Tanaina Elementary celebrates first annual Culture Night

WASILLA — 17 different cultures were represented during Tanaina Elementary School’s first annual Culture Night.

Students and their families displayed their rich cultural heritage with designated booths that featured traditional food, clothing, and other items that represent their families’ backgrounds.

Tanaina Elementary school nurse Cathy Chuey and school counselor Angelina Klapperich worked together to start this new annual tradition to celebrate their school’s diverse collection of cultures.

“I just want the kids to understand the richness in each other and in their families,” Chuey said. “We really opened the conversation which was my goal.”

Students and their families picked up passports at the front entrance and made their way through the school gymnasium to film their empty books with stickers bearing the flag of each booth. Visitors also marked where in the world their family comes from on a large map.

In addition to numerous games and activities, there were several live performances by students, staff, and members of the community throughout the evening. Whether it was a traditional Russian song, Mexican dance routine, or an Aleutian drum demonstration, there was a vast range of representation and thunderous applause from the audience.

Nadia Mathis ran the Ukraine table with the help of her children who attend Tanaina. She said that she wanted to participate in this event as a way of putting positive energy out there.

“I wanted to make some kind of comfort,” Mathis said. “I’m so hurt about my country. That’s why I wanted to show that it’s still in my heart and In America, we’re cool with Russians.”

Booths featured various food items and drinks. The main dish at the Ukrainian table was Borscht, a red, sour soup with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients. Mathis said it was fun preparing food for this event and having the unique opportunity to sample dishes from across the world all in one place.

“Every family cooks a little differently,” Mathis said.

Olga Fontaine ran the Russian booth during the event. She works as an English Language Learners Teacher for the Mat-Su Borough School District and Tanaina is her main school.

One of the main motivations behind this new event was to help bring a sense of unity and appreciation for diversity in wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We decided that with so much going on in the world, this would be a great way of bringing people together,” Klapperich said.

Fontaine said this is an especially important time for everyone to come together and celebrate. She said the freshly made food is a perfect way to tie it all together.

“It’s exciting. This is a fantastic opportunity to respect our different cultures,” Fontaine said. “I think one thing that unites all of humanity is food. We can all enjoy food together.”

Tanaina student Jeremy Schoonmaker said that he had fun during the event. He said that one of his favorite parts of the evening was tasting the various food items such as the Filipino egg rolls called Lumpia.

“It’s so delicious,” Schoonmaker said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com