Monroe students get a taste of Tanzania

By Alexa Jenner, ajenner@mysuburbanlife.com

Hinsdale Suburban Life

Fri May 16, 2008, 09:13 AM CDT

Hinsdale, IL -

“Jambo” students yelled in unison May 9 in the Monroe School gym for an assembly on this year’s country of study.

The traditional greeting in Tanzania has become a popular word for all grades at Monroe, after spending months studying the animals, culture, language, and environment of the African country.

“It’s a pretty amazing place, and we have to help save it,” said fifth-grader Regan Serwat of Hinsdale.

This year the International Awareness Committee was formed as an expansion of Monroe’s ‘International Day.’ Parent Suzanne Weingart, who co-chairs the committee, said the objective is to create awareness of the country by weaving facts and activities into the curriculum in a hands-on manner throughout the year.

“I am a huge proponent of expanding our kids horizons,” she said. “It is important for our kids to respect and appreciate the way others live in this world of ours.”

The group chose Tanzania this year largely due to the newly created O’Brien School for the children of the Maasai tribe by a former Monroe family.

In September, a travel suitcase was delivered to each classroom filled with passports, geographical maps, Swahili phrases, Tanzanian flags and currency. From a reading incentive program where students “climbed” Mount Kilimanjaro in hopes of reaching the summit to earn a wild animal bookmark to art projects featuring an array African animals, the Tanzania study has been implemented in a variety of ways.

“I think it shows them how other students are living and how they can help others and what they can share with them,” said third-grade teacher Jennifer Ellis. “It also allows them to see what they have in common with them, even though they’re living so differently.”

The May 9 assembly featured a video of the O’Brien family’s school in Tanzania, as well as the school band playing an African piece. The fifth-graders then put on an African folk tale.

Fifth-grader Samantha McClary, who was one of the animals in the play, said she loved studying the different wildlife in Tanzania because there are not that many animals in Hinsdale.

“I’ve learned so much,” Samantha said. “There are so many cool things like the Serengeti and the people there and how they live it’s just so different than us.”
After the assembly, students sampled traditional Tanzanian food which included Ugali (cornmeal mush), chapati (flat bread) and sweet potato fries.

Students will end their study the last week of school by performing an all-school ‘mock’ Serengeti migration around the perimeter of the building. Students have made safari animal masks for the migration, which will finish at the flag pole that has been flying both the American and Tanzanian flags all year. Students will sing both national anthems as they take down the Tanzanian flag.