Riverdale families share cultures from around the world

At Riverdale Elementary's inaugural Taste of Traditions, families gathered on May 8 for a meal. The assignment: Share a food that represents your culture or that your family simply loves. Multilingual scholars from the school's 3rd, 4th and 5th grade English language development groups discussed possibilities with their families. From there, the impressive menus for the respective grade-level groups developed, including favorites from Cuba, Iraq, Albania, Peru, Mexico and the United States. Scholars also had the option to bring an artifact to represent their family or interests.

The 24 students, dozen families and ELD teachers Jennifer Kehoe and Fairlight Baer-Gutierrez filled their plates Wednesday morning as they listened to a Spotify playlist with some of the families' favorite songs. Did the fifth graders spontaneously break into dance at the sound of "Macarena" between bites of pan dulce (sweet bread), yuca frita (fried yucca) and choco-flan cake?  Indeed! One risk-taking third grader even delivered a short performance with her guitar.

From the menus:

• 3rd grade
  • tamales
  • biryani (Middle Eastern mixed rice)
  • chicken flautas, tomato sauce and mayo
  • corn in a cup
  • tuna salad
  • arroz con leche (rice pudding)
  • chocolate cake
  • popcorn
• 4th grade
  • petulla (Albanian fried dough)
  • churro cheesecake
  • chips, salsa and guacamole
  • chilaquiles (corn tortilla breakfast dish)
  • enchiladas
  • chocolate cake
  • Buñuelos de Viento (fritters)
  • pignolata (Sicilian honey balls)
  • candied almonds
• 5th grade
  • yuca frita (fried yucca)
  • sweet bread
  • choco-flan cake
  • papa a la huancaína (Peruvian egg and potato dish)
  • chicha morada (Peruvian purple corn drink)
  • spicy lollipops
  • gelatina de mosaico (mosaic Jello)