Last Thursday was Cultural Clothing Day at Baldwin, but ESL teacher Dr. Holly Niemi expanded the concept throughout last week with her classes’ new interactive gallery walk.
“The district has a Cultural Clothing Day annually. We wanted to broaden that to involve more students, because culture is more than clothing,” Niemi said.
Throughout the week, teachers throughout the building were invited to bring their classes to the gallery walk, located near the ESL classroom on the second floor. A series of tri-fold posters explained various aspects of ESL students’ cultures.
After reading and looking at the displays, viewers were prompted to draw comparisons to their own culture.
“There’s a green question under every poster, which might say, ‘The most popular sport in Peru is soccer. What’s the favorite sport of your country?” Niemi said.
More than 400 students visited the Gallery Walk. German teacher Francesca Cappetta’s third period students were among them.
Freshman Ke’Isis Calhoun enjoyed the event.
“I got educated on different cultures and their traditions and foods,” Calhoun said. “I do think this will benefit the students, because the posters included a variety of information and the activities were a fun way to learn,” Calhoun said.
Creating the gallery walk started last summer during “Learn & Earn” the six-week extension of the ESL classes for students at BHS, which is designed to give the students additional learning experiences. Senior Abishek Sapkota was involved with the event’s planning.
“I think this event will help other students understand our childhood experiences,” Sapkota said.
Senior Preyanka Neopaney enjoyed the gallery walk.
“I like it because it talks about general things like language, religion, games, and sports,” Neopaney said.
The project made her feel accepted, Neopaney said.
“It makes me feel involved – like even though it’s a new country, people still respect me, where I’ve come from, the clothes I wear and the food I eat,” Neopaney said. “It made me feel good knowing that they have an idea of what daily life might look like.”
