St. Martin’s-In-The-Field Episcopal School Celebrates Global Diversity

St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School recently held its annual Lower School Global Fair. The event introduces students to diverse cultures, traditions, languages, and customs from around the world through a variety of creative and hands-on activities. This fosters an appreciation for global diversity and helps students understand the importance of cultural respect and inclusion. It also helps them connect the dots between the world around them and what they are learning in school. By learning about different parts of the world, children can develop a sense of responsibility as global citizens.

As part of the Global Fair study, students created displays, crafts and performances that reflected the culture they were studying. This year, students studied Canada, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Haiti and several countries in South America.

Kindergarten learned about the symbols of Canada, Canadian currency, totem poles, beaver dams and lodges, Royal Canadian Mounted Police or “Mounties,” and the Inuit Inukshuk.

First grade looked at Italian Christmas traditions and compared them to their holiday traditions. They explored the cities of Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Cocullo and more. They even tried making traditional pasta by hand.

Second grade navigated the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia, learning its geographic position on the globe, discovering the religion of Islam, studying the 300 varieties of dates, trying various camel-milk foods, and falling in love with their majestic desert camels.

Third grade studied Haiti, which had the world’s first republic governed by men of African descent. Students learned about Haiti’s food by cooking pineapple upside-down cake, tasting plantain chips and cola, and creating their own menus. They also put their research skills to use to learn about Haitian animals and created a PowerPoint presentation.

As a culminating Global Fair project, fourth-grade students researched a South American country of their choosing and created a PowerPoint touching on the culture, history, climate, animals, landmarks, famous people and animals of their country.

All the students’ artwork, presentations and displays were showcased at the Global Fair evening for parents and students. The event included a performance where each grade performed songs or dances, or presented information that they learned through this intensive, months-long interdisciplinary study.