The gymnasium was buzzing with around 300 people on Thursday night. An African drumming group — Badenyah Drum and Dance — gave an energetic performance throughout the night, filling the air with rhythmic beats. Curious kids and adults tried samples of global cuisines — prepared by Ruth Pino, the Saranac Lake Central School Food Service Director, and Paul Smith’s College culinary students — including a spiced chicken dish called Doro Wat from Eritrea, perogies from Poland and spaetzle from Germany. Students learned how to bead in a traditional Haudenosaunee style from Jocelyn Jock, and the kids collected passport “stamps” from the more than 30 countries that were represented by the dozens of three-panel display boards Petrova families had created and lined up throughout the gym.

Petrova staff Temnit Muldowney and Jesse Jakobe co-founded the event in 2018 to celebrate the global heritage of Petrova students, their families and the Saranac Lake community. They said they saw a “disconnect between the richness of cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds and a way for the students to talk and share this diversity.” Muldowney, who is originally from Eritrea, believes it’s important for students to learn about their uniqueness within the “bigger picture” of the world.

Petrova students and their parents studied their family heritage to create the three-panel boards, which were decorated with flags from their ancestors’ countries along with facts and trivia about the countries — students celebrated ancestry from Peru, Brazil, Montenegro, Kosovo, Scotland and Sweden, among other countries. The New York State Teacher Association provided free books celebrating diversity, and this year’s event also featured the first-ever deaf culture table that taught students about American Sign Language. Jakobe said the Multicultural Night got everyone in the elementary school involved — even the parents who don’t usually participate in school events.

“We all have a story to tell,” Muldowney said.

Petrova fourth-grader Leela Volyanik, left, and second-grader Julia Volyanik smile in front of a three-panel board they made to recognize their Ukrainian heritage during Petrova’s Multicultural Night in the Petrova gymnasium on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

For many of the young students and their parents, the night prompted some of their family’s first talks about heritage.

Heather Volyanik, a fifth grade teacher at Petrova, said her two daughters, who both attend Petrova, are 50% Ukrainian on their father’s side. It’s been hard to talk to the girls about the war in Ukraine, Volyanik said, but Petrova’s Multicultural Night gave second-grader Julia and fourth-grader Leela an opportunity to interview their Ukrainian grandmother, who lives in Syracuse, and learn more about her Ukrainian embroidery and the traditional Ukrainian dishes she cooks. Julia and Leela also got to learn about their father’s hometown in Ternopil, Ukraine.

Oskar Szaba, a first grader at Petrova, was wearing a traditional Polish hat that belonged to his grandmother, who immigrated to the U.S. from Poland. Szaba learned about his Polish heritage on his father’s side and his Irish heritage on his mother’s side, comparing Polish and Irish foods, clothes and customs.

Kayla Latham and her son, Petrova Elementary School kindergartener Dawson Gannon, right, smile at a photo booth during Petrova's Multicultural Night on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

Petrova Elementary School students excitedly grab photo prints from their photo booth session during the school's Multicultural Night on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

Petrova first grader Oskar Szaba, center, learned about his Polish and Irish heritage for Petrova's Multicultural Night on Thursday and created a three-panel board displaying his family history with the help of his father Frank Szaba and his Irish mother Eve Burns. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)