By Linda Cheung
During the week of March 14, a variety of cultures flooded New Hyde Park Memorial High School. From different nations' music being played between class periods to ethnic clothing and food being shared in classrooms, students and teachers celebrated the learning of new languages and demonstrated the importance of studying them. Posters displaying words in different languages and flags representing a variety of countries and nationalities were plastered around every hallway. Students even participated in sports such as Bocce, which is Italian lawn bowling, and learned dances such as Bachata, a style of dance that originated in the Dominican Republic.
“World Languages Week is a wonderful celebration because students get to learn about other cultures through activities such as dancing, food tasting, movies in different languages," Spanish Club adviser Ms. Pincay said. "As a language teacher and an adviser, I enjoy planning cultural activities that are fun for students. Learning about cultures and speaking another language is very important in today's world."
“My favorite part might have been the dancing and the music. I had a great time, and I would definitely be glad to do it again...”
Source from Christina Tsigos
Students have a party with all different cultural foods to celebrate the end of World Languages Week.
“During World Language Culture Night we all had so much fun! Many things happened from dancing to games and eating. My favorite part might have been the dancing and the music. I had a great time and I would definitely be glad to do it again!” sophomore Jaiden Thomas said.
The celebration concluded with raffle ticket announcements, with multiple gift cards, a laptop and a Nintendo Switch being awarded.
“I thought I wouldn’t have won [the Nintendo Switch]. I only bought one ticket, so the odds were incredibly low. I thought I had read my ticket number wrong and that it should have belonged to someone else. Overall, I feel very lucky to have won it and I am grateful,” sophomore Varun Pillai said.
Source by Hannah Kim
Students spent their night dancing to all different types of music from numerous cultures.
World Languages Week would definitely not have been as successful as it was if it were not for the extensive planning of the language department and clubs. Advisers and officers for the world language clubs met many mornings before the start of the school day in order to plan and set up for Culture Night.
“This year we were instructed to do a combined celebration between the Spanish Club, the Italian Club and the French Club. Mrs. Maniscalchi, Mr. Pierre, Mr. Rutigliano and myself met with the officers of all three clubs to plan a 'World Languages Celebration,'" Ms. Pincay said. "We had several meetings before school, and we assigned shopping lists to each club, plan the food and the decorations. We worked together very harmoniously, and the turnout was amazing. I am happy with the results, and the students had an amazing time enjoying a wonderful cultural night.”
“This year’s World Languages Week was definitely in contrast to previous years. Of course, we still celebrated by decorating the foreign language hallway and hanging up posters; however, the thought of World Language Culture Night originated this year," Spanish Club vice president Matthew Zatz said. "In the past, the foreign language clubs, Spanish, French and Italian Clubs, all held separate events. This year, we hosted one big party to celebrate world languages."
This year’s celebration of languages was one to remember. Students were not only able to share their own culture but also learn about others, successfully embodying the theme for this year’s World Languages Week: “Celebrate humanity through language.”
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