Connecticut College students have become an active presence in the New London community, especially with the hundreds of school-aged children in the city. On Friday, February 22, over seventy fifth graders from the Winthrop Magnet Elementary School, along with their teachers and parent chaperones, visited Conn for the third annual International Children’s Expo. Organized by Pablo Tutillo ’13, the event included over forty Conn language students from languages such as Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Hebrew, Italian, German, Arabic and French who volunteered for four hours to teach the students basic elements of another language and culture. The day was just as rewarding for the children from Winthrop as it was for the Conn students, and represented an opportunity for the Connecticut College volunteers (many of them first-year language students) to share what they have learned so far.
The event began with Tutillo asking the students what they believed to be the importance of learning about other languages and cultures. The answers the students gave ranged from “being able to understand what other people are saying in another language” to “getting to travel to other places.” When asked how many of the students already spoke another language, about one-third raised their hands. Personally, I was worried about having to teach Russian to ten- and eleven-year-olds; the thought of them not listening, goofing off and overall not taking our lesson plan seriously were my main concerns. However, I was extremely surprised not only by how well-behaved the students were, but also by how genuinely interested they were in the subject matter and how willing they were to try to pronounce the difficult words we asked of them. Clearly, this was a group of students who had already been exposed to diversity in culture and understood not only the importance of it, but also just how enjoyable learning about such diversity can be.
This year, the Expo had another theme besides diversity of language and culture: environmental sustainability. The students were read a story that ultimately stressed how young students like themselves have the ability to create positive change when it comes to the environment, and these changes can be as simple as recycling old class papers or using an entire notebook before buying a new one. On a larger scale, both the story and the setting in which it was read emphasized that protecting the environment is an idea that transcends all languages and cultures, and is something that everyone should take part in and feel strongly about.
The entire Expo event took up three rooms in Cro, and the students were split up into smaller groups that rotated through three of the nine represented languages. At the Russian table, we accentuated the importance of learning the Cyrillic alphabet and common Russian phrases, along with the Russian version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” but every group had their own plan; the Hebrew team taught the students how to play Ga-ga (similar to dodgeball) while the Spanish team played music and taught the students how to do the salsa. With the use of handouts and brightly decorated posters, each language team was able to create a lesson plan that got across some basic elements of their language and culture in whatever way they saw fit.
If my biggest worry was how the Winthrop students were going to handle learning Russian from a group of Russian students who are only introductory level ourselves, my second biggest worry was how all seventy students, plus their teachers and parents, would manage to eat lunch in Harris. Like a small and rambunctious army, around 11:00 we made our way towards the Plex. The students were told that while they could eat as much food from Harris as they wanted, to remember the theme of today: don’t waste. Keeping that in mind, the Winthrop students enjoyed what was probably one of the most exciting school lunches they’ve ever had. The waffle makers were put to good use, and the line for the soda fountain was the longest I’ve ever seen. On the way back from lunch to Cro, one boy complained that his stomach was hurting – dessert for him consisted of chocolate ice cream first in a bowl and then more in a cone. At this point, I couldn’t decide which the students enjoyed more–the learning in Cro or the all-you-can-eat buffet in Harris.
After one more rotation among the stations, the Winthrop students and Conn students were all brought back together to talk about what they had gained from the experience. Winthrop students were able to go on to the stage and speak into the microphone about making origami with the Japanese team and learning how to say different colors in Chinese. The Conn language volunteers were also able to reflect on their favorite parts of the day. Sara Kohlberg ’16 from the Arabic team said “My favorite part of the Expo was during the end of the program when all the kids went up and said their favorite part of the day and one boy went up and introduced himself to everyone in Arabic. I felt like such a proud momma!” Kaitlin Cunningham ’16 from the Russian table added that “The most rewarding part was when a boy came up to me after and said he wanted to go to Conn when he was older and learn more Russian.”
The International Children’s Expo was a huge undertaking that was organized and executed flawlessly. This resulted in a memorable day for both the students of the Winthrop Magnet Elementary School and the many language students from Conn who spent the day working with them. Clearly, all it takes to create a great day of language and cultural learning is a little patience, some great activities and a lot of Harris food.
