Marion-Walker students travel ‘Around the World’

Kindergarteners at Marion-Walker Elementary School got the chance Friday afternoon to see the world without leaving the school’s multipurpose cafeteria and gymnasium.

Three kindergarten teachers helped plan the fourth annual “Countries Around the World” celebration that allowed 54 5- and 6-year-old students to learn about culture, history, geography, architecture and languages of other nations.

Kindergarten teacher Cheryl DeCusati said it included activities that represented 17 countries and food donated by area restaurants.

“They’ve been looking forward to this for weeks,” DeCusati said. “We’ve been talking about some of this in class, and it fits our curriculum.”

Activities included making German alpine hats and the Eiffel Tower out of Legos; searching for hieroglyphic clues in a sandbox; and riding a makeshift gondola while listening to music from Luciano Pavarotti.

Bellefonte Area High School students from the French Honor Society also volunteer to help at stations.

Juniors Lyndsey Force and Drew Nixdorf, both Marion-Walker grads, helped with a hockey activity that represented Canada.

They handed out hockey sticks to students whose goal it was to shoot a plastic puck in the net.

“It’s nice to give back and come back to the school we used to go to,” Nixdorf said.

And while Xander Hawkins, 6, never missed the net, he said Friday afternoon would likely be the last time he plays hockey.

“It’s just not my sport,” he said. “But I really liked coloring in Madagascar.”

Students who visited the Madagascar station traced animals native to the African country on a piece of construction paper and then colored them.

Students also participated in a photo session where they dressed in apparel like sombreros and ponchos to represent Mexico or kimonos to represent Japan.

This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Marion-Walker students travel ‘Around the World’."