Coeur d'Alene's charismatic cultures
DEVIN HEILMAN/Press Local French club member Heather Riviere, left, prepares crepes Saturday for Elias Colston and Grace Greco during Lakes Magnet Middle School’s eighth annual Community Multicultural Faire.
DEVIN HEILMAN/Press Lakes Magnet Middle School seventh-grader Vanessa Dimberg hands a piece of candy to Hana Blickenderfer after she spun the informational wheel at Vanessa’s booth during the Multicultural Faire in the school’s gym Saturday. Vanessa represented Sources of Strength, a program that uses peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and prevent youth suicide.
DEVIN HEILMAN/Press Seventh-grade teacher Amber Miller paints a delicate white henna-style pattern on seventh-grader Annali Dejesus’ arm Saturday during the Multicultural Faire in Lakes Magnet Middle School’s gym. Miller explained that henna tattoos are traditional in East India.
COEUR d’ALENE — A fine layer of batter sizzled on Heather Riviere's round griddle Saturday as she explained the significance of making French crepes.
"I love the fact that it’s a performance art," she said, gently pulling the thin pancake off the griddle with a spatula. "People can come and watch and learn something about the technique. It’s fun to see it being made. It gives people the opportunity to slow down."
As a former resident of France, Riviere knows how important dining is for the French people, especially their children.
"They're learning to engage in a basic element of French culture and appreciate the food, appreciate the conversation, it’s not rushed," she said. "In the States, whether we want to admit it or not, we’re teaching our kids, 'You should wolf your food down in five seconds, run outside and jump around a bit,' they’re not taking the time to talk or enjoy the meal."
The French culture was one of many represented at Lakes Magnet Middle School's eighth annual Community Multicultural Faire. Exhibits and displays lined the gym for visitors to learn about Italy, Scotland, Russia, Mexico, American Indian culture and much more.
But this year wasn't just about heritage; faire coordinator and Lakes math teacher Kristin Odenthal added the word "community" to the title to incorporate other diverse North Idaho cultures and resources.
One resource represented at the faire was Sources of Strength, a program that trains middle-schoolers to be "connectors" who lift peers from the depths of depression through positive interactions.
"It’s about positive friends, trusted adults, mental health, healthy activities, generosity," Odenthal said. "There’s research out there that says if kids have at least four of those, they will go toward the (positive alternatives) before they go into a depression."
Other resources included the Kind Campaign, which promotes kindness between and among girls, and Diversity Resources, which runs diversity programs in schools.
“It’s important that we all learn about the resources that we have here, the diversity that we do have here in Coeur d’Alene and to celebrate that,” Odenthal said. "Having people know what we have in our community kind of gives comfort to people as well."
The faire included live music and cultural dancing as well as several craft stations and food vendors.
Grace Greco of Coeur d'Alene had never attended a Lakes Multicultural Faire, but she and her friends stopped by and she was glad they did.
"I really like the multicultural superhero boards," she said, referring to displays students made to honor historic multicultural figures such as Cherokee leader Sequoyah, African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth and Oskar Schindler, who saved 1,200 Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Greco said an event like the Community Multicultural Faire is a good thing for Coeur d'Alene.
"It really is," she said. "It exposes our community to different cultures."