NORTHRIDGE : Students Share Cultures in School Museum

Nine-year-old Harout Kavoukjian shuffled and hopped around a Darby Avenue Elementary School classroom Tuesday to demonstrate some traditional Armenian dances his relatives still perform during family gatherings.

“It’s hard to dance with these shoes,” he complained, frustrated by the grip his camping boots had on the room’s tile floors. “[Besides], it’s embarrassing to do it in front of Americans. They don’t know what you’re doing.”

In an effort to enlighten others of their own backgrounds and gain an understanding of the diverse cultures represented at Darby, Harout and his fellow fourth-grade classmates assembled a “heritage museum” on campus made from artworks, musical instruments and common utensils collected from their homes.

Harout contributed a pair of soft leather Armenian dancing shoes.

“I just want people to know that Armenians have a lot of festivals and like to sing and dance,” he said.

Since the museum opened in March, students from all grades at Darby have been studying the backgrounds of their schoolmates as part of a school effort to increase cultural awareness.

Representing the diversity of Darby’s student body were such cultural keepsakes as a Russian matrushka doll, a ceremonial mask from Kenya made to ward off evil spirits and a Polynesian toere drum used during traditional luaus.

“About 43% of our students are from non-Caucasian backgrounds,” said Sidney Yukelson, the Northridge school’s principal. “Compared to 10 years ago, that’s a huge percentage.

“There’s still a misconception that most Valley schools are all Caucasian. That’s just not so any more.”

After fourth-grade teacher Barry Inoue attended a seminar called “Student to Student Interaction,” where students from throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District convene annually to discuss their cultural differences, his class initiated the idea of a heritage museum on campus. The idea was soon embraced by the entire student body.

“They wanted to see for themselves what other cultures had to offer,” Inoue said.

The result, said Yukelson, has been a schoolwide lesson in how people from different backgrounds express themselves in similar ways.

For instance, the “eyes of God” knit-works from Mexico and the Russian matrushka dolls are used by families in both countries to bring good luck into the household.

Other items on display carried religious tales of rebirth and redemption, while others simply spoke of remembering. Nine-year-old Megan Hartman, for instance, brought a bundle of baby clothes handed down from her great-grandparents. who lived in early 19th-Century Arizona.

“I used to wear these clothes,” she said. “My grandmother gave them to my mother; my mother gave them to me and I’ll pass them on to my daughter.

“I brought them, because I think they teach kids the importance of tradition.”