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Wimauma Elementary Students Travel The World

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Students from Wimauma Elementary School perform a Hawaiian dance as part of the school's Multicultural Day celebration. The event was organized by school Migrant Advocate Margarita Gracia to promote the understanding of diversity.

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By JOHN CEBALLOS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 4, 2008

WIMAUMA A South Shore elementary school recently took its students, teachers and parents on a tour around the world that didn't require luggage or a plane ticket.

On May 23, Wimauma Elementary hosted its annual Multicultural Festival in the school's media center.
Though its population has traditionally been overwhelmingly Hispanic, this South Shore elementary school has recognized and celebrated a variety of cultures for more than a decade.

"Our goal is to promote the understanding of diversity," said Margarita Gracia, the school's migrant advocate, who served as the festival's emcee.

The event was the biggest part of a month-long multicultural celebration at the school this year.

"Even though the majority of our students are Mexican, we try to do as many things as we can to include our entire student body," said Roy Moral, principal. The school had close to 700 students for the 2007-08 year, 82 percent of whom are Hispanic.

On May 14, Wimauma Elementary kicked off its Multicultural Parade and Display throughout the school.
Two weeks later, the school's parents got in on the act as the school hosted its Multicultural Parent Night May 29.

Still, for the school's Multicultural Festival, the focus was placed squarely on the students, who performed for the faculty and several parents in attendance. Student performers presented their program twice for classmates. From 9 to 10 a.m., they entertained students in pre-K through second grade. From 10:15 to 11:15, they repeated their performances for students in third, fourth and fifth grade.

The festival kicked off with a group of Head Start students performing a merengue, a Latin ballroom dance. Merengue is the official music of the Dominican Republic. That was followed by the school's first-graders performing the "Tokyo Dontaku," a Japanese folk dance.

The second-graders followed with a Bianco Hawaiian dance before singing "Fifty Nifty United States."
Next up, the third-graders took the audience on a trip around the globe, starting with a Tennessee Mixer square dance. A stop in Morocco followed as the third-graders gave a dramatic performance of a play called "The Girl Who Lived with Gazelles." Their tour ended in Ghana with a Highlife dance, which represented one of the first fusions of African roots and western music.

Fourth- and fifth-graders teamed up for an Irish dance before the fifth-graders took center stage. First, they performed "Buztango Esku-Dantza," a Basque dance representative of northern Spain. They stayed in that region of the world with a flamenco dance before traveling to Mexico and demonstrating a Huapango dance.

The show closed with a trip to Puerto Rico for a Plena dance to the song "Pegate."

The musical performances were organized by Katharine McKamey — the school's music specialist — and Jennifer Ross, who works with the chorus.

"Before, the school used to just celebrate Mexican culture," said Kimberly Richardson, physical education teacher, adding the school has been hosting a multicultural festival for at least 15 years. "I think it's really great we've branched out to celebrate other cultures."

Reporter John Ceballos can be reached at (813) 865-1555 or jceballos@tampatrib.com

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