Craig School hosts first Diversity Night
Students and families sample food, song, dance and traditions from around the globe

While some students were learning the merengue, the national dance of the Dominican Republic, others were constructing paper boats in Thailand.
These were just a few of the activities Craig Elementary School students and their families enjoyed as they traveled the world during the school community’s first Diversity Night celebration.
While sitting at a small table in her kindergarten classroom teaching visitors a popular Thai game that is similar to jacks, teacher Stephanie Venerus credited Craig parents. “Response was wonderful,” she said. “So many of our students' parents volunteered their time to represent their home countries in our classrooms and teach others about their cultures and traditions.”
As in real life, travelers were required to follow certain rules during Diversity Night. They first had to pick up their passports, then they had to select the four countries they would most like to visit, having their passports stamped at each destination. Of course there was no running in the hallways, and all food had to be consumed in the cafeteria.
While visiting Israel, many students participated in a centuries-old Jewish tradition by writing their fondest wishes on slips of paper and placing them among the stones of a cardboard replica of the Western Wall. Others headed down the hall to China to test their hand-eye coordination skills in a game involving chop sticks, or around the corner to Africa to hear Nigerian folktales. Students stopped by the gym to learn an authentic Indian board game, dress in traditional garments and listen to pop and classical music of India. Several more classrooms offered plenty of hands-on opportunities making crafts and playing games native to Italy, Germany and Russia.
The cafeteria was a veritable smorgasbord of ethnic foods that was available for students and their families to sample, while the school stage came alive with music and dance from around the globe.
The evening was a real family affair. Middle school student Gabriel Holodak volunteered to play the bagpipes for the event because his younger sister attends Craig. “I was interested in the pipes and started playing two years ago,” said the Van Antwerp seventh-grader who is also a member of the Scotia-Glenville Pipe Band.
As the Niskayuna elementary school with perhaps the most diverse population, organizers were pleased with the outcome. “Diversity Night has been a goal of our school’s Shared Decision Making (SDM) Team,” said first-grade teacher Amy Morgan, an SDM member. “We’ve put quite a bit of thought, planning and effort into organizing it.”
Principal Bill Anders estimated that 200 students and their families braved the cold, snowy evening to attend Diversity Night, which itself may become a school tradition

(February 2007)