IMAGE GALLERY: Sixth Graders Present Showcase on Africa

The cafeteria of was transformed into a tour of Africa Thursday morning as 94 sixth grade students presented Africa United Day. Each student was dressed as a prominent figure from one of Africa’s 55 countries and showcased his or her research with maps, food, reports and more.

“These kids put a lot of hard work into this and it shows,” said Westborough resident Anthony Badway as he was leaving the exhibit.

This is the third year for the program presented by the Fireflies Team, a group of four sixth grade classrooms. According to teacher Shannon Barca, the students were required to choose an African country and research information about the country in all discipline areas. Final presentations included a hand drawn map, a poster creating awareness of important current issues, important historical events, a biome exhibit and field guide, economic graphs comparing the US with the African country, samples of common food, a cultural folktale written by each student, a speech written and recited by each student and information about an influential person from the country.

“They work on their projects for five weeks. It’s really the culmination of a year in which we build up to this,” she said. “Every student here knows about his or her country.” 

James Chen, 11, featured Somalia. He told Westborough Patch that he was dressed as Nurrudin Farah. “He is a writer. He helped to raise awareness for equal rights for women and others.”

“I am Cleopatra,” said Olivia Purdy, 12. Wearing a long, black wig, Purdy stood in front of her poster board filled with information about Egypt. “This was a lot of hard work.”

Alden D’Luzansky, 11, also featured Egypt. Dressed as King Tut, he explained his exhibit to his friends Paul Colby and Andy Rivas. “I think one of the most interesting things I learned about Egypt was about bird flu,” he said.

Lindsey Bromm, 12, was dressed as Nelson Mandela. She recited a speech in which she told about Mandela’s life, from losing his father at age 9 to serving 27 years in prison. She said she was most surprised to learn that South Africa has the most HIV cases in the world. Bromm hopes that the World Bank of the UN will step up funding to help fight the disease.

Dozens of parents, family members, students and teachers roamed the exhibits throughout the morning, sampling foods and listening to presenters.

Members of the community also had the opportunity to contribute to the Connect-Africa Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports thousands of Ugandan children who have been orphaned due to AIDS. Barca said the students collected $300 before presenting Africa United Day, and she expected more donations from the program.

Money donated goes to start-up business loans to the guardians of the orphans and educational support to the orphans. People are also welcome to bring in black shoes, rulers, and calculators for the people of Uganda. 

Barca smiled as she looked around the bustling room full of parents, teachers and students. “Every student achieves success with this project.”

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