Fifth-graders created a detective scene and skit to demonstrate Switzerland’s efforts to make a more sustainable world.
Photo by Allison Perrine
RED BANK – First- through eighth-graders at Red Bank Charter School studied how countries around the world are using technology to become more sustainable and shared their findings in fun, creative ways for International Day Oct. 24.
Each grade level took the assignment and made it their own using props, skits, presentations and crafts. First-graders represented India; second-graders, Denmark; third-graders, Tanzania; fourth-graders, Singapore; fifth-graders, Switzerland; sixth-graders, China; seventh-graders, Costa Rica; and eighth-graders, Japan. The program concluded with a closing ceremony with flags and anthems from each country on display.
“I was extremely proud of our students. I felt that even as young as first grade, they each had very informative presentations, were well-spoken and incorporated creativity to educate all those who attended,” said Kristen Martello, Red Bank Charter School principal.
Before the event started, attendees were given empty “passports” and were sent on a journey around the world with student tour guides. Students showed visitors global initiatives to go green and practice sustainability in the part of the world represented by each classroom. As guests moved from class to class, students “stamped” their passports with hand-drawn flag stickers.
The children also memorized lines for skits and took their roles seriously, though they all beamed with excitement when groups walked into the classroom to hear what they had to say.
To put attendees’ knowledge to the test, school representatives posed to them the question of how they could be more sustainable in their lives. They then recorded the responses and put them together in videos, which are available on the school website at redbankcharterschool.com.
Photo by Allison Perrine
Martello said she heard positive responses from parents and family members who attended International Day this year. To her knowledge, the program has been running annually since the school’s inception 20 years ago. “The day has evolved of course and become more cohesive with every year.”
The program also aligns with the school’s mission, Martello said, that all children can learn, care for themselves and others, and should contribute to their larger world. “International Day deepens every child’s understanding of the world around them, how they can make an impact and how they can support themselves and others,” she said.
The Red Bank Charter School has a diverse student population; its demographics are 54 percent Hispanic or Latino; 39 percent white; 6.5 percent African American; and 0.5 percent Asian. Fifty-two percent of the students are economically disadvantaged and 11 percent are English language learners.
“The Red Bank Charter School offers students the opportunity to learn and grow in a racially and ethnically integrated school immersed in one another’s culture and experiences that prepares them not only for the community in which they live, but for the world they will inherit as adults,” said Martello.
