TESSERACT SCHOOL ANNOUNCES FIFTH ANNUAL MEXICAN MERCADO
PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZONA –May 19, 2009—Tesseract School, a non-profit,
independent private school— preschool through ninth grade, with its inaugural tenthgrade
class scheduled for fall 2009—announced today the fifth annual el Mercado de
Tesseract will be held on May 22 from 9 -11:45 a.m. on the school’s new middle and
high school campus.
After months of preparation, study and work, Tesseract’s seventh and eighth-grade
students have created a Mexican mercado based on the markets in Oaxaca, Mexico.
They have been responsible for planning, organizing and implementing the festivities for
the event.
“This has become an event that we all look forward to every year,” said Nigel Taplin,
head of Tesseract School. “El Mercado is always a spectacular event, both visually and
in terms of illustrating what the students have learned, from foreign language and
economics to history and culture, in a practical manner.”
The eighth-graders have created their own companies and participated in all aspects of
business planning and marketing for the event, including the research of Mexican folk
art, which they have created and will sell at the market. The seventh-graders have been
identifying and researching traditional Mexican games and toys, and will be responsible
for running information, game and food booths at the market.
Students in preschool through sixth grade will serve as the buyers at the market, and
will each be given 10 dollars of pretend money to purchase food, play games or enter
the dance booth. In addition to the food and games, the folk art that the eighth-graders
have made will be on sale for real money with all the profits going to UNICEF.
While participating in the market, students will be dressed in mercado-style clothing and
will be allowed to converse only in Spanish. The students have been rehearsing dialogue in their Spanish classes—children at Tesseract begin learning Spanish at the
age of three—so that they will be able to implement the language to purchase and sell
items.
“El Mercado de Tesseract is a fun, educational event that engages students of all ages,”
said Jessie Soto-Tolman, Tesseract Spanish educator. “Year after year el Mercado
provides students with a wonderful opportunity to use their language and cultural
knowledge in an authentic and meaningful setting.”
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