Carson Valley festival celebrates world cultures

The public is invited to enjoy the best of country - actually, the best of several countries of the world - when Carson Valley Middle School highlights music, art and culture at the Cultural Arts Festival.

The school's a multicultural celebration with art, history, music and food is from 5:30-7 p.m. May 24.

Art students will display and demonstrate art projects, English-as-a-second-language students do presentations from their countries, and French and Spanish students perform chautauquan-style presentations of historic characters.

"My students picked characters who were important to history in some way," said French teacher Adam Dedmon. "They do the research, dress up and perform in character."

The students have chosen to perform as Leonardo da Vinci, Sarah Bernhardt, William the Conqueror and Coco Chanel.

English-as-a-second-language teacher Wendy Martin said she has 12 students in her class from three countries: Mexico, India and Thailand.

Her students research each country's culture and bring food to the festival.

"They will promote the countries as if they're the tourist bureau by asking what sort of activities the person is interested in," Martin said.

"This way the students get to know a little more about countries to entice visitors - that's what it's all about."

ESL student Veronica Garcia said the project involved doing research on the Internet, in encyclopedias and asking parents about their native countries.

"This is going to be fun because we get to learn more about those countries," she said.

The Cultural Arts Festival is free, Carson Valley Middle School is at 1475 Highway 395 in Gardnerville.

For information, call 782-2265.