The Newtown International Center for Education (NICE) oversaw celebrations for International Education Week, recognized nationally this year February 13 to 17, in all of Newtown's public schools.

Reflecting on the week on Monday, February 20, NICE Parent Community Organization (NICE PCO) President Catherine Filiato said thanks to the NICE PCO, Newtown High School NICE Club, and representatives at each of the Newtown schools, students enjoyed a week full of international music, fun facts, food, and costumes from different countries.

The schools each celebrated the week in different ways. NHS Nice Club student Presidents Simran Chand and Dawson Stout helped organize the week at their school.

"I think the week went over really well considering this is the first year that intentional week has been carried out in this style," said Dawson on Sunday, February 19, in an e-mail.

Dawson said decorations at NHS made the week much more apparent at his school. Foreign language music was also played between periods at NHS for the week, and each day had a different theme to celebrate, from Latin day on Monday to Chinese day on Friday.

"We teamed up with the language departments and gave each language taught at the high school a day in order to build excitement surrounding their respective cultures and language," Dawson said, adding that students were encouraged to wear colors of the different countries' flags or clothing to celebrate the different cultures. "Overall, I had a lot of fun putting the week together with the rest of the NICE club and think it can only get better in the following years."

Simran said the week was "a huge success" based on student involvement.

"The purpose of this entire week for us was to increase awareness of languages and cultures for all students, which I think we definitely did," said Simran by e-mail on Saturday, February 18. "We had announcements in the language of the day, cultural music playing throughout the day, and morning activities for the entire student body. Not only was it informative and educational, but it was fun."

NICE also provided materials for different activities during advisory periods at NHS.

For International Education Week at both Middle Gate Elementary School and Head O' Meadow Elementary School, students helped with morning announcements.

At Middle Gate students heard greetings in Russian, Spanish, Greek, Persian, Hebrew, and Arabic. Music from around the globe was also played during morning announcements, and students who speak other languages spoke. Middle Gate third grade teacher Leanne Connors coordinated the presentations for the NICE program.

Head O' Meadow Principal Barbara Gasparine said she provided fun facts to teachers to share with their students, and school secretary Laurie Martinelli played international music over the loudspeaker. Marianne Grenier, the district's foreign language in elementary school (FLES) teacher, Ms Gasparine said, also helped oversee announcements along with students Juan Delgado and Owen Sari, both first graders who have been learning Spanish for the last two years through the district's FLES program, along with their fellow classmates.

Whitsons Culinary Group, which provides food services for the school district, also offered culturally inspired food options at schools for the different themes. On Tuesday, for example, Ms Gasparine said Head O' Meadow students had Italian food options.

Ms Filiato said NICE is also planning for NHS to host a delegation of students and faculty from Spain, March 28 to April 5. Host families are still needed, and people interested in getting involved with NICE can contact Ms Filiato at cathyfiliato@gmail.com for more information. The delegation will visit New York City, Yale University, the NHS junior prom, and spend time with their host families during their stay in Newtown.

NICE is also planning to send a delegation to China and one to Spain in April. Newtown students attending the trips stay with a host family, attend school, and visit historical and cultural sites, according to Ms Filiato.