By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
TINTON FALLS — At Ranney School there is one mission — to nurture intellectual curiosity and inspire students to lead honorably, think creatively and contribute meaningfully to society.
Two recent events that students took part in allowed them to explore their heritage and learn about other cultures in the world and gave them a first-hand experience of building a 14-foot canoe from scratch.
On May 21, after spending four months building their canoe out of two sheets of marine plywood, five seventh-grade students got to see “Boaty the Whale” launched into Deal Lake.
“We learned a lot of good teamwork skills,” said student Elena Raccuia. “We would depend on each other for help and support, and overall I think this was a very important experience and I learned a lot.”
This is the third year in a row the Middle School Boat Builders project has taken place under the direction of art teacher Madeleine McCarthy and Project U.S.E. — a nonprofit educational organization providing experiential learning opportunities for more than 6,000 young individuals and adults each year.
“This annual program successfully empowers students to take on challenges which are out of their comfort zone and persevere to completion,” McCarthy said.
This year’s boat builders were Raccuia of Farmingdale, Tatiana Lanfranchi of Lincroft, John Leventhal of Colts Neck, John Tager-Geffner of Toms River and Hubert Wang of Holmdel.
The students launched their canoes with the Sisters Academy and Oak Hill Academy schools, which also participated in the program.
“This boat-building program offers our students a very unique opportunity,” McCarthy said. “Through the process of building their boat, they were faced with ‘challenges by choice.’
“With the program you have a learning that is nontraditional, yet fun [and] different, and the students get to have that experience of having successfully completed something.”
Throughout the duration of building “Boaty the Whale,” students kept a weekly journal about their experience and the different things they were doing, including measuring and cutting wood, using power tools, drawing blueprints, constructing the canoe, installing chine locks and gunnels and the overall experience of seeing their vision come to life.
“I learned how to use power tools, which I never thought I’d actually use,” Raccuia said.
On May 26, approximately 1,000 students, family, faculty and community members alike gathered at Ranney School for a Multicultural Festival.
“The Diversity Club and our Diversity Committee … started thinking about different initiatives we could have to raise multicultural awareness within the school,” said teacher Nadine Maxwell-Henry.
“We knew one of our strengths here at Ranney School is that we do have so many different cultures represented, and so we thought why not use this festival as a way to raise awareness to that and provide an educational experience.”
The event at the school that is located on Hope Road featured a parade, cultural dances and songs, as well as display tables featuring items and foods from more than 25 nations and countries including Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Montenegro, Serbia, Nigeria, New Zealand, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Trinidad and the United States.
“It was really exciting to see all of the different cultures come together, and the little kids were really proud of their individual countries and it was really great to see,” said Aidan Denver-Moore, Diversity Club member. “It came together really nicely, and we were very excited that everybody wanted to participate and that families, especially the parents, were so willing to help out and put so much work and effort into it.”
Diversity Club member Anisha Gupta said the club worked for a long time getting everything together and added that she thought the event turned out great.
“It was the first year, we usually have Colors of the World Day where it is just the lower school [students], but we wanted to do something more that would involve the lower, middle and upper schools and it was great,” she said.
“Everyone was together and cheering for all the different countries … all the kids dressed up in different types of clothing … and it was great because … everyone got to try different things and everyone really appreciated everything about different cultures.
“With the tables you got to see a lot more about different countries that you wouldn’t normally know.”
Maxwell-Henry said she hopes the event will become even bigger in the future and felt it really accomplished the goal of bringing the community together and letting everyone learn more about each other.
“Our goal was to make sure it was educational while raising awareness about all the different cultures we have represented at Ranney,” she said. “People were inspired by it, and it is amazing how many people did not realize that we have so many cultures.
“It is about getting to know each other, realizing what is around you and becoming more in tune with each other.”
Denver-Moore and Gupta said while the event was a success, some aspects will be expanded upon and altered next year, but they are excited nonetheless.
“It is about celebrating everyone’s different culture and what makes them [who they are]” Gupta said. “We’re looking forward to next year’s event and improving it.”