March 23, 2005
Project takes participants around the world
TEACH Homeschool program features 58 students presenting research on countries and cultures
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Around the world in 80 stops - or 42 to be more precise.
Thursday evening, the basement gym of the Immanuel Baptist Church was transformed into a bazaar of culture, food, traditional dress and information on countries and cultures from around the world. The TEACH homeschool group hosted the Around the World Fair for the second year, as 58 children of group members showcased their research about a favorite country or culture.
Participant interest spanned the globe: from Australia to Afghanistan, Ireland to Italy and Grenada to Greenland. Some of the countries drew multiple reporters, with Germany fielding four tables, Mexico and Japan three each, Russia and Saudi Arabia two. Even obscure Mongolia interested two groups of students.
Epochal times in history also drew student's interest, as families delved into Ancient Rome or Egypt, with another weighing in on the Wild West era of American history.
Many times the country or culture chosen had a connection to the student through family members or heritage.
Brittany Erickson, 12, completed a display on Afghanistan in honor of her uncle, a former Navy SEAL who is a bodyguard to President Hamid Karazai. Erickson used the Internet and the encyclopedia as well as her uncle's first-hand accounts of the country in her written reports on the economy, culture, religion and language.
Her table also included a flag that had flown over the palace, maps, currency, pictures of her uncle on duty and a tape recording of the country's national anthem. She and her grandmother, Carolyn, who homeschools her, also made a traditional Afghan meat dish to share with attendees.
"Putting it together really helped me learn about Afghanistan," said the tenth-grade student from Frankfort, who wore a traditional silk headscarf sent by her uncle. "I was astounded about the things I found out: I knew there was really unfairness to women but I didn't realize how much."
Kaycie Susan picked Bolivia because her father grew up there. The tenth-grade student worked on her table, which featured an extensive display of information and items about the Bolivian people and culture, for a month. She carved out Fridays for her research and put together an authentic Bolivian costume for the event.
"It was difficult because I was trying to think of things that would catch people's attention," she noted of one aspect of the project.
Organizers of the Around the World Fair created a realistic venue: they set up a framework resembling a metal detector at the entryway to the gym. Each attendee received a passport upon arrival, listing countries and the students presenting them. The countries listed in the passport as well as the tables in the room were grouped geographically, by region or continent.
As attendees visited each display, students stamped their passport. Another authentic touch was a stewardess circulating the room with a cart, dispensing cups of water and juice to thirsty 'travelers.' The beverages were welcome as most tables included samples of foods from country; attendees sampled everything from curry to sushi to chips and salsa to coconut candy.
Seventh grader Jake Snow knows just about all there is to know about Greenland after putting together his project, which included photographs, maps, history and geography. He discussed the country's origins, indigenous peoples, settlement by Europeans, its colonial period and the modern political evolution.
"I had a lot of fun," said Snow, whose sister, Brittany, completed a report on Saudi Arabia. "I picked Greenland because I like the ruggedness and the terrain."
Many of the collaborations on countries were by siblings. Some, however, were completed by friends, such as James Keyser and Christian Stegmann who worked together on Mongolia. In addition to constructing a miniature yurt - a traditional form of shelter - out of K'NEX and cloth, the fifth- grade students made a custom stamp of their country's outline for stamping passports, crafted a traditional Mongolian hat each and brought a dish for sampling.
"It's been really fun for them, because they could work together," said Nancy Keyser, James' mom.