Los Pleneros de la 21 rocked the stage with traditional Puerto Rican music at GAMS last Tuesday
GAMS Tech Magnet School students, part of the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, entered another world recently during the annual Passport to the World event held on Tues., March 1st. Passport to the World is a program designed to bring students and families together to increase the students’ awareness and appreciation of the world and its people according to Assistant Principal Laura Bair. “Passport to the World is a wonderful school event that brings family, students, and faculty together to celebrate and honor our diversity,” explained Bair.
The night began with a performance by Los Pleneros de la 21. The music ensemble, which hails from the Bronx, specializes in Bomba and Plenero. The goal of the group is to educate their audience on the musical history of Puerto Rico. During the culmination of the performance, a handful of students in attendance were able to join the group on stage for a brief dance lesson.
GAMS students learned some dance steps with Los Pleneros.
“In the early 1990s, when I was a teaching in New York City, I took my class on a field trip to see Pleneros. They left such a great impression on me and on my students as they did on all of us today, that I knew one day we would cross paths again,” explained GAMS Principal Elsa Kortright-Torres.
Following the show, students and their families were invited to travel throughout the building visiting the various countries to learn facts and different cultural traditions. Each student was given a “GAMS Passport” which was stamped each time they visited a new continent and answered a question correctly.
Students created this exhibit about Madagscar, including its famous baobob tree.
According to Bair, each class chose a different country and created an informational exhibit with facts, data, and a brief history of the cultural traditions of the respective country. The elaborate exhibits allowed the students to incorporate writing, reading and research skills into their projects. In addition, the exhibits gave students the opportunity to tour the school and in essence tour the world one exhibit at a time.
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