Cultures of numerous countries shared by Crim community at Heritage Night

Crim Primary School turned the page from books to food on Thursday, March 2.

It was during that evening when Crim Primary School staff, students and families celebrated Read Across America with its first Heritage Night.

The multi-purpose room at Crim was filled with tables that featured food, crafts, cultural items, flags and artifacts from various countries around the world.

Read Across America is celebrated from March 2-6, and was founded by the National Education Association, with the goal of showing America’s children the joy of reading and to build a nation of readers. 

Crim held a reading event during the day of March 2 and then the chapter in the evening was a success due to the efforts of the staff, including teachers Melissa Ilich, Monica DeMarco and Avani Morales, who served as the coordinators of the event..

“We really wanted to hold an inclusive event that embraces the Crim community’s culture and traditions,” explained Ms. Ilich, who is an Autism Teacher, and Ms. DeMarco, who is a Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant. Ms. Morales is a 4th Grade Teacher at Crim.

 Crim Principal Kelliann Ten Kate shared more about the passion and commitment of her school.

“At Crim School, we embrace this goal and strive to utilize books that reflect everyone in the community to help our students discover their own voice and learn from the voices of others,” Principal Ten Kate said. “To culminate our Read Across America celebration, we held our first Heritage Night.  Fifteen staff members and/or parents signed up to showcase their heritage with our school community.”  

Tables that represented the countries included India, Russia, Ireland, South Korea, Brazil and Costa Rica.

Staff members and parents wore the garb that best identified each country.

“We are so thankful for the community interest in sharing family traditions and I am especially thankful to our Crim School Diversity and Inclusion Committee for organizing this event,” Principal Ten Kate said.

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