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A Passport To Learning

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: February 11, 2009

NORTHDALE - Julian Henshaw toured France, Asia and South America in one day recently and had the passport to prove it.

Julian, 4, opened the construction paper booklet to reveal stickers for each site he had visited during his preschool's Multicultural Melodies day.

"This is me," he said, pointing to a photo of him on the facing page, smiling in front of a U.S. flag.

Like globetrotters, the children carried their identification with them as they hopped from table to table and collected stickers from each place to document their trip.

Students in Gaither High School's Little Wranglers program had set up stations for various countries or regions, such as Hispanic history, Asian art and French folktales. A musical stop allowed them to sing and dance to songs from several countries. At the end, they snacked on pizza rolls, tiny tacos and Colombian arepas for a "foreign foods" treat.

Asian art was Julian's favorite, he said, because he got to cut and decorate a Chinese lantern from construction paper.

"Can I take this home?" he asked.

Students in Gaither's early childhood program design lessons for children ages 3 to 5, under teacher Becky Burgue's supervision. The Little Wranglers attend preschool in the mornings at Gaither.

Kelly Myers, a high school senior, put together the multicultural theme as a project she plans to enter in a Family, Career and Community Leaders of America competition.

"I wanted to do multicultural because all the children have different cultures and backgrounds," she said.

Some of the children came in costume. Mariam Patel, whose family is from India, wore what the 4-year-old described as an "Indian princess dress" with intricate beading down the front. Sara Fernandez, 4, her mother, Martha, and her younger brother, Samuel, came in traditional Colombian outfits. Martha Fernandez shared the customs and traditions from her hometown with the class.

Myers, 18, worked with her classmates to set up the stations for different countries and recruited preschoolers' parents for help and to invite them to the event, held Jan. 29. She also distributed a feedback form so parents could critique the experience and recommend improvements.

She documented the day with her camera and will create a display about it for the contest. She plans to decorate it with a paper chain where families wrote their children's names and ethnic backgrounds - Irish, Italian, British, Puerto Rican, El Salvadoran, among others - on each strip.

Myers hopes to work at her aunt's day care center when she graduates.

"I love children, and I love working with them," she said.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503.

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