What do Yoda, dancing the Samba, and puppet shows have in common? Well, to be honest, not too much. However, these are some of the activities that contributed to making the first year of our new course about diversity and multiculturalism a big success.

In the spring of 2005, I approached the principal of our Middle School and suggested that we change a required course for fifth graders so that we could address some significant issues surrounding diversity. We had a course, originally designed to offer students an overview of world cultures, that had become, for whatever reason, an introductory Spanish course with some cultural overlays. I believed that the revamped course could help our entering fifth graders, new to our Middle School, to become assimilated. Toward that end, I envisioned beginning the year by examining the students' position as new Middle Schoolers, then branching off to discuss the ways in which they fit into the school, our city and state, and, finally, the world. All the while, I wanted to give them a genuine appreciation for difference and culture in its truest sense.

For over 25 years I have been a teacher of Spanish and Human Development, mostly on the seventh-grade level. I had been teaching diversity for years in Spanish class, and I had introduced a tolerance and diversity unit in the seventh-grade Human Development curriculum, emphasizing the lessons from the Holocaust. In addition, I had been involved in diversity discussions for several years, having been involved with the development of the Houston Diversity Coalition, a group of Houston independent schools dedicated to representing diversity issues in the community.

Last summer I attended the NAIS Summer Diversity Institute and I felt I was ready. But for what? I had no idea. I got busy and began organizing.

Since our school year is divided into four quarters, I divided the course into four parts, each addressing a central question: Who am I as a new Middle Schooler? Who am I in the larger Houston community? Who am I in the global arena? Finally, Who am I as a rising sixth grader and full member of our Middle School?

So where do Yoda, the Samba and puppet shows come in?

Yoda has to do with the name of the course: "Perspectives." We went around and around trying to come up with an appropriate name. The best seemed to be the name of the current class, Global Awareness, but in our attempt to begin anew, we decided that as much as we liked the name, it would not do. The head of our Foreign Language Department, in a rather casual comment, mentioned that it sounded like we were going to try to give the students a new perspective about life and simply suggested calling it "Perspectives."

During the first quarter we dedicated ourselves to helping students feel comfortable making a transition from Lower to Middle School. We spent time getting to know one another, working together as a team in various activities, and then trying to learn what our class name connoted. One day, Yoda helped us. I had an action figure of Yoda, given to me by a previous class, which found out how much I liked Star Wars. This Yoda stands about eight inches tall and speaks, responding to yes/no questions when his left hand is squeezed. That talent quickly endeared him to the students. One day I arranged the desks in a square, with a small table in the middle. I introduced Yoda and placed him on the desk, instructing students to draw what they saw. A few minutes later, different sides of the square went to the other side to compare drawings, thus beginning to teach us what it means to have a certain perspective.

This first quarter, included, among other things, a panel discussion led by eighth graders, who came in to answer their younger friends' questions about finding success in Middle School. The class also contained a mini-unit on bullying and social behavior. We composed and signed our own standards of successful behavior, which the grade dubbed the Fifth Grade Act of Kindness.

At this point, we were ready to look at ourselves, outside the classroom. Issues of diversity were introduced, as we examined stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. A highlight came during the holiday season when we were discussing discrimination and read "The Christmas Menorahs," about anti-Semitic incidents in Billings, Montana and how the citizens responded. This text afforded us a chance to touch on the story of the Danish people during the Holocaust and how they were proactive in fighting the hatred of the Nazis. One session had our Jewish students teaching a class about Chanukah, complete with homemade candy dreidels and songs.

This section led to the core of the course, what I have called "cultural geography." We began an earnest study of the countries and continents of the world, emphasizing the cultural aspects of each nation and its people. We had been introduced to the topic when we were getting to know one another and speaking of our family backgrounds. Culture was an important part of those classes. Sometimes it was introduced through food, costumes, artwork, games, videos, photos, and even dance. When "in Brazil," we took the time to make Carnival headdresses and to learn to dance the Samba. Students were used to entering the classroom with different types of music playing; many considered singing "Waltzing Matilda" one of their best memories of "going to Australia."

In short, we not only studied the physical geography of each country, but we also delved into human geography. Two projects were the highlights of this unit.

In the first, students made a travel brochure for a country of their choice. Their goal was to convince their teacher to travel to their country. Frankly, the end results were remarkable and surprising. Using reference books, as well as the Internet, students prepared colorful and informative descriptions of many countries, which were later displayed for all to see.

The major work of this quarter was called the World Passport project. Each student received a "passport," complete with his or her photo. The task was simple: each student, outside of class, had to "visit" six different countries. When they did, they recorded the visits in their passports, received travel stamps, and were ultimately eligible to join the World Travel Ambassador's Club. The entire grade finally qualified; at the end of the year, we had an Ambassador's Breakfast to recognize them. The families provided foods from different countries; a guest speaker from our Israeli Consulate spoke to the class; each student received an Ambassador's medal on a ribbon. The program concluded with many expressions of thanks and congratulations, and then the students rose to sing "Let There Be Peace on Earth."

This was truly a fitting ending to a wonderful school year.

The puppets? Well, this was part of the last quarter's emphasis. We took the Act of Kindness and, instead of simply reading it and discussing it, students wrote puppet shows to illustrate the points. The presentations were a big success. Many were recorded and developed into a pod- cast, which can be downloaded from our Middle School web site.

When one does something like this, there is one question that inevitably comes up: does all this effort really make a difference? Are students effectively impressed and do they change their behavior? One would hope we could answer with a resounding YES! However, with human nature being the way it is, we cannot know for sure and have to be content with the hope that something has, indeed, made them think. What we can know for sure comes from an ancient Chinese saying: "One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade." One day we will know for sure.

Each day, we began class by using an Eastern method of greeting. I would simply say "Namaste" to them with folded hands and a bow. They, in turn, would respond in the same way. Basically, the term says, "I acknowledge and value your gifts and special qualities." We began every day, therefore, by affirming each other.

Giving students a perspective on their immediate and their extended world will certainly help them to become the world's citizens of tomorrow, citizens committed to making their world a place of peace and respect.

Gene Festa has been an independent school teacher for over 25 years, teaching both high school and middle school classes. He has taught many subjects over the years, including Spanish, Latin, Speech, Theater, Sociology, Human Development; and the Perspectives course. He volunteers at his local Holocaust Museum as a docent and a member of the Education Committee.

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