International Fair -- Thoughts

Our biggest project for the end of the year was the International Festival. We focused on the Muslim world, and all the countries that we studied have Muslim populations. We studied China, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, South Africa, Syria, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Palestine. We were able to work with people from our community who actually lived in the countries we were studying, and who volunteered their time to meet with students as they did their research (thanks to the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati and The Center for American-Islamic Relations). We also had a visit from author, Freda Crane. Students prepared great displays, made foods to share from each of their countries. Each group gave a presentation about the culture and history of their assigned country. The presentations included folktales, dances, games, language demonstrations, skits, and a variety of other elements. Some student comments about the day were:

• I learned about Palestine. I never even knew Palestine existed. The story about the Palestinian people’s war with Israel is very interesting.
• Teamwork is key in this project. Hard work and listening to your partners are also important.
• We now know a lot more about how to treat people from different countries.
• I realize we are not the only ones out there. There is a lot more to explore.
• It was cool to make food that I had never seen before.
• If we learn more about the customs and traditions of others, the world will be a little more integrated.
• Learning about other cultures will be helpful for traveling later – we’ll know more what to do.
• Ethiopia is starving. They are very poor, and we need to help.
• Always get volunteers from the audience. They love it when you include them in things.
• It was a connection between countries.
• I learned that you can’t judge people based on where they come from.
• I felt like I could reach out to other cultures.
• There are many different cultures in the world, but we can learn about them and understand them and make peace.
• This project makes you think about the world’s opinion and feelings about wars.
• This project was a time for us to grow and change.