to show others in the community a little about Estonia, since they say not many people know about it.

“It’s just a chance for people to come together and enjoy all the different foods from around the world,” Raamot said. “Seeing how many people are participating … is so nice.”

The Lowery family, who was one of the many groups representing Greece, had made hortokeftedes, which are spinach and dandelion fritters with a crispy outside that are frequently served in the country. Elizabeth Lowery had been serving fritters at the station and said her dad grew up in Greece’s historic capital, Athens.

She added that she was proud to show everyone her dad’s heritage, as well as the history of the country. Lowery took that pride for her family and heritage and incorporated it into her station. She brought a frame featuring her vacation photos from Greece, along with a small owl statue, which represents wisdom and is a symbol of Athens.

Hanging along the ceiling of the cafeteria were flags from different countries. Music filled the air as people moved through the room, trying new foods from other cultures and chatting with one another.

Towards the front of the room were two art stations. At one table, people could get a henna tattoo, which is a temporary, natural body decoration made from a paste of crushed henna leaves, water, and a dye fixative. Practiced in the Middle East for over 5,000 years, henna is seen as a sacred art that is a spiritual and religious practice for many people. It also is used to celebrate special occasions, such as births, birthdays, and weddings.

One table over from there was the face painting table run by Newtown High School National Art Honor Society students. People could get flags, rainbows, snakes, dolphins, and various other designs painted onto their face. The group focuses on serving the community through art-based projects, and said that they were excited to “bring joy to kid’s hearts.”

Once the “Around the World Tasting” portion of the event finished, everyone gathered in the auditorium to enjoy the second half of the event: ethnic dances and performances from India, Ecuador, and the Himalayas.

Everyone in the audience watched every performer who took the stage with quiet interest, applauding and cheering after every single number. The night ended with students, parents, staff, restaurant owners, and performers smiling and talking amongst themselves, happy to have embraced different cultures from all around the world.

A Long Time Coming

The Cultural Fair was run by the NMS PTA, and was actually part of a longer, week-long Cultural Celebration Week at the school. Every day that week had a different theme or activity attached with it.

Monday was International Sports Day, so students and staff were encouraged to wear any sports-related apparel, including an international sports jersey. Tuesday was International Heritage Day, so everyone was encouraged to wear the flag colors that represented their heritage.

That same Tuesday, the music group Andes Manta visited the Middle School and performed for students. Hailing from the Andes region of South America, the group played several different songs for students and staff, and even stayed after school and gave lessons to students that signed up.

The cafeteria even worked with NMS Principal Jim Ross, as well as the school’s PTA members, to set up a special menu that week and highlight different cultures around the world.

According to Ross, the middle school traditionally holds an event called International Week that celebrates different cultures and countries. The week-long event was typically slated for the week before Thanksgiving, but could often be a difficult time of year to plan events and activities around.

For this year, Ross said that they wanted to “take that idea and make it bigger than what it was.” The idea to take International Week and transform it into the Cultural Celebration came from Ross and NMS PTA President Heymi Colon.

NMS PTA Vice President Kenney said that Ross and Colon both have a passion for the school’s students, and for celebrating cultures from around the world. When they all sat down this summer and started laying out plans for the upcoming school year, Kenney said it was something “where we felt we wanted to do more than what we’ve done before.”

For Colon, she said that she always wanted to do an event like the Cultural Fair from the moment she first came onto the PTA. She added, “When [Ross] expressed that he had a similar idea, our ideas just came together.”

From there, Ross said that the PTA did a lot of the leg work in setting up the fair, which was meant to be the big, culminating event for that week. He added that the PTA had reached out to NMS families and local restaurants to see if they were interested in participating.

They had to be careful and make sure everything adhered to health department guidelines, but both Colon and Kenney said that they were so excited to see so many people want to participate.

Colon had personally expressed to people just how passionate she was about the fair, and how important it would be not just for her, but for kids to socialize at an event where “all cultures are celebrated.”

“It’s just a great chance for everybody to learn something,” Colon explained. “Experimenting with seeing the world through food, art, and performance … I feel like this is a nice window to that for our kids.”

Colon also said that her family is from Guatemala, and that her pride in her own cultural background added another layer as to why the event was important to her. Her parents are first generation here in the States, and while they are retired in Florida, they have a house in Guatemala where they spend their summers.

Colon said that her background has helped shape who she is, and made her someone that wants to give back to any community she is in. She added that she is very proud of her culture, and that it was beautiful to see everyone celebrate their own cultures at the fair.

“That’s the beauty of the States; that we’re all blended in such a gorgeous way that we can learn from each other. It’s a unique place where you can see all the beautiful cultures it has to offer,” Colon continued. “That’s what we wanted to do with this event.”

This also carried over into other aspects of the fair. Attendees could put a dot onto a big world map from where their family is from, and enter a drawing for an ancestry DNA kit. The art honor society drew “doors to the world,” which hung in the hallway outside the cafeteria. Each picture depicted different locations around the world and what was culturally significant to them.

“We couldn’t be happier with just how much talent and passion everyone put into the event,” Kenney said. “It all still just blows me away. [The PTA] is so, so grateful.”

Going forward, Ross said that they hope to make the Cultural Fair an annual tradition. He, along with the PTA, will take time to reflect on this year’s event and brainstorm for the future. He added, “We want to reflect and make this even better for next year and years to come.”

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.

Newtown Middle School held an inaugural Cultural Fair event on Thursday, December 5, which celebrated different countries and cultures around the world through food, art, and dance. —Bee Photo, Visca