HOWELL – Meryl Norych has served as Howell High School’s world language supervisor and each year she brings together students who take a foreign language for an annual event known as International Day.
The 2018 edition of International Day was held in the gym on May 24. Students who take French, Italian and Spanish did not attend their foreign language class that day. Instead, they headed for the gym to take part in International Day and to spend time with other students who are studying a foreign language.
International Day featured food from the French, Italian and Spanish cultures provided by students and parents. Music and dance performances from those cultures were featured. Students were permitted to use their cell phones in a photo booth which had backgrounds that included the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Lima, Peru, along with various props.
“When I was at teacher at Freehold High School, I had a vision of creating what is known as Epcot (at Walt Disney World in Florida) and I wanted to bring it to the high school,” Norych said. “I followed the vision. I had students help me and I brought it to Howell when I was named the world language supervisor.”
She said International Day “has been received very well. We have administrative support and our custodial staff is beyond belief, they are front and center for all our needs. Our students love learning another language and support this endeavor and it’s just been running beautifully.”
Lauren Negraval, who teaches Italian, was enjoying the event and said, “It’s always nice. Not only do I get to collaborate with my colleagues, we get to incorporate all the students. The best thing about what we teach is the culture, the food, the dancing, songs and music, and we get to really have fun. The students enjoy it and we enjoy doing it for them. The students bring food, they are performing and it’s a nice event for our Howell school community.
“The nice thing is that each language (Spanish, Italian, French) usually contributes something to the festival. Depending on the language they take, some students try to bring in foods from the culture they are learning about. They get to say they looked up a recipe and tried it. It’s just a nice melding together of all the cultures and they get to see all their friends,” Negraval said.
Senior Matthew Conkling of Marlboro, junior Courtney Dembowski of Howell, sophomore Rebecca Forgosh of Manalapan, senior Hailey Polisano of Howell and senior Brianna Segilia of Howell were among the students enjoying International Day.
They said it was fun and hectic to serve food to the attendees, but agreed that International Day was a nice way to spend time with their fellow students who are studying different languages and cultures.
“Today has been a day filled with food, hard work and a sense of community,” Matthew said.
“It has been fun, I was excited to start helping out,” Courtney said. “It was really cool being around the different cultures and classes and seeing them come together.”
“Today has been really eventful going back and forth making the food, heating it up and bringing it to the gym,” Brianna said. “It was hard work, but it was rewarding and fun.”