Collegeville School recently celebrated International Day. 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 students began the day by decorating their “suitcases,” or travel bags, donated by Big Boy Market. 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. At some stops, the students had the opportunity to try a food item that represented the country. At the end of each rotation the international travelers would hear “It’s a Small World After All,” and would be instructed to pack their suitcases, grab their passports and get ready to fly to their next destination. Some stops even provided students with plane ticket to the next destination for the day.

The students made so many memories that day as they had a fun day of interactive learning. In Mexico, the students enjoyed the dancing and Mexican bread. The students loved creating fans in China as well as eating their fortune cookies. In Italy, the students loved all of the interactive videos about the country. The students finished their tour of Italy by creating a hat with the flag of Italy. In Thailand the students loved creating a beautiful elephant picture. When students visited Canada, they enjoyed learning all about Canada and seeing all of the items Mrs. Moreno got on her trip. Google Earth stole the show in Peru. Students enjoyed using the app to explore Peru, its many features, and its relationship and distance from Escalon. The students also had a great time basket weaving in Peru. The final destination was Ireland. In Ireland, students practiced dancing the traditional riverdance steps. All students loved dancing and we have some very impressive dancers at Collegeville! These were just a few of Collegeville’s International Day’s 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.