Second Annual International Family Fun Night in Bernards Township

By BTEAOnline

The International Welcome Night, a wonderful night of cultural diversity, celebration and community had its second year of success on Wednesday September 9, 2015 at the William Annin Middle School.

The event was hosted and organized by Ms. Stotler, the Supervisor of World Language and English as Second Language (ESL), and Ms. Bologno, an Italian teacher at Ridge High School.

The Bernards Township ESL program offers this event to all families new to the country and the district of Bernards Township. The night serves to welcome new families not only to our schools, but also to our wonderful community. Families are provided with relevant academic information about our school district. Various local organizations attended the event including Ms. Karen Vias from the Basking Ridge public library, Ms. Susan Englestein from the Literacy Volunteers of Somerset County, representatives of the local PNC Bank, the Somerset County YMCA, and the local dentist office of Dr. Micale.

All representatives of these organizations volunteered their time to share valuable resources available in our community. All ESL educators, Debra Schwartz, Jami Koppes and Romina Casenta attended the event to introduce themselves to each family and most importantly, to meet their new students.

The Ridge High School students, members of the World Language Club, Lauren Schottenfeld, Catherine Pankow, Natalia Castner, Julia Fiocco, Claire Fiocco and Evelyn Labelle contributed to the success of the night, by entertaining the small children and assisting all participants.

It was a wonderful experience that offered families the opportunity to interact socially, and for their children to make new friends. Families from countries such as Belgium, China, Germany, India, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain gathered together and participated in activities that evening, which entailed a personal introduction and brief conversation with at least two other families.

Refreshments were offered, and paraphernalia, donated by the PTOs of Bernard’s Township, was gifted to some lucky students raffle style. However, everyone left a winner as each family member had a new friend in town and received free goody bags from the organizations.
Overall, the event went extremely well, and it becomes more than evident that the International Family Night will become an annual treat for new members of our community.