Bringing Culture to Show and Tell

Four months ago, the theme was Asia. On Monday, the theme was Mexico as the Jackson Elementary School auditorium was filled with reminders of that country ranging from maracas to paper sombreros.

The events are part of a program at Jackson that allows Asian and Latino students to teach each other about their cultural backgrounds. The program was started about four years ago.

In January, about 70 Asian American students in the first and second grades shared foods and performed a dragon dance for their Latino counterparts. On Monday, about 70 Latino students returned the favor with songs and food such as tostadas, rice and beans.

“Now, we’ve arrived in Mexico,” teacher Eileen Mahmoud said.

Mahmoud said the Latino and Asian students are best suited to convey their cultures to each other: “When children don’t have pride in who they are, they don’t respect other cultures. Then you have trouble.”

The Latino students started out Monday’s presentation with songs celebrating the Mexican Revolution, which occurred in May more than 100 years ago.

After feasting on Mexican food, third-grader Damdoun Saengaroun said she learned that “everybody’s food is a different taste.”