We are the world
at Central High

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes a look at how vast cultures come together with common dominators: Peace, friendship and education.
Central High School celebrated its 11th Annual International Day, on Jan. 31. This event, initiated by students, is one way to see how different cultures mesh together. The activities included decorated hallways, native dress, an international café, a bazaar, speakers, demonstrations, seminars, concerts and dance recitals, just to name a few.
Dr. Sheldon Pavel, Central’s president, and assistant principals Jackie Betof, Lynada Martinez and Reginald Speir and staff are proud of all their students for all their hard work. International Day is considered one of the most exciting days at Central each year.
According to Mr. Speir, “the event is a day-long celebration of the ways the world outside of our national borders impact students’ lives.”
“International Day is primarily a student organized and run day,” student coordinators Erica Gendall-Conrad, Lucy Fox and Maham Rizvi remarked in a mission statement. “Thank you to all of the students who have donated their time to help make this day run smoothly, including Jill Troyer, Micah Winterstein, Roni Mathew, Nhat-Khanh Truong, Tarek Khader, Jillian Barrett, and everyone else on the International Day committee.”
The Home and School Association, along with parents, also contributed time and money to this event.
With the help of the language department chairwoman, Ms. Lois Ginsberg, students from Central’s world language classes prepared dishes from all over the world. This year there were nearly 700 dishes as part of the biggest buffet in town.
“In my opinion, one of the most outstanding features of Central is our diversity. International Day is one of the most important days at Central for which we can honor and learn about world cultures,” remarked Ms. Ginsberg.
Each student who brought in a food dish must have had the name of the food, along with its ingredients, as well as the student’s name.
The café student assistants included student coordinator Monmoney Prak; Jeanette Coppinger; Angelica Santos; Molly Schenker; Trong Tang; Julianna Bursack; Robert Curtis; Christina George; Micaela Hernandez; Chantol Samuels; Leah Santos; and Lyle Brunhofer. Also, Mr. Barry Goldstein, a school counselor, was the faculty adviser to the multicultural committee (students), who directed the shows, which started the festivities of the day (dances, etc.).
The multicultural committee chair was Kate Menkenasunova. Vice chairs were Patricia Ferando, Agatha Santoso, Hoa Nguyen and Mikia Muhammad. They helped organize the African American Student Union, Apsara Khmer Association, Alba Soul, Asian Student Association, Indian Pakistani Cultural Organization and Spanish and Latino Students Association during the assembly.
The following topics and countries were represented by Central students within the classrooms. Their names were supplied to me by school faculty members, to pass along to all my readers. I hope everyone who was involved is included. If not, I apologize.
Albanian Culture - Diana Musaka, Kristela Salillari and Xhessixa Bardhi; Albania - Orela Suku; Cambodia and Immigration - Jammy Touch and Linda Meas; Cambodia and Southeast Asia - Chany Im; Culture and Language of Haiti - Loune-Jodbiatha Calixte; Genocide in Darfur, Sudan -Sahar Dinar; India - Marina Mathew; Roni Mathew and Shobitha Shaji; Israel - Christians, Muslims and Jews traveled with the “Common Ground Mission,” visiting major Israeli cities and speaking to local children as ambassadors of peace.
The following students shared their experiences: Angela Leonardo, Yonaton Laurence, Amna Saleem, Estee Rubien-Thomas, Gemma Tierney, Dante Lammendola and Umberto Ocasio; Italian Culture - Mafalda Dileonardo and Randi Hertz; Kyrgistani Culture - Munara Abdukakharova; Philippines - Patricia Fernando; Stereotypes- Beneath the Iceberg outlined the views of customs and cultures and attempted to expose the stereotypes of them: Preneat Prak, Jade Trinh, Annie Li and Vasomeleak Ly; Russia - Kate Menkenasunova; Ukrainian Dance - Rimma Gruber; Vietnam - Ngan Han
Guest speakers who took time off from their busy schedules to come to International day include:
• Lou Balcher, director of academic affairs at the Consulate General of Israel and coordinator of the Speaker’s Bureau for the Israel Consulate. His responsibilities include promoting Israel on campus and in communities in the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and New Jersey.
• Craig Bogan-El, an acclaimed instructor in a variety of dance forms. He led a workshop on Afro-fusion dance.
• Allison Budschalow, works for AFSC in the “Peace building unit.” She spoke on the topic, What the war in Iraq means to you.
• Nooreen Dabbish works at the University of Pennsylvania and discussed the influence of her profession and faith in Islam on her life today.
• Richard Erstad, an AFSC employee, focuses his work on Cuba and Latin-America. He spoke about Cuba today and how Cuba will face its future without Fidel Castro.
• Dr. Kurt O. Findeisen, a T’ai Chi Ch’uan instructor for 30 years, did demonstrations.
• Deena Gu, a universally recognized artist in Chinese painting. Gu has received numerous awards and prizes for her combination of traditional Chinese styles with contemporary American art. She demonstrated calligraphy.
• Dr. K. David Harrison, linguist and expert in endangered languages. He has done field work in Mongolia, Siberia, India and other places, most recently with National Geographic in Australia. A documentary film about his work entitled The Linguists recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
• Nehad Khader and Jacob Winterstein are knowledgeable activists who led a discussion on the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the situation today.
• Sharan Knoell, an American of German and Italian descent who currently works for the German Society of Philadelphia.
• Sang Lee, senior development associate for City Year, Greater Philadelphia, promotes the return of service through active community work. His traditional Korean upbringing influenced his belief in opening up opportunities for people across the globe.
• Peter Lems an Iraq associate at the American Friends Service Committee’s national office. As a member of the “Peace-building unit,” he has traveled to Syria and Jordan to better understand the situation in Iraq and the conditions of Iraqi refugees.
• Brendan O’Leary Lauder, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Nigeria and Ireland.
• Adrienne Poon and Anh Ha are members of Asian-Americans United (AAU), whose mission is to build leadership in Asian-American communities, to build neighborhoods, and unite against oppression. Their presentation focused on current issues in immigration.
• Heidi Mercado-Littles presented views of Chile, her native country, using a slideshow of images accompanied by song and guitar.
• Eleanor Linwood and Elizabeth Hall discussed Himalayan Singing Bowls, an ancient Tibetan art form.
• Mark Lyons is the author of the new book Mirrors and Windows: Oral Histories of Mexican Farm Workers and Their Families. He spoke about immigration issues.
• Joe Poon is a master chef of Asian cuisine. Poon has been a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
• Gaja Stirbys, a junior at Temple and first-generation Lithuanian- American. She is an active member of Habitat for Humanity.
• Umaru Sule is a representative of Heifer International and native of Cameroon, Mr. Sule discussed fighting illiteracy to end poverty in the world.
• Dante Toza spoke about growing up in China, immigrating to the United States, and her international travel and work in the field of radio news.
• Marge Van Cleef is adjunct professor at Cabrini College and a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, a group that works with women around the world. She has visited Liberia, Central America and Mexico, learning about how people live, their cultures, livelihood, educational practices and political systems.
• Consul Leo Vinovezky born in Rosario, Argentina, and immigrated to Israel in 1987. He served as an envoy in Argentina, fulfilled missions in Russia and Uzbekistan, worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, and served as consul and second secretary of Israel at the Israeli Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay. In 2006, he became consul at the office of Consulate General of Israel in Philadelphia.
Also new, this year, Central students will attempt to make a charitable effort by gathering financial contributions to support international causes selected by the classes: Seniors, Heifer International; juniors, Doctors Without Borders; sophomores, American Friends Service Committee; and freshmen, Darfur Alert. ••
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com