Photo by Michelle J. Nealy. Students from Shane Kurtz, Melissa Moore and Dhanalakshmi Sundar’s sixth grade class perform a skit titled “The Seven Chinese Brothers” during Community Day at Paint Branch Elementary School.

Published on: Wednesday, June 02, 2010

By Michelle J. Nealy

Students at Paint Branch Elementary school in College Park, took local residents on a trip Friday, using a montage of artwork, cultural performances and informational packets.

The destinations included the restaurants of China and Mexico and the rain forests of Brazil.

Walls adorned with pictures of China’s koala bears and Brazil’s toucans, chopsticks and colorful masks met spectators at every corner of the corridor leading to Tiffany Bolden’s third grade classroom.

As part of the school’s second annual Community Day, parents, teachers and residents watched as students presented their class projects centered around international themes.

“I learned that the money in China is called yen, and that the money in Brazil is called real,” said third-grade student Davijyuan Foreman.

Keyla Velasquez, another student, explained that that the masks taped to the wall were worn with elaborate costumes during carnival in Brazil.

The energy in Paint Branch school was electric as teachers and students, dressed in Chinese garb, whizzed through hallways and classrooms showing off their work.

Students sitting in the audience of Paint Branch’s multipurpose room zealously applauded for other students who performed a variety of skits, dances and poems on stage.

Dressed in Chinese kimonos pre-kindergarten students performed the “Chinese Umbrella and Fan Dance” in front of a hand-crafted Great Wall of China backdrop.

Students from Lydia Laidlow’s first-grade class pranced around the stage wearing their favorite pajamas while performing a rendition of Shel Silversten’s poem “Sick.”

“‘I cannot go to school today,’ said little Peggy Ann McKay. ‘I have the measles and the mumps, gash, a rash and purple bumps. My mouth is wet, my throat is dry, I’m going blind in my right eye,’” the students recited in concert.

“Community Day is a day that we showcase the work that our students have done all year,” said Zara Berry-Young, the school’s Community Day coordinator. “We have project-based learning, meaning that students produce the things that they learn through artifacts and performances. On Community Day we want to invite the community to come in and see what we’ve been doing.”

This year, Paint Branch intertwined various aspects of Chinese culture into all of their curriculum as part of a partnership with the University of Maryland’s Confucius Institute.

In 2009, Paint Branch partnered with the Confucius Institute to broaden students’ international focus.

As part of the partnership, the Institute sponsored a full-time Chinese language teacher and assisted the school in taking about 50 students and chaperones to China in March.

“The big focus in education right now is international education,” said Paint Branch Principal Jay B. Teston. “We no longer have to prepare children to be competitive in the local market. But they have to be prepared to compete in the global market. In the community of nations, China has come out of its shell in terms of participating in global activities, so it behooves our children to get to know China.”

The partnership aims to promote the teaching and learning of the Chinese language and culture.

“China has the largest population in the world,” said Alan Cheung, director of the Confucius Institute.

“They are going to have the second largest economy in the world. They are a strong partner as well as competitor with us. [Millions of] Chinese are learning English, and their students probably know more about us than many of our students know about China.

To compete, we have to prepare our students for fluency and proficiency in the Chinese language as well as Chinese culture.”

Representatives from Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation, University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and College Park’s Youth and Family Services were also on hand to share information about their programs and upcoming events.

Partnerships with community organizations build strong community bridges, said Berry-Young. “We want to be a hub for the community and reach not just students but families. If you have healthy families, you have healthy students.”