The World Languages Department, chaired by Bei Zhang, created a series of activities and events to promote language learning and immersion during the first-annual World Languages Week celebration at Westtown. Activities included Collection-sharing, a pep rally, a special assembly, a club period with language and cultural activities and displays, guided discussions with faculty, and the Language Olympics. Zhang says, “Some of our goals included promoting language acquisition, building cultural competency, providing students a platform to celebrate their success in their language education, and helping students envision their future career paths where they can apply their language skills and cultural knowledge.” For the special assembly, Westtown welcomed Eliza F. Al-Laham ’86. Al-Laham, who speaks Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and French, Zoomed from her residence in Mexico to share about her career in which fluency in several languages is necessary. She is currently Consul General to Guadalajara, and throughout her career has held a variety of State Department posts around the globe, including Israel, Jordan, and China. Her fascinating presentation concluded with a Q and A session with students. 

Though World Languages Week was planned by language teachers,  it was an all-hands-on-deck undertaking, as all Upper School faculty took part in facilitating events. This week-long celebration was also a unique way to assess and build language acquisition. Students made posters and cheered on their teammates in the languages they are studying, they created language and cultural activities, and teachers created special World Languages Week assignments for students. In one example, Spanish 1 teacher Samantha Godoy asked students to complete a research project on a Latinx musician or artist, which led to an interesting encounter for Kien Dang ’24, who chose to do a project on artist Rocio Navarro. “I noticed how little information I was able to get from the internet as she’s a very new artist…I was able to find Rocio’s Instagram [and] Profe Sam encouraged me to reach out to her,” says Dang. “To my surprise, she did reply! Rocio expressed a lot of excitement, as she was very eager to help with my project. I sent Navarro my questions about her life and her art. I immediately noticed that we have a lot of similarities and had an instant connection to Navarro. She often paints portraits and through these portraits she expresses her emotions. We both love using art as a form of communication and through that also explores our identities, too. I was really happy because through this project, I was able to connect with another artist that also shares the passion for art. I really have to thank Profe Sam because throughout the whole process, she encouraged me and supported me [and] the project introduced me to new vocab words that were very useful for expanding my knowledge of Spanish.” Dang displayed his painting at the cultural stations hosted mid-week, along with works from other students. Other cultural stations included Chinese fan dances, Mardi Gras mask making, a Hannibal exhibit, merengue dance lessons, and many more. 

Finally, the week concluded with the Language Olympics, a field day competition between the four languages: Chinese, French, Latin, and Spanish. There were many event stations, among them a faculty relay race, tug of peace, volleyball, tic-tac-toe relay, rock-paper-scissors race, and more. Students reveled in the friendly, sometimes rowdy competition, and in the fun and unique ways to employ the languages they are learning. Many hats off to Zhang, the World Languages teachers, and the Upper School faculty for this exciting series! You can find lots of photos of the events of the week here. 

This year’s African Dance performance by third graders was a very special one, as it marked the 20th anniversary of African Dance and the special partnership with Jeannine Osayande and the Dunya Performing Arts Company! This beloved tradition began twenty years ago this past March, when third-grade teachers Vicki Shelter and (at the time) Marc Dear began collaborating with Shelter’s friend and neighbor, Osayande, to teach third graders about the movements and storytelling of African dances and Capoeira, and their origins, symbolism, and impact.

The African Dance performance is a culmination of an extensive unit of study on the continent of Africa and its countries, cultures, and arts and a six-week residency of Osayande and the Dunya Performing Arts Company (DunyaPAC) during which they teach students West African dances and Capoeira. Osayande, Dunya PAC, and the drummers are professional performers whose mission is to teach children about African culture and its diaspora. 

Current third grade teachers Vicki Shelter and Kristin Hayman say that in the unit they ask students to explore the essential question: What are Africa’s gifts to the world? Students work together to study different regions of Africa learning about commodities, tourism, populations, and, importantly, they learn that the continent is made up of 54 countries with distinct cultures and languages. Shelter says that is one way they are trying to break stereotypes about Africa. They also work together to create a topographic map of the continent. In art classes, students learn batik and make their costumes for the performance. This year, in honor of the 20th anniversary, students made commemorative costumes with Teacher Kelly Nicholson, dying fabric indigo. 

For this year’s anniversary performance, Shelter and Hayman invited alums of the African Dance to share their memories. Folasade Beckett ’27 and Kayla Shaffer ’17 took the stage to recount their fond memories. As it happens, Beckett’s sister and Shaffer’s cousin were both performing that day! More community connections were celebrated on the stage as well. Kelly Yiadom, Lower and Middle School Equity and Inclusion Coordinator, and Marissa Colston, Equity and Inclusion Specialist, were classmates of DunyaPAC drummer Alex Shaw at Swarthmore. Yiadom, Colston, and Osayande performed a beautiful dance at this year’s performance, to honor that connection. Finally, the Capoeira demonstration this year was enhanced by third graders Morayo Beckett, Nico Ubiera, and Nico’s father, Antonio Ubiera, who are Capoeira practitioners as well. 

This special day was also marked by a special citation from the state. The citation reads, in part, “Now therefore the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania House of Representatives congratulates Westtown School and Jeannine Osayande & Dunya Performing Arts Company on their 20th anniversary of the program.” 

Osayande reflected, “It has been an honor to be here as part of the Dunya Performing Arts Company over the last 20 years. So much life has been lived and grounding it in the practice of the African Diaspora drum and dance with the third grade has been an incredible journey.”  

We offer our thanks and gratitude to teachers Vicki Shelter, Marc Dear, Kristin Hayman, and to Jeannine Osayande, Daryl Kwasi Burgee, Alex Shaw, and all the talented performers of Dunya Performing Arts Company who have been bringing this rite of passage to the third grade over the last two decades! 

The third graders’ performances, along with the special dances and demonstrations, were exceptional and steeped with special meaning. We encourage you to watch the performance here. You can also enjoy the entire gallery of photos here!