TUSTIN : Enjoying a World of Flavors at Fair

In her native Pampanga in the Philippines, a tostada is a crunchy piece of bread intentionally left in the oven long enough to be slightly burned.

So 13-year-old Josielyn Salenga was surprised when the Mexican tostada at her seventh-grade booth came with beans, shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and salsa.

But her joy of finding something new and different was exactly the idea behind the international fair Friday at A.G. Currie Middle School that featured a variety of exotic foods from many nations.

While rap music and Latin dance tunes blared on a portable stereo system, students sampled pizza, Danish and German pastries, Mexican tacos and tostadas, American and French cookies.

Sixth-grade classmates Hsing Liang, Tony Artiega and Fabian Lopez loved the Chinese fried rice prepared by the mother of Esther Kim, who is of Korean descent. Laura Pena said the pizza was great and True Tran felt bad she got only a couple of tacos.

“It was a good way to get away from your food at home,” said Berdine Figueras, who is from the Philippines.

With 1,010 students, A.G. Currie is one of the most ethnically diverse schools in the Tustin school district, according to Principal Dan Brooks. Forty percent of the student population is white, 35% Latino, 10% Asian, 9% African American and 4% Filipino. The rest are from different ethnic groups.

“Cultural diversity is stressed in all subjects,” Brooks said. “Even in home economics, we teach students what people have to do to work together and live harmoniously.”

The international fair was started as an annual event four years ago and has grown bigger over the years, said Patricia Lee, who coordinates the events.

Each class and each campus organization has either a food booth or a game booth that allows them to raise money for field trips and classroom materials, Lee said.

“It’s a great way to have fun and meet new friends,” said Alison Moody, an eighth-grade cheerleader. “You meet people different from you. In the real world, it’s going to be like this.”

Funie Hsu, president of the Language Club, said that the fair somehow helps students understand the culture of other people.

“People make fun of us sometimes,” said Funie, who came from Taiwan when she was 2 years old. But through the Language Club, which has about 60 members, “we try to teach them what we are about,” she said.

During the Chinese New Year celebration this month, Funie said that students complimented her when she and her friends performed a dragon dance at a school program.

Josielyn said she has not had a chance to show off her mother’s Filipino cooking just yet, but she’s comfortable at school already.

“I feel OK. It’s nice here,” she said.