School celebrates Peruvian tradition
Community comes together to stage a fall fundraiser
SAN JOSE — Teresa Sequeiros has always had fond childhood memories of Ginkana, a carnival hosted at schools throughout her native Peru. So when parents at Horace Mann Elementary were brainstorming ideas for a new, fall fundraiser to replace the school’s annual walk-a-thon, Sequeiros decided to pitch the idea of having a carnival.
“These events were hosted throughout Peru as a way to unite not only students but also parents,” she said in Spanish.
“At Horace Mann, we always did the walk-a-thon as our fundraiser, with parents sitting down watching their kids for four hours, just waiting. I thought to myself, ‘It’s been about eight years of the walk-athon. I’m going to pitch my idea. If it works out, that’s great. If not, that’s fine.’”
On Saturday, Sequeiros, 47, relived her memories — and witnessed her idea come to fruition for the first time — at an all-day Ginkana carnival at the school.
Ginkana, which features a plethora of games and friendly competitions, is celebrated all over the world, according to Sequeiros. This tradition came alive at the school Saturday with games like “trap the balloon” and “walking the plank,” dancing, a silent auction, a cartoonist drawing personal sketches, a pumpkin patch, a variety of ethnic foods and T-shirt sales.
Planning the event was a significant growing experience for many parents of the school on North Seventh Street, who in August voted to select the carnival as this year’s fall fundraiser.
The event attracted an unprecedented level of participation from parents, who held about 20 planning meetings in the past few months. Up to 100 parents were involved in organizing and hosting the event. They were joined Saturday by dozens of school and community volunteers and several business sponsors.
“The idea caught on like wildfire,” said Horace Mann Principal Lori Gustafson. “We’ve had the most parents involved than we’ve ever had.”
The carnival was also an opportunity to build bridges between the school’s Spanish-speaking parents and those who don’t speak the language. Many of the latter said they welcomed the opportunity to learn and celebrate a new culture. Bilingual parents helped everyone communicate.
“It’s a huge celebration that our families have come together,” said Jennifer Goto, co-president of “Team Horace,” a parent organization dedicated to raising funds for school activities. “We say that we are one school and one community. And so we’re all working together for all of our children. It’s a beautiful thing to be friends together.
“It can be difficult sometimes, because we don’t all speak the same language, and so we have to try extra hard in order to overcome any barriers so that we can express our support for one another.”
Sequeiros, whose daughter Rashall is in first grade, said she simply wanted the entire community to participate and to feel like family.
“That was the idea — to unite people,” she said. “That’s what it’s all about — having a wonderful experience and experiencing happy moments. You might have 1,000 problems, but in those five to 10 minutes, your problems disappear.”