On the day before Halloween, students at Redmond Elementary School, commonly known as “Redmond El,” combined “United Nations” dress-up fun with learning about the wide world around them.

Students in grades 1-6 took part in a Passport Club check-in, identifying countries on blank maps to demonstrate geography mastery and earn colorful stamps. Children, teachers and parent volunteers were encouraged to wear international costumes or the colors of a flag that represented their heritage. There were eye-catching costumes from China, India, Russia, Romania, Mexico, Ireland, Israel and other nations.

Passport Club was developed by a teacher and debuted in Olympia in 1994. Several buildings in the Lake Washington School District have embraced the program, which gives kids a solid foundation in geography and helps them excel in higher-level social studies. Most of the studying for Passport Club check-ins takes place independently.

“Some teachers review some of this during the school day, as it ties in to their curriculum,” explained Redmond El principal Joyce Teshima. “Once a month on a Friday morning, parents help students one-on-one to identify countries. … Each child has their own ‘passport’ and for every level you pass, you pick out a stamp.”

Parent volunteer Janitzia Pizarro, who was wearing the colors of Mexico’s flag, brought the Passport Club to Redmond El three years ago. She said most kids choose to go above and beyond the easiest levels of geography learning. It helps that so many parents are willing to put time and energy into this enrichment program.

“Last year, we had 90 parents who contributed about 400 volunteer hours — checking passports once a month, re-checking for those students who were not here, parents who cut stamps out of sheets and parents who set up international displays,” said Pizarro.

Another parent, Manka Dhingra, who wore Indian attire, is training to take the reins of the Passport Club at Redmond El.

“Last year, I was a checker and it was so much fun,” said Dhingra. “I could really see how the kids liked it and that they got a really good sense of where things are in the world.”

Teshima said Redmond El’s diverse population makes this program particularly rewarding.

“We have a large ELL (English Language Learner) department here, but the students served by that are only those who haven’t passed the WLPT (Washington Langauge Proficiency Test),” Teshima noted. “But huge numbers of other students here speak another language at home or are multilingual and celebrate other cultures. They really respect each others’ differences and unique characteristics. This is one of those schools where you stand in front of everybody and it just makes you tingle because there is such a spirit of togetherness.”

To learn more about the Passport Club at Redmond Elementary School, click here.