GARDEN GROVE : Students Get World Tour of Cultures

Watching a colorful pageant filled with exotic music, dances and costumes, about 540 elementary school students experienced a whirlwind cultural tour of 25 countries without ever leaving their campus.

Seated on the auditorium floor at Parkview Elementary School, the children clapped and giggled as their peers showed off traditional costumes of countries including France, the Philippines, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Jamaica and Mexico.

Called “Around the World,” the event was designed to offer students at the ethnically diverse school a glimpse of other cultures they know little about.

During each of three 40-minute shows, student models walked around, danced and spoke a few words in foreign languages while the audience listened to brief histories and facts about each of the countries represented.

Students said later that the show was as fun as it was informative.

“I learned that Germany is a pretty place, and I know the clothes they wear now,” said Kanani Leiatava, 11, who is part German and represented that country during the assembly.

Kanani, a sixth-grade student, said the assembly was important because it emphasized that “all people are equal no matter where you’re from. So people won’t make fun of you no matter what color you are, whether you’re black or Mexican. And they’ll talk to you and be your friend.”

During the portion that focused on Spain, two girls with tambourines danced to Spanish folk music and were quickly followed onto the stage by two boys acting out a bullfight with a stuffed toy bull. Later, the audience paid a “visit” to France and peeked at a replica of the Mona Lisa, which hangs in the Louvre.

The goal of the event was “to teach children to tolerate each other’s differences and learn how to be kind to one another,” said Ileana Gulmesoff, who produces the show for a fee at schools throughout Southern California.

For the assembly, teachers tried when possible to have students represent countries where they have relatives.

In doing so, many were surprised to find that students traced their families to more than 40 nations, said resource teacher Carole Shearn, adding, “It was really a nice experience.”

Dressed like a leprechaun in a bright green tunic and green pointed ears, Brandon Grenert, 11, said he was pleased to represent his ancestral home of Ireland.

Brandon, a sixth-grade student who lives in Garden Grove, said the show made other students “less prejudiced, because they actually learn how other (cultures) really are, instead of learning all the bad stuff about them.”

He added that because of the assembly, “I know a lot more about other countries. And I didn’t know before that there were so many different people and cultures. It’s kind of neat.”