Sligo Creek Elementary goes global
for World Culture Day
By Carol Gilbert
 When Brownie Troop 6257 decided to build giants for Sligo Creek Elementary School's June 2 World Culture Day parade, they were thinking big. Modeled after European parade giants, these oversize boy and girl forms measured 13 and 12 feet, more than three times the size of their builders.
With papier-maché heads and hands, and a chicken wire frame secured to 1x2s, the giants, dressed in festive colors, moved majestically along the parade route, Their girl giant's details included brightly polished fingernails- something their little girl builders insisted upon--and lusciously long lashes.
The giant building team included Brownies Sarah Becker, Jordan Boyer, Eleanor Cook, Binta Coulibaly, Reina Coulibaly, Melanie Dueñas, Cali Erulkar, Amy Gilbert, Cindy Gilbert, Maya Glass, Sarah Guise, Lily Haberle, Betsy Haywood, Sophie Haywood, Allie Hirschhorn, Carly Hufford, and Lily Northcutt as well as friends Natalie Bodian, Aaron Mott, Naomi Ostriker and Nika Seider.
Despite their towering presence, the giants did not steal all of the attention at the parade; after all, there were two dragons, representing Asia; a pyramid announcing Africa; a Puerto Rican vejigante, introducing North America; and Inti, the Aztec sun god, leading the South Americans.
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The Vejigante is a Puerto Rican tradition.
| Sligo Creek's population includes students from 25 countries who wore native dress and paraded with their continental icons. The Silver Spring International Middle School band, directed by teacher Vincent LoRusso, provided marching music. All of this activity was overseen by the parade grand marshal, parent Jeep Fortuna, who was clad in a top hat and tails for the occasion with a world globe positioned on his head.
The parade set the mood for the excitement to come. Parent volunteers and community supporters established 30 "countries" within the school. Some were familiar, such as Canada, Mexico and Ireland; while others were new to many kids: Guyana, Zambia, Barbados, and Tanzania. Each child traveled on a "passport" to five different countries, learning about those countries and doing a hands-on project reinforcing an aspect of its culture.
In Argentina, parent Judy Ehrenstein taught students to tango. Marc Hoffman, a professional puppeteer from Silver Spring, displayed his vast Indonesian shadow puppet collection, showing kids how to move the puppets and create voices.
Even Antarctica, which has no native human population, participated, with a demonstration of the international scientific culture present there. The kids did their own experiment: they dipped their hands into ice water while wearing one glove made from two baggies with shortening inserted between them, and one with a plain double baggie glove, to feel how blubber keeps penguins and seals warm.
Parent Folabi Olagbaju, a native of Nigeria, brought in his talking drum to teach Nigerian rhythms.
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Little dancers learn Argentine tango steps.
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With Iraq so much in the news, it's no wonder kids associate it with war. But at Sligo Creek's World Culture Day, they experienced some of Iraq's rich cultural history as the land of ancient Mesopotamia. They learned that the wheel and the first system of writing were invented in the land that is now known as Iraq. They even studied designs used on Mesopotamian pottery, choosing examples to decorate their own miniature flowerpots.
Being a 5th grader at the K-5 school rewards kids with a special privilege on World Culture Day: participating in the game show, a series of 20-minute Jeopardy-style challenges complete with buzzers and an electronic scoreboard. Here they engage in friendly competition to be first to ring in and name a capital, identify a country, or describe cultural characteristics in response to questions posed by the emcee.
This special day left kids filled with new enthusiasm about culture and geography.
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Students display Indonesian puppets.
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"My daughter, Olivia, does not normally volunteer much about her school day, but she was enthusiastic and positive about World Culture Day the minute that I saw her after school," parent Gabe Gonzalez reported.
The Volz family got so excited about Barbados after hearing one of their daughters' glowing descriptions of it that they began researching it on the Internet and thinking about a possible vacation there.
Although children played native games, sampled foreign arts, built international monuments, participated in skits, and learned some foreign words, the day was more than a fun event.
Cathy Kristiansen, a parent of two Sligo Creek students, believes that "knowledge planted that day is built on throughout their lives."
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Binta and Reina Coulibaly, whose parents are from the Ivory Coast, display a pyramid representing Africa, while a girl dressed in traditional Danish costume looks on.
| This is the second year that Sligo Creek Elementary School's PTA sponsored World Culture Day. Some 60 parent volunteers helped create the world within the school's walls, while the entire staff of student safety patrols enthusiastically took turns manning borders, stamping passports, and assisting the adult volunteers.
For their efforts, the 4th grade patrols were treated to a private showing of the Brazil exhibit, and the 5th grade patrols were chosen to consume a 4-foot-long cake model of South America, leaving not a crumb behind.
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