School district employees, local police volunteer for event
By Lauren Parker- Gill, Staff Writer, The Times
Sistah Mafalda, Cultural Ambassador of Dance and internationally known drummer, storyteller and teaching artist shared stories of Africa through song and dance with students and families.
COATESVILLE – The Coatesville Area Teachers’ Association recently hosted a multicultural café event at the 11/12 center of the Coatesville Area Senior High School in association with Read Across America Day.
King’s Highway Elementary teachers Traci Tury and Michele Ollis directed the event, in its fourth year and designed the theme with the intention of reaching more members of the community.
Numerous volunteers throughout the community included fellow teachers, aides, secretaries, cafeteria workers, and custodians throughout the Coatesville Area School District. Officers from the Coatesville Police Department, Caln Police Department and five volunteers from Kohl’s in Thorndale also donated their time to the event.
Hosted by the Coatesville Area Tearchers’ Association, interactive, multicultural crafts, activities, games and stations were set up throughout the hallways of the 11/12 center of Coatesville Area High School for students and families.
In addition, student groups such as the Coatesville Youth Initiative, the Leo Club from the high school and art students from North Brandywine Middle School helped make each station, which represented different countries, run smoothly.
Each country that was represented throughout the hallways such as India, Mexico, Greece, Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Phillipines, offered crafts, stories, games, food samples, and facts that make each country unique.
Portugal featured an elaborate display that included currency, books, handmade doilies and “Arroz Doce” (rice pudding) prepared by Bela Rohr, who spoke of the history behind the popular Portugese Christmas dessert.
Portugal had an impressive display that included currency, books, china and “Arroz Doce” (rice pudding) that is a traditional Christmas dessert, topped with with intricate, freehand “Canela” (cinnamon) designs.
Made with short grain rice, egg yolks, milk and sugar, the dessert is typically topped with intricate “Canela” (cinnamon) designs in a lattice pattern. In Portugal, these elaborate designs are done freehand, without the use of stencils, Rohr explained.
Sistah Mafalda (Malfada Bouzy), Cultural Ambassador of Dance and internationally known drummer, storyteller and teaching artist was on hand to share stories of Africa through song and dance in the gymnasium.
Through her music, Bouzy directed children to fill baskets with plastic fruits and vegetables, balance them on their heads and with hands on their hips, walk around the gymnasium, and pretend they were going to the river to wash them. This proved to be much harder than students expected, as they regularly dropped their baskets. With the continuing encouragement of Bouzy, they eagerly picked them up and began again.
Tury and Ollis said they greatly appreciated the support of the community, including new business in Coatesville, Fuel City Café, which generously donated coffee for the evening.
CATA’s event was well attended with several hundred people this year and for the first time in four years, ran past the 8 p.m. end time, stated Tury.
