Andrews Osborne Academy International Day has grown into International Week

For the past 35 years, the Andrews Osborne Academy's annual International Day celebration has been an important event in their calendar.

Now that International Week has grown, many members of staff at Andrews Osborne have a hand in embracing the diversity and world cultures of students.

“It's a unique opportunity for students from different countries to get to know each other,” said Diala Armonas, who started the International Day program in 1989. At the time of its inception, former French and math teacher was encouraged by Charles Marsee. former school principal.

Armonas then found himself digging around the student body, finding students of various ethnic backgrounds.

“We had a student who was American but lived in Hawaii for a while, so when we first did the program, she did a Hawaiian hula dance for us,” she recalls. There were also foreign students here from Spanish countries and later, we had some exchange students from Germany and one girl was from Canada, so those students were also involved in the event.

At the time of the program's inception, it was only a one-day event at the Willoughby-based campus.

“The first year, the food was not successful,” Armonas said. “We let the kids go into the kitchen and make their own food. The next day, they took all the food out, but they didn't think you needed people behind it to serve it. The seventh graders took all the things and there wasn't enough left. It was kind of funny.”

As for the program itself, it was the first time the school had done something like this, and therefore it was appreciated, Armonas said.

“The children who took part felt really good because they had the opportunity to talk about their heritage with the rest of the school,” she said.

Armonas chose to major in French and mathematics while in college. After her college career, she was looking around for places to teach, which was quite difficult, she said.

“For one year, I spent the year being a substitute teacher at different schools in Cleveland, a trial by fire kind of experience,” Armonas said. “Then I got the offer here and they offered to teach me French and a geometry class because they didn't have enough French classes for a whole day.”

Armonas continued to teach geometry class for four years in addition to French classes.

“Sometimes, at the end of the day, I'd get confused and start counting in French,” she laughed. “After four years, the school's foreign language requirements became stricter and there were more students taking them, and it was enough for me to have a full course load.”

Armonas taught for 22 years at Andrews Osborne, 10 of which have been involved with International Day, which she has described as an integral part of the school's identity.

Meanwhile, for the past 11 years, Faith Bordonaro has had a hand in this event. She started at AOA as a math teacher and has held various administrative positions since then. She is currently an educational technologist and computer science teacher with advanced qualifications, as well as the International Day program director.

In light of the event, Bordonaro has incorporated international lessons into her classes, including international finance and a project called International Shores, which looked at how to value countries' coastlines.

Before being asked to be the coordinator of the program, Bordonaro was quietly involved in the wing.

“I've worked with a lot of wonderful people,” she said. “As a coordinator, I don't take any of the credit. Some students helped every day, prepared and served food to other students. I think many of our students from other countries lack those tastes. Having real, authentic food from their country makes them feel even more at home.”

As it represents many different countries, AOA is a special place for Bordonaro.

“This year there are 25 places,” she said. “International Day – it's just one way to make our students feel part of their education and part of the community. It's also a chance for teachers to learn something a little different than usual and stretch themselves.”

Bordonaro has noticed that in recent years, new students from different countries enroll at AOA.

“We have a lot of students coming from the same countries every year, but last year we had a couple of students from Fiji,” she said. “This year, we had a student from the Dominican Republic of the Congo, so this is a new representation. It adds to our tapestry as an international school.

Being one of the school's longest-standing traditions, International Day has gone through many forms.

“Teachers come and go, so there will always be a new perspective,” Bordonaro said. “I hope it will continue to develop. As we get people from different countries, the world gets smaller. We know a lot more about other cultures, even more than we knew when we started the International Day.

“Being able to share that among all the classes — it's a joy for us to see them all come together toward the end of the year.”