Festival Teaches Students About Different Cultures

Emily Eder and Natalie Kenly, both dressed in silk-screened robes, looked like Japanese geishas as they performed a traditional dance Friday at a multicultural festival at Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies.

The 13-year-olds were among some 500 sixth- and seventh-graders taking part in the fourth annual Multicultural Medieval Faire at the LAUSD magnet school.

The older students hosted the event to promote cultural awareness among the younger students.

Seventh-graders donned traditional costumes, played games, made crafts and served ethnic foods from booths showcasing Medieval European, African, Asian and Central and South American culture.

“[The festival] gives me background information on where other students in my school came from,” Emily said during a break between performances.

Natalie agreed, saying, “I think it will be helpful to know things about other cultures.”

In addition to watching the girls’ Japanese dance, the sixth-graders also ate Aztec chocolate, made Chinese block prints, teed off on a mock Scottish golf course and made African hand stamps.

“We used to have an international lunch and listen to oral reports, and it was so boring,” said English teacher Judy Plouff, an event organizer.

“Now, each booth has a game, a craft or food,” she said. “So it’s not just come, look, walk around and be bored--it’s very interactive.”

The festival wasn’t just for fun, said Susan Hostler, a history teacher and another event organizer.

The seventh-graders were being graded on their booths, signs, displays, products, costumes, information cards, attitude and the design of the stamps they made to mark “passports” used by the younger students as they “traveled” from nation to nation.

The festival was the culmination of a yearlong study of cultures, Hostler said.

“I hope they internalize the knowledge they have gained over the year,” she said. “They have had a personal, up-close look at history, and hopefully it will become deep-seated.”

Seventh-grader David Sherman, 12, who was showing sixth-graders how to play a Chinese board game, appeared to have gotten the message.

“I learned about what was important to the Chinese: religion, nature and culture,” he said. “If I ever go to China, I’ll know what to expect.”