This year Central Valley Christian School (CVCS) put an emphasis on world awareness. Every week, students were given clues about a different country. The first to guess the correct location received a small prize. The Fall Festival was replaced with a World Faire that embraced many cultures and cuisines. Students had passports so they could have them stamped as they traveled “around the world." Some of the activities included “Sumo” wrestling (which included large balloons stuffed in large sweats), a treasure chest filled with sand for the Middle East, archery for England, knight’s jousting and a root beer garden for Germany. Students shared with visitors information they had learned about each country.
The fifth and sixth grades studied the ancient history of numerous countries around the world. Students were very excited when the local newspaper showed up to cover their Middle East Living Museum. The parents of Amy Carter, wife of CVCS seventh- and eighth-grade teacher Douglas Carter, were missionaries in Pakistan in the 1970s, and provided students with some dress-up material. “I feel strongly that the more we understand, the less we fear, and the less we fear, the less violence we have,” shared Lisa Sheldrake, the fifth- and sixth-grade teacher. Each child was assigned a different Middle Eastern country and shared an export from that country that visitors could touch or eat. Students left the museum with a new understanding: The Middle East, along with many other countries in the world, has beautiful customs and cuisine—not just war.
Faith Parrish hides under a burka as she shares about Iraq. Parrish doesn't know how the women can stand to wear such hot clothing.
