Buttonball community appreciates its diversity

Buttonball students parade through the all-purpose room under the guise of their Chinese dragon as part of International Family Night on Feb. 1. Photos by Steve Smith.

Although Buttonball Lane Elementary School's curriculum certainly includes geography and cultural lessons about places like China and Japan, the International Family Night is an event that has a less-direct tie to academics, but instead a broader and more-significant impact on the school's learning.

The third annual International Family Night on Feb. 1 consisted of two dinner theater-style seatings, with a smorgasbord of family-brought international dishes, lined up by continent on a long buffet table in the hallway. After getting their dinners, guest were treated to cultural performances from around the globe, including Irish dancers, a martial arts demonstration, native American storytellers, a modern Asian dance troupe and the Buttonball staff's own rousing Merengue dance demonstration.

Children and their parents were also able to take part in crafts from around the world in the gymnasium and demonstrations in classrooms. An international parade was also highlighted by costumes from around the world and a Chinese dragon.

Parents Holly Howley and Heidi Mulcahy headed the committee that put the event together, and said the attendance exceeded expectations. “I'm really happy with how it went and the range of performances,” Howley said. “I think we got almost 400 people, and 250 is what we had planned on.”

Howley explained that the International Family Night began three years ago as a way of welcoming families into the community. “What it's grown into is a celebration of all students here at Buttonball and their nationalities,” Howley said.

“It celebrates that we have dozens of languages spoken by Buttonball families,” said Principal Kent Hurlburt. “The benefit, educationally, is for them to appreciate each other and diversity as a whole. If we don't work to get the kids to appreciate differences, we can't get the education done.”

Hurlburt added that in the curriculums across Glastonbury, there is a lot of emphasis on teaching diversity, and the International Family Night captures that, while adding the social part of the education.

“People come and celebrate their differences, and enjoy the different foods,” Hurlburt said, adding that he noticed children from different cultures paying attention to the musical acts very different from their own. “That's what it's all about,” he said.