By Joyce DeWallace, Contributing Writer
Westborough – Drums were pounding in a transient drum circle led by Otha Day. Children were dressed in ethnic costumes. Parents were serving samples of exotic cuisine. It all happened at the Multi-Cultural Fair held recently at the Hastings Elementary School. This was a celebration of all the cultures that are represented by Hastings’ families. There were current and former student performers singing and dancing. The school was divided into regions, and guests were issued passports to travel the world.
Principal Leigh Ann Becker explained.
“Hastings School community is rich with cultural diversity,” she said. “More than 30 percent of our students speak more than one language. What makes us different is what make us interesting. Rather than simply accepting our differences, the Multi-Cultural Fair gives students and families an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the diverse cultural backgrounds that make us who we are.”
Liana Desio, a parent member of the Hastings School Council, spearheaded the operation, and worked tirelessly to organize the fair. Other parents decorated the various countries or continents that rimmed the perimeter of the building. Asia featured a traditional Korean board game and Vietnamese currency. The Americas section had selections from Mexico and Puerto Rico. In China, tables were set up to display a variety of Chinese symbols, like its flag, while in Africa, there was Kenyan money and a flag from that country. Europe focused on some of the more “unusual” countries – Austria, Russia and Albania. The final country on the roadmap was India, where many students and parents were arrayed in elaborate costumes.
Throughout the building, there were organized crafts, unusual games, and even a Chinese yo-yo demonstration.
Every passport station was manned by volunteers who stamped each passport. The heritage posters located at these stations supplied answers to a scavenger hunt, with chances to win prizes. Throngs of parents and children roamed the halls in their quest to get their passports stamped and complete the scavenger hunt.
The school has 430 students from pre-school to grade 3 who represent about 30 different nationalities.
“Our Multi-Cultural Fair is a way for everyone to shine and show off their heritage,” Becker said. “It's a way to understand each other, to celebrate our different cultures and traditions.”
The program was sponsored in part through a grant from the Westborough Cultural Council, which is supported by the state's Massachusetts Cultural Council.