New York
School Fest Celebrates All Things Costa
Rican
By Pat Kinney
MORAVIA (New York) - Millard Fillmore
Elementary School's Costa Rica Festival
today will celebrate biodiversity,
Costa Rican culture and history and the
effects of our choices on our world economy
and environment.
The public is invited to the event, which
runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the school.
There will be two performances of Jan
Brett's "The Umbrella," as well as Latin
American dancing, at 9:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.
in the cafeteria.
Throughout the day, second- and fifth-grade
students will have displays and performances
in their classrooms and in the hallways
featuring the various ways they've explored
Costa Rica.
Second-grade students have explored a unique
Central American art form called molas. Each
student created their own mola, using animal
motifs found in Costa Rica. Students also
created three-dimensional paper masks that
explore the various adaptations of Costa
Rican birds.
Second-graders have also been learning about
the impact that non-sustainable choices have
had on the rainforest, creating displays
that show the effects of damaging choices in
land and water management on animals and the
land.
Fifth-grade students in Trish Genson's class
- who have been studying Costa Rican myths,
fairy tales and fables - will perform two
Costa Rican stories - "When Woman Becomes
the Sea" and "The Sleeping Bread."
Jim VanArsdale's fifth-graders have been
working with the school's stage band and
teacher Chris Little to highlight the
history of Costa Rican music, showing how
the sounds and rhythms are present in our
pop music today.
Jeff Porter's fifth-grade students
researched pre-Columbian weapons and
warfare, and they will explain what weapons
that were used then. The class will also
model costumes they have made and serve
samples of typical Costa Rican food.
The Costa Rica project has been enriched by
the talents of Holly Adams, a teaching
theater artist, who has worked with the
school for eight years on a variety of Arts
in Education projects. Another guest artist,
Jorge Cuevas, a teaching Latin American
dance and music artist, helped the students
learn more about the culture of Costa Rica.
The project was supported by an ArtStart
Grant through Partners for Arts Education,
the Millard Fillmore Elementary Student
Council, the McDonald's Corp. through a MAC
grant and Moravia Central School.
For more information about the June 10
event, contact the school at (315) 497-2670. |
