WRH Students Travel The World During First Cultural Diversity Expo

By Matt Wiley

In the classic 1873 novel by Jules Verne, an Englishman attempts to travel “Around the World in 80 Days.” At Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH, located off Mansfield Blvd. in Wesley Chapel), students recently were able to accomplish a similarly impressive feat in a single class period.

On February 26, WRH students were treated to a taste of different cultures from around the globe during the school’s inaugural Diversity & Cultural Expo in the WRH gymnasium. During the three-class-period event, students made their way through the gym, which was lined with student-created presentations from 14 different countries.

“Each year, we try do something for Black History Month,” said WRH assistant principal Shauntte Butcher. “Two years ago we did a ‘living museum’ and the students really liked it. This year we wanted to do something a little different to get more students involved and represent more cultures.”

Instead of focusing on just Black History Month, Butcher said that the idea came up to do an “expo” that would showcase different cultures from around the world, including those represented in the student population. Teachers were asked to “sponsor” a country and have their students put together a short presentation for each one.

Butcher said that presenting students were tasked with being able to tell their classmates how to say “hello” in their respective country’s native language, tell about its customs and climate, display its flag and come up with something fun and unique to show off. Many even had a little something to eat (such as simple pastries for the exhibit about France), thanks to the students in WRH’s Culinary Arts program, directed by Chef Raymond Webb. 

Some students dressed up in garments traditional to their respective countries to give their colleagues an idea of what is worn in that part of the world.

WRH junior Priyanka Christian and senior Deepthi Barghese donned colorful, flowing traditional Indian garb and performed a dance for the entire gym several times throughout the event.

“We chose to do a dance for India,” Christian explained. “Others are presenting or showing a slideshow (for their countries), but we wanted to do a dance.”

Barghese said that to choreograph the dance, they looked up some traditional Indian dances and put them all together.

“We learned (our dance) in two days,” she said, adding that in between dances, they also worked the India booth with fellow classmates.

However, the day wasn’t all fun and games and the event actually counted as an assignment for each student’s history, foreign language or English classes. At the gym door, students were presented with “Passports” that they would carry with them to each booth. 

While listening to each presentation, the students were told to take notes, so they would be able to write about the experience in class. They also had to be able to answer a question asked by the presenting students for each country. If they did so successfully, they received a “stamp” on their passport, showing that they had ‘visited’ that country. 

“It’s a celebration of different cultures,” said WRH senior Josie Poppolino, who gave out the Passports to her fellow students at the gym door and explained the “tour” process to them. “There are students dressed up, talking about history and culture. It’s fun.”

WRH intensive reading teacher Iveta Maska had her class help represent her native country. “Our display was all about the Czech Republic and its literature,” said Maska, who explained that she came to the U.S. with her parents when she was five years old. The display featured books from Czech Republic authors, as well as some animation and a slideshow that displayed scenes from the country.

Maska said that she tries to blend some aspects of her Czech Republic culture into her lessons.

“They’re always asking, ‘Why do you have this custom?,’” Maska explained. “(The Expo) is a good way to get the kids thinking about how there’s more out there (in the world) than just what’s happening here in Wesley Chapel, and they have a blast.”

For more information, please visit WRHS.Pasco.k12.fl.us.