The gymnasium at Eshleman Elementary looked like the inside of a Costco at the Epcot Center, only with scrumptious, homemade meals.

The school held its annual World Food Fair on April 10, giving students, teachers, and their families a chance to sample foods made from recipes that originated all around the globe.

"The goal is to build community and to showcase the different cultures we have here at Eshleman," principal Melissa Mealy said. "But they can also make dishes from different countries as well. It doesn't have to be from your heritage, but a lot of students bring food from their own culture."

Families made pierogies, chicken and rice, pulled pork, and classic American dishes like macaroni and cheese. "(The students) do a lot of research to find out what they can make and what they can make in a large quantity to feed so many people," said Mealy.

Patty Detter, who is now an assistant principal at Manor Middle School, started the World Food Fair in 2007 during her second year as a second-grade teacher at Eshleman. The food fair has been held annually since then except for two years when it was canceled because of COVID-19.

"I am originally from Nicaragua in Central America," Patty said. "I thought in a school like this it was really important to promote diversity and culture. It's been amazing. I started with my classroom. Everybody wanted to do it, and it just grew and grew and grew into this big, huge school thing."

Patty said she enjoys "seeing how the families come together and how the kids find identity through (the event)." She continued, "They come in and wear their cultural dressings, and they are so proud to show everyone (their garb) and show everyone the food they make at home. That's amazing to me."

"I love how they go around and try different things," Patty said. "When you share a part of your culture that unites people, it's amazing."

Students also become curious about the places that originally produced the food. "Parents have come in and say their kids made them buy an atlas because they wanted to see where all these places are," said Patty. "That's huge."

Patty's son, Matthew, a seventh-grader at Manor Middle School, was excited to return to his former school. "The nostalgia is part of it, and it is interesting to see how (Eshleman) has grown through the year I haven't been here," he said.

Eshleman sixth-grader Isaiah Ginder said, "I like all the food. I went to (the tables of) Germany, Russia, and the Netherlands, and I think they all have good food there."

Third-grader Eliza Kreider's family prepared couscous salad and a stew from Morocco. Eliza said she liked eating crepes and trying food from other countries.

Eshleman third-grader Hannah Smith helped her family make brigadeiros, a Brazilian dessert similar to chocolate truffles. Hannah rolled dough into balls and her sister, Abigail, a fifth-grader, covered the balls with chocolate sprinkles.

"I'm happy because people liked it," Hannah said. "All of (the pieces of brigadeiros) are already gone (45 minutes into the fair). Some kids came back for seconds and thirds. It makes me happy they liked the food from Brazil."

Hannah's mom, Esther Smith, was born in Brazil and lived there until she was 18. The Smiths go back to Brazil to visit family. "I really love (the food fair) because I get to go around and try food from all different countries, and I love that our kids get to see that, too," Esther said. "It's pretty cool. It always seems to be a big hit. There are always a lot of people here. It's a nice community activity for the school to do. I really enjoy it."

Hannah enjoyed sampling different kinds of food. "I've tried balls of candy that were sour," she said. "I had savory foods. I had chicken and rice." Hannah paused for a couple seconds before finally acknowledging, "I had a lot of desserts."