Encinal celebrates The British Isles during annual Cultural Arts Day

Encinal Elementary School in Atherton celebrated their seventh annual Cultural Arts Day on Monday, with a focus this year on the British Isles. During this all day event, the entire school population learns about the history and culture of a specific country or region.

The British Isles are made up of the countries of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and 6000 smaller islands, including the Isle of Man and the Channel islands. Children kicked off the day with an introductory video focusing on the sports and music of the British Isles, followed by a history, culture and geography lesson.

Principal Sharon Burns stated “Cultural Arts Day pulls our whole community together, from the children and local volunteers, to area talent and organizations. We are grateful to the numerous organizations and individuals who donated their time and talent to make this day such a success.”

The four co-chairs, Diane McGrath, Lynne Craig, Indu Sharma and Ami Bhow, started planning for this school year’s Cultural Arts Day shortly after last year’s Day, celebrating India, was completed. It was an extraordinary year in terms of entertainment. Indeed, the children watched in awe as the Stuart Highland Band demonstrated their skills in marching, drumming and bagpiping, followed by the enthusiastic and skilled Clogging Express. Over lunch, children enjoyed the colorful Mad Molly dancers and a maypole dancing demonstration. Later, they were entertained by resident artists from the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.

The Arts and Crafts portion of the day focused on creating the national flowers of Wales (the daffodil) and England (the rose), as well as one’s own Coat of Arms. The children also decorated the Pearly Kings and Queens, an East London tradition, and matched American words and phrases to their counterparts in English.

Families contributed artifacts, games, flags, currency and Scottish kilts to a British Isles museum that the children visited during the day. They were piped into the museum by Ken Sutherland, a local bagpiper, and serenaded by three harpists, Tamara Mead, Alexandra Perdew & Jennifer Hurley. They also learned some Gaelic words and phrases from Lavinia Finnerty, an Irish language teacher. Decor included foods from the British Isles, rugby and football sports equipment and jerseys, souvenirs of the British Royal Family, and costumes on loan from the Palo Alto Players.

Teachers, staff and more than 100 volunteers were treated to a traditional English tea, complete with coronation chicken and cucumber sandwiches, while children sampled cheeses from the region. During the storytelling portion of the day, the children listened to the Salmon of Knowledge, an Irish folk tale, and then discussed poems from prominent authors including William Shakespeare and Roald Dahl.

To round up the day, the children tried their hand at Rounders, a popular sport in Ireland and Great Britain, and the precursor to baseball.

Photos by Gina Hart