RSS Feeds
Ann Arbor Journal > News
ANN ARBOR: At Northside Elementary School’s International Dinner, diversity is a school tradition (video)
Tweet
Sisters Daniela and Adriana Henriquez-Mora brought a Peruvian chicken dish to Northside Elementary School's International Dinner.
On Thursday night, dozens of students and parents of the Northside Elementary School community returned to the school (912 Barton Drive) after-hours for International Dinner, a longstanding Northside tradition.
The dinner is hosted by Northside’s parent-teacher organization and has been going on as far back as anyone can remember.
As Northside Principal Monica Harrold noted, food seems to bring people together. It brought together dozens of young families on Thursday, with a few too-young-for-school and older-than-elementary siblings sprinkled in.
That’s part of the reason for it. Another part is to foster an appreciation of diversity by showing the students, and their parents, how much they have to learn from each other. Exchanging recipes can be a good place to start. Parents prepared in traditional cultural dishes — Korean bi bim bop, Jewish challah bread, finger sandwiches from the Czech Republic — and a few students even wore traditional garb.
VIDEO: The Ann Arbor Journal visited Northside for its International Dinner and took a short video. Check it out here:
A geography quiz, with questions like “what is the second-largest continent?” and “what is the only country with a reigning emperor?” was also offered to the families in attendance. The winner was to receive some reading materials on Ethiopia.
As of its September 2010 count, Northside had 259 students enrolled. The school was one-third white, along with strong black (23 percent), Asian (17 percent) and multiethnic (16 percent) populations.
Northside is also socioeconomically diverse. Although Northside is a Title I school, which means a good deal of its students come from low-income homes, there are doctors and attorneys and other professionals among its parent base.
The parents at Northside get involved however they can, and last year all 259 Northside students were represented by a parent or guardian at parent-teacher conferences. Continued...
The dinner is hosted by Northside’s parent-teacher organization and has been going on as far back as anyone can remember.
As Northside Principal Monica Harrold noted, food seems to bring people together. It brought together dozens of young families on Thursday, with a few too-young-for-school and older-than-elementary siblings sprinkled in.
That’s part of the reason for it. Another part is to foster an appreciation of diversity by showing the students, and their parents, how much they have to learn from each other. Exchanging recipes can be a good place to start. Parents prepared in traditional cultural dishes — Korean bi bim bop, Jewish challah bread, finger sandwiches from the Czech Republic — and a few students even wore traditional garb.
VIDEO: The Ann Arbor Journal visited Northside for its International Dinner and took a short video. Check it out here:
A geography quiz, with questions like “what is the second-largest continent?” and “what is the only country with a reigning emperor?” was also offered to the families in attendance. The winner was to receive some reading materials on Ethiopia.
As of its September 2010 count, Northside had 259 students enrolled. The school was one-third white, along with strong black (23 percent), Asian (17 percent) and multiethnic (16 percent) populations.
Northside is also socioeconomically diverse. Although Northside is a Title I school, which means a good deal of its students come from low-income homes, there are doctors and attorneys and other professionals among its parent base.
The parents at Northside get involved however they can, and last year all 259 Northside students were represented by a parent or guardian at parent-teacher conferences. Continued...
Reader Comments »
View reader comments (0) » Comment on this story »
Jane Taylor, Northside’s English as a Second Language teacher, said that at least 10 different languages are spoken in the building. Many more nationalities are represented.
“School is kind of the microcosm of how Ann Arbor works,” Taylor said.
Staff Writer James David Dickson can be reached at JDickson@Heritage.com.
“School is kind of the microcosm of how Ann Arbor works,” Taylor said.
Staff Writer James David Dickson can be reached at JDickson@Heritage.com.
On Thursday night, dozens of students and parents of the Northside Elementary School community returned to the school (912 Barton Drive) after-hours for International Dinner, a longstanding Northside tradition.
The dinner is hosted by Northside’s parent-teacher organization and has been going on as far back as anyone can remember.
As Northside Principal Monica Harrold noted, food seems to bring people together. It brought together dozens of young families on Thursday, with a few too-young-for-school and older-than-elementary siblings sprinkled in.
That’s part of the reason for it. Another part is to foster an appreciation of diversity by showing the students, and their parents, how much they have to learn from each other. Exchanging recipes can be a good place to start. Parents prepared in traditional cultural dishes — Korean bi bim bop, Jewish challah bread, finger sandwiches from the Czech Republic — and a few students even wore traditional garb.
VIDEO: The Ann Arbor Journal visited Northside for its International Dinner and took a short video. Check it out here:
A geography quiz, with questions like “what is the second-largest continent?” and “what is the only country with a reigning emperor?” was also offered to the families in attendance. The winner was to receive some reading materials on Ethiopia.
As of its September 2010 count, Northside had 259 students enrolled. The school was one-third white, along with strong black (23 percent), Asian (17 percent) and multiethnic (16 percent) populations.
Northside is also socioeconomically diverse. Although Northside is a Title I school, which means a good deal of its students come from low-income homes, there are doctors and attorneys and other professionals among its parent base.
The parents at Northside get involved however they can, and last year all 259 Northside students were represented by a parent or guardian at parent-teacher conferences.
Jane Taylor, Northside’s English as a Second Language teacher, said that at least 10 different languages are spoken in the building. Many more nationalities are represented.
“School is kind of the microcosm of how Ann Arbor works,” Taylor said.
Staff Writer James David Dickson can be reached at JDickson@Heritage.com.
The dinner is hosted by Northside’s parent-teacher organization and has been going on as far back as anyone can remember.
As Northside Principal Monica Harrold noted, food seems to bring people together. It brought together dozens of young families on Thursday, with a few too-young-for-school and older-than-elementary siblings sprinkled in.
That’s part of the reason for it. Another part is to foster an appreciation of diversity by showing the students, and their parents, how much they have to learn from each other. Exchanging recipes can be a good place to start. Parents prepared in traditional cultural dishes — Korean bi bim bop, Jewish challah bread, finger sandwiches from the Czech Republic — and a few students even wore traditional garb.
VIDEO: The Ann Arbor Journal visited Northside for its International Dinner and took a short video. Check it out here:
A geography quiz, with questions like “what is the second-largest continent?” and “what is the only country with a reigning emperor?” was also offered to the families in attendance. The winner was to receive some reading materials on Ethiopia.
As of its September 2010 count, Northside had 259 students enrolled. The school was one-third white, along with strong black (23 percent), Asian (17 percent) and multiethnic (16 percent) populations.
Northside is also socioeconomically diverse. Although Northside is a Title I school, which means a good deal of its students come from low-income homes, there are doctors and attorneys and other professionals among its parent base.
The parents at Northside get involved however they can, and last year all 259 Northside students were represented by a parent or guardian at parent-teacher conferences.
Jane Taylor, Northside’s English as a Second Language teacher, said that at least 10 different languages are spoken in the building. Many more nationalities are represented.
“School is kind of the microcosm of how Ann Arbor works,” Taylor said.
Staff Writer James David Dickson can be reached at JDickson@Heritage.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments
Login To Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Not Registered? Sign up today for free!
Loading Health Theater Content...
See wrong or incorrect information in a story. Tell us here
Blog Center
Inside the Newsroom
Staff writers at The Saline Reporter and Milan News-Leader write about their beats, sharing their thoughts and insights while covering local events and issues in both communities, and adding local photos and video.
A2 Journal Blog
Written by the staff at A2 Journal, a new, weekly, community newspaper covering Ann Arbor.
The Starting Five
Tune in as local Heritage West sports writers put their two cents in on area teams and the world of sports.