PERRYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS GET TASTE OF FOREIGN LIFE

PERRYVILLE -- For a week, Perryville High School wasn't itself.

Instead, it was Germany, Mexico and a variety of other countries most Perryville students wouldn't get to see on their own.

Lisa Best, a Spanish teacher at PHS, joined with other foreign-language instructors to create the different atmosphere. Foreign Language Club members helped, posting signs in various languages on bathrooms, copy machines, tables and almost every other immobile object.

They also opened a store on Monday, stocking it with goods from Mexico and other countries. Students were invited to convert their dollars to pesos and purchase onyx carvings, woven bracelets and Guatemalan worry dolls.

Best said the tiny dolls sold well because of the interesting tradition associated with them. Guatemalan children are told to tell one worry to their dolls each night and place the dolls under their pillows. When the children awake, their worries are supposed to be gone.

There were other stories to go along with almost every item, and student clerks shared the tales with customers. That way, even shopping became a learning experience.

"It is a lot of work -- we had to order the merchandise out of a teaching catalog and then set up the store," Best said. "We don't make any money from it because we're keeping the prices affordable to students. The learning experience is worth it."

Best and her fellow foreign-language instructors asked all PHS teachers to incorporate information about other cultures into their lessons. A flamenco dancer and guitarist performed Monday, and speakers from France, the Netherlands, Israel, Hungary and Germany spoke at various times during the week.

Students and teachers covered several tables in the library with items from countries they visited. Other items -- including Aztec masks and hieroglyphic calendars -- were made in Perryville classrooms.

Chris Messer, 15, and Magen Farrar, 18, spearheaded the student efforts. Messer is president of the Foreign Language Club and has lived in Germany. Farrar is vice-president of the club and spent a year in Sweden.

The two said they wanted to give other students a taste of life outside the United States.

"It would be boring to learn a language without knowing how you would ever use it," Farrar said. "Students can take German or Spanish here. If they ever go to Germany or Mexico, they will remember what they learned within a few weeks. With the cultural fair, they can get some experience in advance."

Messer said the experience may help freshmen decide whether to take a foreign language and help them choose which one. The events end Friday.