Plano Elementary celebrates diversity in second culture fair
Published 8:23 am Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Students representing Egyptian culture carry the Egyptian flag into Plano Elementary School’s gymnasium during the opening portion of the school’s culture fair on Monday, March 3. (JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
Plano Elementary School fourth grader Hana Brajkovic gives a presentation to students over Bosnian culture during the school’s culture fair on Monday, March 3. (JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
Plano Elementary School Principal Ben Frasier speaks to his students before the school’s culture fair begins on Monday, March 3. (JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
Students participating in the fashion show portion of Plano Elementary School’s culture fair cheer on their classmates on Monday, March 3. Participants wore clothes that reflect their cultural backgrounds and several different world cultures were on display, including those of Bosnia, Mexico and Cuba. (JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
Plano Elementary fourth grader Hana Brajkovic cheers on her classmates during the fashion show portion of the school’s culture fair on Monday, March 3. (JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
Nico Jimenez, a sixth grader at Plano Elementary School, delivers a presentation over Costa Rican culture to students during the school’s culture fair on Monday, March 3. (JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
BY DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ
david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com
Plano Elementary student Salome exudes confidence in her Colombian Carnival dress as she strides across the gymnasium — and, with a sharp left, presents the garb to her audience.
From the crowd of more than 700 — students packed into the bleachers, alongside staff, administrators and the news media attempting to find space along the walls — deafening cheers commence. Perhaps a dozen students follow Salome in garb from their respective countries — Cuba, Mexico, Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burma, Honduras, Tanzania and so on. The reception doesn’t let up.
Around 80 students from Plano Elementary and Greenwood High participated in the former’s second annual culture fair, Plano Elementary Principal Ben Frasier said. Students presented 27 different flags from their respective cultural backgrounds; several groups of Greenwood High students performed cultural dances, and the cultural fashion show finished off the morning event.
Participants then set up booths with photos and text in the library and gymnasium to inform and engage students schoolwide about their respective cultures — covering topics from the fare of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the designs of houses in Myanmar. Throughout the day, each grade would have a designated time to hear from students at these exhibits, Frasier said.
“I think days like today are really important for all of our families — especially in today’s climate, it’s important that everyone knows they have a place in school, and schools are supposed to be a beacon of hope and a place where we can further advance someone’s opportunities,” Frasier said. “… We’re showing: ‘Hey, no matter where you come from, you have an opportunity to be successful here’ …
This is a chance for us to put a spotlight on their cultures and to celebrate them and to show them that our community values them, our school values them, and they’re not just an extra part of our school — they’re an integral part of our school, and they make our school a richer experience.”
The fair was conceived from a desire by Plano’s English-learner teachers to recognize the school’s growing international community, Frasier said.
“We are just so proud of our students,” said Plano Elementary ESL teacher Amanda Klineline, who led organizing for the event with school ESL teacher Amy Woosley. “They were so excited. They’ve asked about culture fair day since the beginning of school. It was just really great to see them shine and represent their countries.”
Plano Library Media Specialist Ashley Spears showed appreciation for the students’ willingness to perform.
“I was very impressed with how these students were brave enough to get in front of the student body, and they were so proud of their culture, and representing where either they were born or maybe their families came from,” Spears said.
She also praised the student reception. Frasier had begun the morning asking students to be open-minded and respectful to their classmates; to wit, the audience shared one response for each performer: cheers of appreciation.
“I love the way the other kids just embrace kids that have different backgrounds than they do,” Spears said. “It’s very inspiring.”
Asked what she learned from the fair, Plano Elementary sixth grader Adalyn Baker said, “Just to be yourself — to be yourself, wherever you’re from. You can still represent it, anywhere you’re at.”
