Students Learn About Diversity at Festival

Ashlea Adelegan, regally draped in a flowing skirt, tunic and headdress of embroidered purple silk, looked like an African princess as she took part in an international festival Friday on the playground at Van Nuys Middle School.

The 13-year-old student body president, whose parents are Nigerian and African American, presided over the second annual daylong festival sponsored by the school’s Student Body Leadership Council to promote cultural awareness among students.

Students donned saris, Nehru jackets, hula skirts, sombreros, kimonos, togas and other traditional dress in celebration of their ethnic heritage.

As multicultural music blared from huge loudspeakers, students sampled Central American empanadas, tiny pastries stuffed with meat and vegetables; Middle Eastern dolmides, grape leaves wrapped around a vegetable mixture; and Indian potatoes seasoned with curry, as well as other dishes from the continents of the world.

There were also performances by Armenian and Mexican dance troupes. And students had fun seeing their names printed in Russian, Spanish, Bengali, Japanese, Armenian, Korean, Hindi, French and Arabic by parents, teachers and other students who write in those languages.

“Instead of students getting an idea about a culture [through] stereotypes, they are learning about different people for themselves,” Ashlea said.

The eighth-grader said she learned for herself that perceptions are not the same as reality when she visited her father’s native Lagos, Nigeria, six years ago.

“It’s not a National Geographic kind of thing; giraffes weren’t walking in fields and people weren’t walking around with sticks,” she said. “It is a big city with shops. The same American music that is here, is there, too.”

As for the festival, Ashlea said it’s a good way for kids to have fun and learn about others at the same time.