Students taking Spanish 3H (a class offered for sophomore honors students) with teacher Kelle Barth get to enjoy a fun and festive project consisting of bringing food in that represents them and/or their culture each year. This project allows students to express themselves and show their different, unique traditions. Students of various cultures have the opportunity to share their traditions. For this project, students bring food to share that is special to them. Sophomore Liam Raykis said, “I think [this project] exposes us to different cultures, and it was fun getting to learn and hear about different ways people celebrate different holidays. My favorite part about this project was getting to try and eat so many cool foods.”
Students’ foods were correlated to a specific holiday, which allowed peers to have a taste of other traditions and to learn. Barth said, “I think this project has a positive impact because it allows students to learn about different cultures and traditions in a respectful way while using the target language. By listening to classmates share their holidays and food, students gain a better understanding of one another and become more open-minded. It also helps build a sense of community in the classroom because everyone feels valued and heard. We really enjoyed sharing foods from each other’s homes that are important to culture and family.”
Sophomore Lily Cooper said, “I think it was very interesting getting to see everyone’s holiday traditions and the food they eat, and I got to try new foods that I have never even heard of before.” According to Shelli Tetelman, a sophomore, “This project was really interesting and helped me learn a lot about other people’s cultures. I think it was important to experience how other people celebrate certain holidays that are special to them.”
Some of the holidays celebrated that were presented included Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Hannukah. Barth added, “This project is inclusive because all students have the opportunity to share something important from their own background, no matter their culture or tradition, and something I liked most about this project was learning about traditions that are different from my own.”
