Kildonan students 'travel' to Mexico

AMENIA — Last Friday was a true “fiesta,� as The Kildonan School’s elementary building took its annual cultural carpet-ride to this year’s country of choice, Mexico.

Every year the school picks a different country and spends an intensive six-week period studying the area’s culture, food, art, history, geography ... you name it and the Kildonan students learned about it.

The Kildonan School is a coeducational boarding school for students with dyslexia and other learning-based differences located on Morse Hill Road in Amenia.

The first things to notice upon entering the elementary building are the sights and sounds. The walls of the community room, where the event was held, were covered in a seascape background and adorned with paper mache cacti, suns, butterflies and other assorted Mexican symbols.

The smells came from the ethnic foods for sale. Students were given paper pesos that they could purchase food from one of the many vendors. Word association games kept the students’ vocabulary in check. And the icing on the cake: a live three-member mariachi band from Danbury, Conn.

Frances Borden and Sandra Charlap, codirectors of the elementary school, explained that the annual event brings the whole elementary school together, and it’s something the students always look forward to, and remember as well.

Student Morrow Otis, who researched the Mayans, said he was surprised to learn how technologically advanced the ancient civilization was.

“I learned about how well they had it,� he said. “It wasn’t that much different than it was today. Like, they had an old version of basketball.�

Charlap said that making it interesting for the students was key to their retaining what they learn.

“When you talk to the high school kids, this is what they remember,� she said.