(Photo Courtesy of Rachana Rao)A new ASU student organization seeks to teach grade school students about different countries around the world through interactive activities and crafts.
Student Educators for Cultural Awareness visits the Ladmo Tempe Boys & Girls Club every week to teach 8- and 9-year-old kids about different cultures, club president Rachana Rao said.
Rao, a business legal studies junior, originally participated in a club similar to SECA in high school and decided to start this organization at ASU last February.
"The main goal of our organization is to really show these students how different and unique cultures are, but also how at the end of the day it’s more about embracing differences rather than trying to separate us all into groups," she said.
The club first started looking at elementary schools in the Tempe area but finally decided the Boys & Girls Club was the best fit, Rao said.
"They actually just loved the idea," she said. "They loved what we were trying to do."
Each lesson starts out with a PowerPoint that describes each country, its geography and popular landmarks.
"It’s really surprising how much they know but also how much they don’t know," she said.
After the PowerPoint, the group makes arts and crafts that represent each country. For Chile, the students will make rain sticks.
Leaders of the presentation read a folk story and the students participate in a game that children play in the selected country, Rao said.
"It’s a lot of fun," she said. "You can tell that their world opens up in front of your eyes. You can see that change."
So far the organization has five members because it wanted to get a grasp of the vibe at the Boys & Girls Club before recruiting new members, Rao said.
“It’s been a really long road," she said.
Rao said she hopes to have SECA working at all three Tempe Boys & Girls Club locations before she graduates and eventually have the organization go state-wide.
"We have really big plans," she said.
Kinesiology junior Sachin Pandya, who went to high school with Rao and participated in the same club, said SECA hopes to show students that similarities exist between people from all different backgrounds.
"Our main goal is to kind of get them to see that no matter the different cultures or different people, there are always similarities between each other," he said. "This was definitely something that the Boys & Girls Club wanted us to emphasize."
Pandya said he likes how enthusiastic the kids are about learning the different cultures.
"I really like when we come back the next week, and they're already excited," he said. "It makes me feel good knowing that we're making a difference in these kids."
Nursing junior Lindsey Constenius said she joined the club because she is a friend of Rachana's and thought it was a great opportunity.
"I think it benefits (the students) a lot because they get to learn about different cultures and it broadens their horizons to see what kids like them are like in different parts of the world," she said. "A lot of them really don't know that much about the countries, and afterwards, they seemed to have learned a lot."
Constenius said she likes seeing the excitement the kids bring each week.
"They just get really excited about learning about the different cultures," she said. "Just seeing that they really like the club is rewarding."
Reach the reporter at savannah.harrelson@asu.edu and follow her on Twitter @savannahleeh
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