Students share what they've learned about states and nations

Students from William Johnson Seventh-day Adventist School in Hickory joined their counterparts from Silver Creek Seventh-day Adventist School for an International Fair at the school on Jamestown Road.
Sunday's event offered sights and sounds, along with tasty treats, from around the globe.
"This is our first year doing a multi-cultural fair," said Wanda Beck, principal of Silver Creek. "Last year we did a science fair."
The two schools' working together isn't anything new, though.
Beck said, "We have different events we try to get our schools together for."
During the International Fair, some students studied a particular U.S. state while others concentrated on other countries. The International Fair provided opportunities to learn about various lands and to get a taste of the foods from many. The homemade samples ranged from biscuits and gravy and pie a la mode to rice punch from North Korea and watalappan from Thailand. Some gave theirs away free; some requested donations.
Beck explained, "My students are trying to raise money for an educational trip to Florida to see the space shuttle launch." In addition to sightseeing, the students will create photo journal as a classroom assignment.
Silver Creek student Samantha Vess made biscuits and gravy for her presentation on North Carolina.
"I thought it would be interesting to learn more about my own state," she explained.
Juliette Orosco, a 10-year-old from William Johnson, made a presentation on Thailand. She prepared watalappan with coconut milk, vanilla, cinnamon and a few other ingredients and said most folks liked the exotic taste.
"The most interesting part would be that I learned about the Buddhists' statues that some are girls and the people wear bright colors on special days," she said.
Sharon Mahorney, who sampled Orosco's food, said, "I think the children have learned quite a lot about what their country or state is like and identified with it. This is hands-on learning."
After studying Croatia, Madison Trubey from Silver Creek dressed in that nation's typical sport attire.
"We studied about Croatia in history and I thought it was interesting about their culture and how it took them a long time declaring their independence," she said, adding, "I like soccer, which is one of their biggest sports."
Trubey was accepting donations for her trip. She served a pastry with strawberries, nuts and apricots.
Sherri McCart said she learned that Romanian children only go to school for 11 years. She said she found all of the food delicious. "The international fair is interesting and I have had a good time," she added.
A fourth grader, Cindy Vidal-Aquino, from William Johnson, dressed in a beautiful lilac dress and matching purse from South Korea. The attire was on loan from her mother's boss. The rest of her display included actual items sent to her from her uncle stationed in Okinawa.
"He flew to South Korea and got some items for me," Vidal-Aquino said.
She was most impressed with how the children are revered in South Korea.
"I found some interesting things about children in South Korea. They have two birthdays. They celebrate the day they are born and 100 days later, because children didn't use to live that long and if they lived to 100 days old they knew they would become adults," she stated.
Vidal-Aquino said Childrens Day is observed as well as Parents Day in South Korea.
"Almost everything is closed on Childrens Day," she said, "but almost nothing is closed on Parents Day."
Beck meticulously scored her students in grades 7-9 who made presentations during the event. Most, however, presented their topic through PowerPoint.
"There were criteria they must meet for their presentation, including facts about the country's history, geography, government and politics and they must give a self-evaluation," she said.
Beck said her students many times found themselves encountering other languages and trying to decipher what information they needed to share.
"The Seventh-day Adventist Church has missions and churches in other lands and they do have churches in all of the countries represented," Beck noted.
People unable to attend the International Fair, but who would like to help support the students' educational trip, may contact Wanda Beck at Silver Creek Seventh-day Adventist School, (828) 584-3010.