Collaboration and Community with a Multi Cultural twist

All I can say is WOW!  If you were unfortunate enough not to attend the Brigantine Elementary School 2010
Arts Night, not to worry, I am going to give you a peek at what you missed.  With the help of Amy's gift of a Flip camera I was off and videoing some of these amazing children  and the unbelieveable things they accomplished . 
Arts was the platform, however there was so much more going on .  Having worked in school districts for over 15 years I have never seen what was was occuring in Brigantine.
Yes there was a theme. This year Eurasian Quest and the whole school was turned into foreign places-Ancient Greece and Rome, The Italian Renaissance, Germany, Poland ( the pierogies were great) , Austria, Hungary, Ukraine and Russia. As you moved through the building you were taken back in time. Students have been immersed in these cultures all year, each with their specific projects and cultures. This night was the very proud culmination of their learning and work.This is what we were treated to see.
What wasn't so obvious was the comming together and cooperation of an entire community. Ahh! if we could only bottle this.  It was obvious that a massive project such as this could not have happened without
the full committment of everyone from the Superintendent (very handsome by the way) a very nice man, and
all the way down to the children. Volunteers abounded. Parents participated and encouraged. One little girl
was to participate in the Austrian part, she came in a pony tail and another sudent reminded mom she was suppose to be in braids- the problem was fixed immediately.
I was embarrassed when I saw 3rd and 4th graders using technology. The made WIKIPIKIS  and were very willing to help those digital imigrants who needed it. That wasn't all, as we walked through the halls they
were Skyping to New Zealand  getting art lessons. Awesome!  I'm not sure if any of this is in the Principals
job description but Brigantine is very lucky to have Don Marrandino.
Enough of the chit-chat. Take a look.