BRISTOL, Maine — A few weeks before summer break, students at Bristol Consolidated School in Pemaquid learned everything about the country of Mexico.
For the past 25 years, students have learned for an entire week about one specific country's people, language, culture, traditions, and customs. This year, to help them learn about Mexico, the school hired a Mexican-American group called Mexico Beyond Mariachi.
The multicultural ensemble of professional musicians, actors, dancers, and artists made sure students understood the meaning behind some of Mexico's most popular dances, why they like spicy food, the benefits of some popular Mexican plants like aloe, the layout of the country, and a lot more.
Alda Reuter from the New York-based group said art and culture are an integral part of the development of every student's outlook on life.
Themes like personal engagement, community experiences, and the celebration of commonality were highlighted throughout the week.
"The idea is for the kids to have an interactive experience," Chris Perry, diversity week organizer and physical education teacher at the school, explained. "We started it 25 years ago in the hopes to have students understand that wherever you come from, whatever you look like, that we all have similarities, we all have differences, and to accept."
"It's about the harvest that they celebrate and the tradition that they do every year when they harvest," 12-year-old student Topher Vincentsen said. "Well they have some similarities, but the difference is that they dance and they obviously speak a different language because they are Spanish and not English."
"Queriamos compartir la rica cultura que tenemos en Mexico, que es mas alla del Mariachi. El Mariachi es maravilloso pero es de solo una region de Mexico."
"We want to share the rich culture we have in Mexico, which goes beyond the Mariachi. The Mariachi is marvelous, but it comes just from one Mexican region," Reuter said.
"Some of them, as I'm watching, put their nose up to it because it's a little spicy, but that's the whole idea—to try something new," Perry said as the students tried a tinga de pollo.
Students also got to try the agua de Jamaica drink made from hibiscus flower and aloe from the cactus plant.
"Se hace comunidad, muy rapidamente a traves de la musica."
"We are trying to build community through music," Reuter said.
"Estan aprendiendo a traves del juego que es super importante, aprender a traves de jugar, no se dan cuenta que estan aprendiendo tanto porque estan jugando."
"They are learning through games, which is very important, learning through games. They don't realize that they are learning so much because they are playing."
According to a study by Routledge, researchers found that using games in teaching can help increase student participation and push them to take risks.
"So we always try to say to the kids that it's not what you look like, not where you come from, it's about what's inside," Perry added.
Perry said he is interested in hiring a similar group next year to come and teach all of the school's student about the country of China.