Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
Today students from Daniel Pratt Elementary, Billingsley School, and Pine Level Elementary School celebrated more than 30 different cultures, foods, heritages, songs, dance, as well as languages spanning a global community here in Autauga County.
The YMCA of Prattville hosted more than 1,500 Autauga County elementary students to celebrate International Day as they visited several booths representing different countries around the world. The students were even given a passport where they would receive stamps after “landing” and visiting that country and learning about their culture.
The students were jumping with energy and had big smiles as they approached the stalls in awe of the various traditional clothes, coins and other cultural artifacts on display on Friday morning. Providing a glimpse into a culture thousands of miles and oceans away.
“Our students travel around the world today, and we have representatives in more than 30 countries. We have more than 25 languages spoken within our district. The beauty of this is that some of these students will never have the opportunity to leave Autauga Count. We have more than 25 languages spoken within our region. The beautiful thing about this is that some of these students will never have the opportunity to leave Autauga Count. We have more than 25 languages spoken within our region,” said Rebecca Thomas, school communications coordinator. Autauga County: “It's an opportunity for them to fly in one day, in their community.”
Thomas said the different languages spoken within Autauga County come in part from the Maxwell International Officers School where many of the students within ACS whose parents attend.
“Students from international families bring a lot of culture and heritage, as well as a wealth of resources and knowledge that our students from Autauga County can learn from,” Thomas said.
This International Day event started at Daniel Pratt Primary School. However, this is the first year the event has been expanded to the region. Thomas emphasized that the event is mainly organized by volunteers.
“This is a passionate group of volunteers. We have some oversight of the staff, but for the most part, these are all volunteers who come from different countries, and they want to make sure they share their culture with others,” Thomas said.
