The second annual World Culture Day, an end-of-the-year celebration spanning two days, took place at Glen Hills Elementary School last month.

Each classroom chose a country to research in the weeks prior to the event, with the entire class participating in the in-depth study of their chosen country. At the end of June, students spent two days, passports in hand, “traveling” from country to country on a “world tour.” Upon entering each classroom, student passports were marked with a flag sticker from the country being visited, and the host classroom began their student presentation.

Throughout the school, cultural music could be heard coming from many classrooms, games were played, ethnic costumes were donned and students shared with their peers all they’d learned in the hands-on learning project. There were PowerPoint presentations, posters, stories being read aloud and “local” landmarks native to each country were spotted in many countries, from the opera house in Sydney, Australia, to a red, double-decker bus spied in London.

In Jane Treat’s sixth-grade class, Treat combined both Reading Week and World Culture Day, taking the event up a notch.

“Every student had to choose an author from Great Britain, research the author, and read at least one of their books,” she said.

The students then donned sandwich board-style posters showing the results of their book and author research. This information was combined with the in-depth study of the country itself, its culture, landmarks and geography.

World Culture Day began last year as an idea presented by PTGH president Pleshette Vonner and carried out by the staff, students and parent volunteers over one day. This year the event was extended to two days.