Seventh graders offer a tour of the world

Hundreds of guests were offered a tour of the world at Noblesville Middle School?s annual International Festival on March 9.

Dressed in native costumes or in the colors of their country, the school's seventh-grade students displayed artifacts, sold native foods, and shared what they had learned about their assigned country with the community.

This year's festival featured 105 countries and cities.

The International Festival is the culmination of an interdisciplinary study that incorporates social studies, language arts, science, and math.

Preparation begins in September when students form teams and learn what country they will be studying for the next six months. Although some things, such as a research report and collection of artifacts, are required of all students, each student also is required to complete three projects on his own.

It all comes together on the night of the festival when the students don their costumes, man their decorated booths, and begin sharing the wealth of information they have gained over the course of their project.

"It's a night when they can showcase what they've done, what they've spent so much time doing," said social studies teacher C.J. Glander.

The project is student-centered and the expectations are on academics, not on producing a glitzy show on the night of the festival, said social studies teacher Doug Brown.

The time and work the students have put into the festival show on festival night.

"The festival gives kids who are creative a chance to excel," Mr. Glander said. "We have kids who don't excel on homework or tests, but they do an outstanding job with this."

It also lets the highest achieving students take their work to an even higher level, said social studies teacher Tricia Schreck.