COLLEGE STATION, Tx — Culture, diversity, and inclusion are good qualities to teach early in life and that’s exactly what Spring Creek Elementary’s GT program has taught their students all year long.
It was a day of unity Friday as hundreds of students got to celebrate cultures from all over the world.
The morning kicked off with sounds from Bryan High School’s “Los Vikingos” Mariachi Band. James Mosqueda is the Mariachi Director for Bryan ISD and says his students felt great sharing their music with College Station ISD students.
“It’s a really cool thing that we get to be present across the entire community, the Bryan/College Station community and showcase the culture.” Said Mosqueda.
One parent says projects like this help students and their families to never forget their roots.
“Living away from our country, my kids don’t get the full experience of our culture but try my best to get them to experience most of it.” Explained Swaroopa Saripalli, mother of 2 at Spring Creek.
Friday, over 40 students in multiple grade levels displayed projects and artifacts highlighting several different cultures and giving information on local foods, native clothing, and what languages are spoken around the globe.
Sherri Coke, says why these projects have so much significance to her 2 children.
“My son picked Japan [because] my husband was stationed there in the Navy and I had an opportunity to open a pre-school [while I was there]. Explained Coke. “I really think it makes an impact on kids this young to understand that not everything is the same here than It is in other countries.” Said Coke.
While Japan has one significance, Coke’s Daughter Emily presented the country of Sweden as they Swedish roots in their family.
“I’m a little bit Swedish, and I thought it would be fun to learn and show a little bit of my culture.” Said Coke.
As many different nations and countries were on full display early Friday, enrichment specialist for Spring Creek Elementary – Amy Ruiz, says she wanted to bring everyone together to share their stories.
“Spring Creek is a very culturally diverse school; it was my goal since the beginning to expose not only my GT students, but the entire campus to cultural diversity and make it a family event.”
Ruiz says bringing everyone together took a year of teaching, learning, and planning to make it all happen.
“Some chose their own culture, and some chose a culture that they wanted to learn about and so today was the final product of their learning.” Said Ruiz.