April 4, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 11 Midland Park Highland School in Midland Park held its Fifth Annual Cultural Fair last week, giving students the opportunity to experience five distinct regions of the United States. Cultural Fair highlights five regions of America The Northeast region, led by Cindy Mahoney, started with the Wampanoag Indians and pilgrims. Students continued to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Southeast region, covered by Col- Above and left: Students tour the different regions of America. leen Monahan and Mirella Guerdat, took children on a journey down I-95. They discussed segregation and touched upon the efforts of Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders, the Greensboro sit-in, the Little Rock Nine, the Underground Railroad, and the quilt system. Carmenza Perez led the students through the Southwest, where they learned about the search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold, observed a Zuni Corn Dance celebration, heard cowboy stories by a campfire, and left their handprints on the walk of fame outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Children explored the Midwest with Chris Wallace, who led students on a journey on a raft down the Mississippi River where they learned about the Great Plains and the Lakota Indians. They continued with a peek into the Ford Motor Company and the assembly line process and ended by attending a farm auction and learning how to work with soil on a Kansas wheat farm. In the Pacific Northwest, led by Kerri Schaefer and Angela Caprio, children learned about Manifest Destiny, traveled across the Oregon Trail to Independence Rock, and heard about the daily life of pioneers. They also learned about the Alaska Gold Rush and watched gold panning. This area finished in modern times, where students learned about the progress of computers and the beauty of the local national parks. The evening Open House featured a Cultural Food Festival and displays of the students’ projects, which included handprint flags; state bird, flower, and flag quilts; and letters written about the United States.