La Salle-Peru High School hosts culture fair for students, family

When Landon Gisler, a sophomore at La Salle-Peru High School, was assigned a project in his honors English and honors history class, he realized how much he would learn about his family history.

“My project was on my family coming from Italy,” he said. “I learned pretty much everything because I knew nothing about my family and where we came from, so it was interesting.”

Gisler’s project was only one example from the Culture Fair and Family Heritage Project, in which students focus on their heritage.

Gisler said it was an experience interviewing his grandmother, but his favorite aspect was putting together a scrapbook for history.

“There was the family tree, [and] we wrote about traditions and recipes,” he said.

One of the most important finds for Gisler, however, was a letter from his ancestors, which will enable him to continue to tell his family’s story.

“There was a letter from my – I think my great-great-great-grandparents back home, and they explained the living conditions on the trip, and that was really interesting,” he said.

Lainey Johns, a sophomore, said her project focused on the first of her ancestors from Poland who came to the U.S.

“It really helped me learn more about my family,” she said. “I feel like I really got to get close to my grandma.”

Johns said her grandma told her about all of the traditions she used to take part in during her childhood, and Johns said she hopes she carries those on.

Honors U.S. history teacher Troy Woods and honors English teacher Shelly Phillips said they assign the Culture Fair and Family Heritage Project because a student’s heritage and where they come from is important.

“We hope that the knowledge that we bring them and the research that they do is going to affect their outlook on modern day,” Phillips said, “so they can make informed decisions.”

Phillips and Woods said the project allows both classes to work simultaneously, much like a humanities class.

“The literature that they’re reading in English matches up with what we’re studying in history and periods so the kids see the connections,” Woods said.

For English, the students write a research paper and write a poem titled “Where I’m From,” and in history, they make scrapbooks about their family or their culture.

Phillips said students can focus on various topics for the paper, from immigration to life in the U.S. to their culture.

“They all have a choice on how they want to do it,” she said. “And I think a lot of times the interviews and the information they get from their families guide them.”

She said that’s what she enjoys most about this type of project because students believe their research papers will be the same length or they all will find the same stuff.

“It’s amazing how they turn out,” Phillips said. “We could have 30 kids researching their Italian heritage, and on some level there is overlap, but they’re choosing different topics ... uncovering family immigration stories.”

Both of the teachers said the project prepares the students for college and any type of research that may be thrown at them in the future.

“It overlaps so many things education-wise,” Woods said. “They’re getting primary source documents, they’re doing research, they’re writing a paper but also, individually, they’re finding out about themselves.”

The project also connects the students to the area, allowing them to see why their ancestors immigrated to the Illinois Valley.

“Many [students] find out how many Irish people came to La Salle because they were digging the canal,” Woods said. “They go, ‘Oh, that’s how my family got here. ... It brought my family here today.’”

Students are given six weeks to complete their projects before the Culture Fair, which is held during their class periods. The students are told to invite their family members and anyone who helped on their projects.

“They have a display board and artifacts,” Phillips said. “In the past, students have shown a video of an interview they have done.”

“We’ve had people put together like suitcases with artifacts and family photos,” Woods said.

Students can bring foods that represent their heritage for extra credit.

Woods said the experience teaches students who they are and who came before them. He said it allows them to see how they are a part of history.

“[They] see how [they] fit into American history, how [their] family fits into American history,” Woods said. “That’s the biggest thing I want them to see – I’m a part of this, and here is how I fit into this.”