Via Krista Vanourny:

On Friday, March 6th, Hunnewell Elementary School held its 1st Multicultural Night to celebrate the many diverse cultural backgrounds of Hunnewell families. Over 20 countries were represented throughout the evening through classroom displays, food, music, videos and performances.

The event started with an African Drums welcome performed by Mamadou, which included Hunnewell dad drummers. There was also a group dance that accompanied the drums, where a handful of Hunnewell students, parents, teachers and Principal Ellen Quirk all performed a choreographed dance.

Students were then given passports to travel around Hunnewell to the 20 different “countries” that were set-up around the school in various classrooms. The countries were represented by families who had either grown up in those countries or had lived there at one point.

Just to name a few of the many wonderful things “travelers” experienced in the country rooms: trying Pavlova in Australia, making crowns in England, winning an Olympic medal in Greece, tasting fondue in Switzerland, eating waffles in Norway, having henna tattoos done in India, tasting Persian ice cream in Iran, making potato stamp art in Ghana, playing the drums in Niger, eating popcorn in Ethiopia, having their names written in Chinese characters in China/Taiwan, seeing traditional dresses in Morocco, trying wontons in Cambodia, tasting lemon Anginetti cookies in Italy, playing a language game in Germany, learning about the alphabet in Croatia, playing a nesting doll game in Russia, sampling choco pies in Korea, appreciating African American heritage in the U.S., eating empanadas in Venezuela and much, much more!

At the end of the night, everyone gathered in the gym and watched 3 wonderful performances by Hunnewell students. They also watched a traditional Chinese “Lion Dance,” performed by Calvin Chin’s Academy. And the final performance was an energetic dance routine by an Indian group called Boston Bhangra. They had everyone on their feet dancing by the end.