By Brian M. Boyce
TERRE HAUTE — Faster than a speeding bullet, Vigo County seventh graders will zip about the world in a matter of hours today at the Day of Global Understanding program.
“This is our first year, the inaugural event,” Jeff Lorick, director of the Terre Haute Human Relations Commission, said of the event hosted at the Booker T. Washington Community Center at 13th and College streets.
Lorick told commissioners Monday evening that plans are in place for today’s program, which will include about 400 seventh-graders from West Vigo and Woodrow Wilson middle schools in two shifts.
The project is a collaboration between the Vigo County School Corp., the commission and the Indiana State University International Students Association, from which students will represent 10 nations at educational booths.
“They’re going to be disbursed throughout the facility,” he explained, noting the nuances of language, food and recreation will be among the cultural differences explored. Chinese acrobatics and Middle Eastern dance also will be incorporated. Nations represented range from Morocco to Taiwan and Saudi Arabia.
Each student will receive a “passport” with questions to ask, including “What are some of the things you want others to know about your culture” and “What is a typical day for a seventh-grader in your country”?
Time and much of the materials have been donated, Lorick added. “It’s actually one of the least-expensive things we do.”
n In other business, Lorick said plans are under way for the fifth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Summit, scheduled for Jan. 19. The program will run 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and feature speakers ranging from medical doctors to business owners and professional athletes, living in and coming from the Wabash Valley. This year’s theme is “You Can Be A Star.”
“It’s an outstanding event,” he said.
The commission’s mission, he said, is to foster understanding among cultural groups through education and awareness.
CONTACT INFO
• E-mail jeff.lorick@terrehaute.in.gov or call (812) 232-0110 for more information on the Human Relations Commission.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
