WORTHINGTON - Students at Worthington Middle School orchestrated and participated in the school’s first Multi-Cultural Fair Friday.
Students representing 19 different countries and cultures shared customs, food and information with their fellow classmates. Molly Scheidt, co-advisor of the WMS Student Council, said the fair has been a work in progress this school year.
Early on in the year, the student council identified the fair as a project it wanted to complete and scheduled it tentatively for the spring.
“We know that our middle school contains tons of cultures,” Scheidt said. “But (the fair) is to get them to see them, know them, understand them.”
Scheidt and co-advisor Kelly Moon were very hands-off on the project, instead trusting the students to make the arrangements with the principal and organize the entire event. Scheidt said council members reached out to EL students to ask if they would be willing to share information about their cultures with the other students.
Ayantu Uli and her sister, Chaltu, were joined by their family to share their Oromo culture.
“(I liked) telling them about our culture and our food,” Ayantu shared.
Both sisters were dressed in traditional Oromo apparel. Chaltu explained that the headbands the girls were sporting are worn by the women of their culture, and the colors of their outfits represented the Oromo flag.
The hard work certainly paid off as students traveled around the gymnasium with their “passports” to Germany, El Salvador, Norway, Mexico and more.
“It’s been amazing,” Scheidt said. “Kids have been absolutely fantastic trying everything and learning about each and every person. … They’ve exceeded all of our expectations.”
After the success of this year’s fair, the event will become an annual one for WMS. Scheidt said the event will hopefully be open to the public next year.
