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Stars and Stripes
February 15, 2006
Alyssa Carney, 8, reads her presentation about kimonos, the traditional form of Japanese dress like the one she's wearing, last week at the Lakenheath Elementary School. Hanging behind Carney is an adult-sized version of the decorative robe. (Ben Murray / S&S)
Alyssa Carney, 8, reads her presentation about kimonos, the traditional form of Japanese dress like the one she's wearing, last week at the Lakenheath Elementary School. Hanging behind Carney is an adult-sized version of the decorative robe. (Ben Murray / S&S)
Scott Lovett, 8, wearing traditional Japanese clothing, shows off Japanese fans, some authentic and some made by members of a third-grade class. (Ben Murray / S&S)
Holding a Japanese fish kite, Gracie Parrott, 8, talks about the decorative wind socks often seen around Japan. (Ben Murray / S&S)
Included in the class’ Japanese museum are these wooden kokeshi dolls. (Ben Murray / S&S)
To celebrate a series of international culture studies taking place at Lakenheath Elementary School this month, students in Nancy Vandenberg’s third-grade class last week unveiled a Japanese “museum” stocked with various artifacts from the Asian country.
The students, after three weeks of study and preparation, treated groups from other classes to presentations on various aspects of Japanese culture, an area of keen interest for Vandenberg.
On display were exhibits about the geography and lifestyle of Japan, each overseen by a student curator with specific knowledge about the items on view. Students each also had to prepare reports on Japan as part of the project, Vandenberg said.
Other classes at Lakenheath Elementary will be engaging in similar cultural studies in coming weeks.