Battle Creek Times

On Wednesday, December 21, Springfield Middle School (SMS) hosted its first-ever Culture Fair and saw an impressive turnout. Since the start of the school year, SMS students and staff have been preparing for the event by learning about the many cultures represented in the Battle Creek community, putting together presentations about each culture, and planning the logistics. Highlighting nearly a dozen local cultures, the event included food, community partner booths, student visual presentations, dance presentations, and raffle drawings.

Springfield 8th grader Leslie Hernandez said she was excited to host the event to help increase cultural appreciation in the school and community. "I hope through this event, the rest of our school can learn to open up their hearts and minds to understand and truly respect other cultures in the community," she said.

Fremont International Academy 3rd grader Liam Hunt, who attended the event, shared that it got him excited and thinking about visiting some different countries. "I got to learn more about Pelé from Brazil, I learned that Mexico has 69 different native languages, and the German desserts were the best part," he said, adding, "I hope they do this again next year!"

BCPS English Learner (EL) Coordinator Oscar Neto attended, representing his country (Brazil) at one of the tables. He said he enjoyed participating but was particularly proud to see how the staff of SMS came together to ensure students from every culture are seen and heard. "I'd like to offer special thanks to Catherine Bieberich, Rosa Guerrero-Robles, Nilen Par, Gianna Ferazzi, Sierra Blair, and everyone at Springfield Middle School for making the culture fair a huge success," he said. "I had a great time representing my country, and I am happy that students and families were given the opportunity to learn about different countries. Thank you for celebrating the diversity in our community." 

Original source can be found here.