Northeast Academy Celebrates Multicultural Night

held its Multicultural Night and “Around the World with NEA” on Wednesday, and drew almost 200 people.

“Originally, it was a way for us to all get to know each other and to appreciate that we all have these different backgrounds,” said Jennifer Criscuolo, school psychologist and coordinator of the event. “And it just caught on.”

Each family brought a dish to share, from homemade egg rolls to Pierogies.

“The food was amazing,” she said. “It’s the big highlight of the event.”

Entertainment included two girls who performed an Indian dance, a bag piper, Balinese dancers and a drummer who talked about instruments from Northern Africa.

Tables were set up representing Italy, China, India, Indonesia and Ireland, so students could visit the exhibits. Students received a passport stamp for visiting each table, then were entered into a raffle if they stopped at all the exhibits.

“I think they had a wonderful time,” Criscuolo said. “What’s nice is not only did the children get to show other people about their family’s background, but they got to know about other families.”