Congressman George Latimer and Tarrytown Mayor Karen Brown joined Tappan Hill School second graders and international students at the EF New York Culture Fair on Friday, November 6, celebrating the cultures and connections that EF’s international community brings to the village.
With 700 students representing 50 nationalities currently on campus, EF’s annual Culture Fair is a popular fall event and brings an international perspective to the Village of Tarrytown. Approximately 85 second graders from Tappan Hill School’s Dual Language and English as a New Language (ENL) classes attended, giving young language learners a chance to meet older students navigating a similar experience.
Latimer, who won reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives earlier in the week, representing New York’s 16th District, and Brown visited cultural displays and spoke with EF students and their young guests.
“The connections we build with people from other countries often begin close to home,” Latimer said. “EF’s Culture Fair gives our youngest residents an opportunity to learn directly from international students, ask questions, and find common ground. Those conversations help build understanding and strengthen relationships in our communities.”
“EF students are part of the everyday life of Tarrytown, and this fair gives our community a chance to get to know them and the places they come from,” Brown said. “It is wonderful to see our local children welcomed as guests and to watch that curiosity turn into conversation.”
The exchange unfolded in small, hands-on moments. Children practiced using chopsticks to pick up candy, learned how to write their names in other languages, explored rooms decorated with national flags and carried mock passports as they visited cultural displays. EF students took on the role of hosts, introducing visitors to aspects of life in their home countries while practicing the English they came to Tarrytown to learn.
“Our students come to Tarrytown to learn English, and they bring so much knowledge and experience with them,” said Debby Arapovic, EF New York campus director. “The Culture Fair gives them a chance to share that with our neighbors. For local children, it makes learning about the world personal: they can ask a question, try something new and meet someone from a country they may never have visited.”
For Vicente, a 16-year-old EF student from Chile studying at EF for five months, the fair was a chance to share his country with others. “The culture fair gives me a chance to represent my country in another place in the world,” he said. “It’s good for young people to learn about each other’s cultures and traditions.”
For Tappan Hill’s visiting classes, the fair offered a connection between their own language learning and the experiences of students from around the world.
“Our Dual Language and ENL students are learning every day what it means to communicate across languages,” said Tappan Hill Principal Alicia Manguso. “Meeting EF students who are doing the same thing helps them see their own experiences in a larger world. It also shows them that the languages and cultures they bring to school are something to be proud of.”
