Pupils take a trip to Cuba without even leaving YSU

The two-day cultural festival included dance workshops, a feature film and Afro-Cuban music.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jennifer Gonda wondered how Cubans use art to express themselves. Erica Hunuschak learned that some Cuban homes are built with a courtyard inside the house.
They and other Volney Rogers Junior High School pupils "traveled" to Cuba via the Internet.
Their "Virtual Trip to Cuba," along with an audio-visual project by Louisa Miller's Campbell Memorial High School class that highlighted Cuba's arts and culture, was part of a Cuban Arts Technology Fair, sponsored by Ohio Project Talent. The mission of Ohio Project Talent is to teach pupils about educational network technology.
The technology fair was one segment of the Valley's first Afro-Cuban Arts Festival Friday and Saturday at Youngstown State University.
"I see it as enrichment. I didn't know much about Cuba and neither did my students," said Madelyn Sell of her Volney Rogers honors class.
What they learned: Among the lessons they learned is that education is one of Cuba's top priorities, and more Cubans get around on bikes than in cars. Several of her pupils said they were struck by the country's beauty.
Amanda Quinn wanted to figure out where to build a shopping mall in Cuba. She and other Campbell Memorial students used technology to research the country's climate, population and geography.
Miller, a Spanish teacher, also is teaching her students how to videoconference with other schools.
"They have learned how easy it is to access information," Miller said.
Miller credited Nicholas Maillis, one of her honors students, for working on the technical aspects of their five-minute presentation, made possible by a Project Talent grant.
Program's impact: The Cuban study program is helping Sell's seventh- and eighth-graders to appreciate Cuban culture and literature. They're also improving their Spanish -- and technological skills.
Many of Sell's pupils know Spanish, though, so it was easy to translate letters sent by Cuban pen-pals. Sell said her pupils were interested in what school is like for their new friends, as well as what music they listen to.
Sell also mentioned that she had her pupils find out about a famous literary figure -- Ernest Hemingway.
"I had my class read 'The Old Man and the Sea,' " she explained. "They researched Hemingway, since he spent so much time in Cuba."
Sell and Miller said they were brought together with Dr. Ivania del Pozo through the Ohio Project Talent grant. Pozo is an associate professor of foreign languages and literature, and a Cuban native. The YSU professor said she thinks such programs are good ways to build bridges between the United States and Cuba.
Cuba's government had to limit certain liberties for its citizens because of the 1962 Bay of Pigs invasion and the U.S. embargo, said Dr. Milton Sanchez-Parodi, a Poland physician, one of the speakers at the Afro-Cuban Arts Festival. The government also has tried to "redistribute the wealth and have equality among the population," he added.
Other events included an Afro-Cuban dance workshop, a percussion clinic, lectures on the country's health-care system, and a Cuban view of U.S.-Cuba relations.
The influx of Hispanic people into the United States and a desire at YSU to connect with minorities served as catalysts for the festival, organizers said.
Dr. Glenn Schaft directed the festival. Contributors included Drs. Ivana del Pozo and Mark Knowles.