St Rose of Lima School marked its International Week, which was recognized with lessons and events, Monday, March 14, to Friday, March 18.

International Week began with a flag ceremony on Monday, and different activities for the grades at the school were held throughout the week.

Grades at the school were assigned countries to study, according to St Rose of Lima School's Director of Mission Advancement Paula Spellman. Students in sixth through eighth grade were given assignments in each class based on the country. In Assistant Principal Sister Christine Hoffner's computer classes, for example, students used all of their compiled research to create websites detailing aspects of the countries.

On Tuesday, visitors spoke in classrooms to share their experiences in other countries.

An International Dinner was held on Wednesday, with St Rose of Lima School Spanish teacher Maria Salcedo performing Peruvian dances and the Horgan Academy of Irish Dance from Naugatuck also performing. Parents contributed between 30 to 45 different dishes, created based on either their heritage or the country their child was studying, according to St Rose of Lima School Principal Sister Colleen Therese Smith.

Thursday at the school was "Passport Day." With classrooms all decorated based on the country the grade studied, classes made their way through the school to visit the classrooms and earn passports, according to Ms Spellman. Activities were also held in each classroom, like in the kindergarten classroom where students worked to make a mural of Irish friendship rings. In MaryJo Bokuniewiccz's fourth grade class, which studied India, the activity for Passport Day was drawing henna designs.

Ms Bokuniewiccz's fourth grade had also created tourist booklets to describe India and they had decorated the classroom with handmade elephants, large and small.

On Friday, Model United Nations (Model UN) sessions were conducted the entire school day for students in fifth through eighth grades. According to St Rose of Lima School's Model UN club advisor and the day's event organizer Katelyn Doane, Model UN club members were running the sessions in some rooms, while in other rooms teachers oversaw the debates.

Students taking part in the Model UN activities were divided into classrooms based on assigned topics, like malnutrition, child labor, clean water and sanitation, the rights of indigenous peoples, and the rights of migrant workers, according to Ms Doane, and worked through Model UN discussions.

"It's been so great," said Sister Colleen on Friday, March 18, as students across the hall from her participated in a caucus session in the school's science room as part of a Model UN lesson. She added later, "They are so enthusiastic and excited to learn about different cultures."