Update from Teneisha
The students in the Cultural Education and Study Abroad Program have done some pretty exciting things thus far. To start off with we have gone to four festivals: Polish Fest, Bastille Days, Festa Italiana and German Fest. Before each of the festivals we conduct Culture Classes where we talk about misconceptions that we may have about that culture, reflect on when we first heard something negative about that culture, discuss whetherwe have ever actually met anyone from that culture, etc. We aso have a geography session and either watch or listen to a taste of that culture on video.
We also have Cultural Dish Days where we attempt to make something from that culture--this is a shot of Tamika and Tomesha enjoying a Polish cooking activity.
I give the students cameras to take pictures of what they see at Festivals and I let them keep a few copies to put into their Photo/Writing Journals.
We have visited the Black Holocaust Museum with a discussion after that as well. We have had discussions on what we as Americans have complained about or been critical of and have compared these issues to other cultures and what they have or don't have in the way of economic or cultural resources/advantages/disadvantages.
Tamike enjoying herself at the Polish Fest
Still working on finding a time that fits everyone so that we can take a tour of the Water Treatment Plant here and a tour of a pool and how they make sure water is safe for us before we talk about the environment. Hopefully this will happen the week after next.
Students at the Fiesta Italiana
We will be going to African World Festival this Saturday. After that, we will be focusing on Arab culture and exploring differences and similarities between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
More soon,
Teneisha