On February 15, the students of Farmington Elementary celebrated International Day. This is a long standing tradition at Farmington and has become a loved day among our students. The countries featured this year were Italy, France, Ethiopia, Scotland, and Australia.

The purpose of the day is to expose students to different countries and their cultures, food, history, special landforms, and activities. Each student traveled with their very own passport that contained their picture, date of birth, and place of birth. As they traveled throughout the day they collected a passport stamp at each destination. It was cute to see students admiring old passport stamps and sharing what they had learned from past years.

The day wouldn’t be possible without all of the support of staff, families, and community members. Our teachers plan out fun powerpoints and activities for each class to do as they rotate to their country. Our wonderful Mrs. Fross also prepared all of the student passports for the day. Many family members also joined us that day to act as tour guides, stamp passports, and help with craft activities. Without all of this help, we wouldn’t have been able to have such a successful day.

The students began the day by decorating their “suitcases,” or travel bags donated by MarVal. With suitcases and passports in hand their tour guide lead each class from destination to destination. Most teachers began each rotation with a short powerpoint about their respective country, followed by an activity booklet and a craft of some sort.

To close the trip to each destination, the students had the opportunity to try a food item that represented the country. At the end of each rotation the international travelers would be instructed to pack their suitcases, grab their passports and get ready to fly to their next destination. While they moved from classroom to classroom, students moved to the music of “It’s a small world.”

The students made so many memories that day as they had a fun day of interactive learning. In Australia, Mrs. Fox had boomerang crafts for the students to make. Ms. Prins shared all about her time in Ethiopia. The students enjoyed hearing about the music instruments and special tea ceremonies. In France, Mrs. Ferroni treated the students to their very own Eiffel Tower souvenir. In Scotland, the students enjoyed creating their own special clan blanket with Ms. Parrish. In Italy, the students enjoyed learning about life as a child in Italy and making flag hats with Mrs. Egusquiza. These were just a few of Farmington’s International Day highlights.

Principally Speaking is a monthly article, contributed by principals from Escalon Unified School District sites, throughout the school year. It is designed to update the community on school events and activities.