CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
International Day Has a Lesson for All
June 13, 1993
* In the midst of much publicity about homophobia and gang
wars, it was refreshing and heartening for me to attend Rinaldi Adult
Center, Granada Hills, on May 27 to witness International Day.
Students from some 40 countries presented their respective
cultures through dance, song and displays of crafts and food.
We need to remember from time to time that the United States
is unique--as Walt Whitman said, "a nation of nations," indeed a model
of the United Nations, which endeavors to address common human needs
and to promote living peacefully and productively together.
The attitudes of the students are of gratitude for the
opportunity to learn basic skills, which may be a lesson for those of
us who take schooling for granted and often with boredom.
LAURA WOOLEY SMITH
Granada Hills
Smith is co-president of the San Fernando Valley chapter
of the United Nations Assn. of the United States of America.
©Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times
VALLEY FOCUS | Granada Hills
Students Celebrate International Day
May 22, 1998|EDWARD M. YOON
Students representing more than two dozen nations Thursday
celebrated the Rinaldi Adult Center's 15th annual International Day.
"Welcome to the United Nations of the San Fernando Valley,"
Elaine Portnoy, assistant principal at the Granada Hills campus, told
participants.
About 100 English as a Second Language students representing
such lands as Korea, China, El Salvador, Columbia, Thailand, Iran,
Indonesia, Ecuador, Argentina, Armenia and Mexico participated in
skits, song and dance numbers and other performances.
"International Day is a chance for our adult students to show
one another and our staff the beauty of their own cultures," Portnoy
said. "What's unique about this school is that we have students here
from several different cultures as opposed to one or two predominant
cultures."
The program included magic tricks and a Tae Kwon Do
demonstration.
Following the show, students and faculty browsed around the
classrooms, which were decorated with furnishings, artifacts, travel
posters, clothing and furniture from the various cultures, followed by
lunch consisting of cuisine from the different cultures.
"I think the best thing about today is that I get to see the
best of other cultures," said Treewan Kulpaya , a resident of North
Hollywood, who performed a dance from her native Thailand. "There were
some things I never knew before and it's very beautiful."
©Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times
Class Notes
NEWS FROM YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS
May 20, 1998
|DIANE WEDNER
,
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
EVENTS
Cultural Exchange: Hundreds of students representing 30
countries will celebrate International Day beginning at 10 a.m.
Thursday at the Los Angeles Unified School District's Rinaldi Adult
Center in Granada Hills. The multicultural event will feature stage
performances, ethnic foods and classrooms decorated with the art and
textiles from the students' native lands.
©Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times
Rinaldi Adult Center Event Holds Peace Lesson for U.N.
May 27, 1987 l PHILl SNEIDERMAN, Daily News Stall Writer
GRANADA HILLS -- Principal Allan Platt often wishes world leaders got
along as well as the international students who attend Rinaldi Adult
Center, a former elementary campus where adult classes are now offered.
"We have students from 40 different countries at the
Rinaldi Adult Center." Platt said. "It's really a small United
Nations. They attend on a daily basis and get along beautifully.
"If the world's leaders got along as well as these
studentsdo, we'd be fine." he added.
The Rinaldi students had a chance last week to demonstrate
this sense of harmony and to share their varied backgrounds at the
school's annual International Day.
The festival attracted hundreds of students, family
members and friends from many Valley communities.
Platt said the event started as a simple open house
program four years ago. At first, the international students used it as
an occasion to share ethnic foods and information about their home
nations.
"It literally grew from there," the principal said.
"People want to know about other cultures."
At last week's elaborate International Fair, the students
turned classrooms into colorful exhibits spotlighting their homelands.
They also wore traditional clothing from their native countries.
In one room, the Japanese display featured a tea ceremony.
Chinatsu Kume of Tokyo was one of the students who created a floral
arrangement for the exhibit.
Kume said she has been attending the Rinaldi center for
eight months while living in Northridge.
Asked her reasons for enrolling, she said, "Because i want
to learn English and I want to make lots of friends. I want to stay(in
the United States) for a long time -- forever, I hope."
Kume said she may eventually work for her father, who has
a business in San Francisco.
Near the Japanese display, a Mexico-Central America room
featured blankets, flags, newspapers and hats.
Other rooms were filled with photographs, pottery, coins,
and other items from nations such as Thailand, Indonesia, France, Iran,
Korea and China.
Outdoor entertainment was provided by a musical ensemble
from the Las Palmas Senior Citizens Center in San Fernando and the
Pacoima Senior Citizens Center.
At midmorning, a standing-room-only crowd pressed into the
school's auditorium to view an international entertainment program
presented by the Rinaldi students.
The program featured singing and dancing from China, Mexico,
Iran, Japan, South America, Korea and Arabic countries.
Platt said the Granada Hills campus is a branch of the Los
Angeles Unified School District's Kennedy-San Fernando Adult
School. Among the 2,500 adults who attend Kennedy-San Fernando
each term, about 120 are international students who are in the United
States on a visa program.
"Most of the visa students are here to sharpen their
English skills." He said. "They're probably working toward
entering a college or university." he said.
Platt said these students attend classes with new
residents of the United States who also are learning to speak and read
English.
The principal said teh Rinaldi center includes students
from Israel and Arab nations and from Iran and Iraq. Yet he insisted
that the international tensions of their homelands do not spill over
into the class rooms.
"There are discussions," he said. "But it's always ona
rational basis."
©Copyright 1987 Daily News
