By Stowell P. Watters

Staff Writer

Paper lamps hung, spinning slowly. Wok-smoke ferrying ginger, scallions and garlic curled through the Middle School of the Kennebunks while everywhere girls, dressed in the shiny traditional Chinese one-piece cheongsams and boys in long, chang-pao garments, stood by their China Connections Night projects – writing calligraphy, raking “Zen gardens” and frying spicy Chinese cuisine.

“The power, the essence of all of this is that it is student centered learning,” said global studies teacher Fred Myers at the April 3 event. Every year he organizes a seventh-grade trip to Chinatown in Boston, which he segues into an educational unit about China, culminating in the student exhibition night. “It really combines so many essential skills, from research, note taking, organization, collaboration and communication – all vital skills that are part of the workplace today that they will have for the rest of their lives.”

The seventh-graders read novels centered around historical Chinese events in their language arts class and studied the culture and history of the Middle Kingdom in Myers’ class. For China Connections night, Myers asked the students to pair up and choose a topic that links their experiences in Boston to their reading and studies in Kennebunk.

The event gave Nate Ruel and Lucas Butterfield a chance to show off their culinary skills as the pair attended to a pot of steaming jasmine rice and a wok sizzling with chopped vegetables and seasoned chicken. In an adjacent classroom Tori Leonard and Olivia Tryonnadeau dropped handfuls of onions and peppers into a hot wok.

“Presentation and color is a big thing in Chinese cooking,” Leonard said, sliding red, yellow and green peppers from a cutting board into the wok. “Also, you have to chop everything up before you begin cooking – that is the way.”

A package of nori – traditional Japanese roasted seaweed wraps, used in making sushi – sat on the pair’s table.

“Well, that isn’t Chinese but, this definitely is,” Tryonnadeau said, holding up a bottle of soy sauce.

In another classroom, down the hall, Katherine Cotton and Rebeka Turner challenged parents to use chopsticks to pick up candies. The winners were awarded fortune cookies and a bow from the young pair.

“Table manners are extremely important in Chinese culture. So is expertise with the chopsticks,” Cotton said, deftly pinching a Tootsie Roll in demonstration.

In another room there was soft music, muted light and hot green tea.

“Green tea is used to help you relax. It calms your senses, but if it has caffeine it can also be used to help make you more alert,” said Victoria Hill. 

Hill’s partner Rose Bryant said the Chinese culture is “very exotic,” and was surprised when she learned about their pharmacies and restaurants.

“In the pharmacy there is a wall of drawers, when the teller opens them up all you see is herbs – it was really different and neat to see,” Bryant said. 

She said her experience was made all the more interesting when a lunchtime waiter in Chinatown brought the seventh-graders a platter of “tripe” –the cooked lining of a cow’s stomach.

Hill said while she didn’t attend the Chinatown trip, she learned as much as possible about Chinese medicine and herbs for the pair’s project.

“Ginger, ginseng and dried mint can be used as a cure for the flu. They have so many cures without modern medicine, it is really cool,” she said.

She also said another major factor in Chinese health was their focus on relaxation. In an adjacent room Kathleen O’Toole and Samanatha Truman, adorned in elaborate cheongsams, held their arms flat at chest level, and, exhaling, slowly lowered them.

“This is Tai Chi, it is all about connecting to your inner balance and energy, or chi,” O’Toole said.  

For their project on Tai Chi the pair practiced the ancient relaxation and exercise technique as often as possible. 

“It helps get you focused, and if you really get into it, it will burn more calories than surfing – I found that to be pretty interesting,” Otoole said.

In the crowded hallways, parents munched on stir-fry, sipped tea and watched as the students shared their cultural education. Sabrina Kayser stood by her project on Buddhism, and spoke to a crowd about the importance of multi-culturalism.

“In Kennebunk we aren’t exposed to too many different cultures. A really neat thing about this project is just seeing how different people are, but also how much the same they are too,” Kayser said.

Parent Stacie Brown watched as her daughter Erin Brown gave a martial arts performance wheeling a round house kick into a pad attached to partner Gillian Aldridge’s arm and then bowing to the audience.

“So much goes into these projects, and when you walk around you get an idea of just how student-lead this all is. I think it is really great,” Stacie Brown said.