The community is invited to take a trip around the world at Federal Way Public Academy’s Culture Fair.

Seventh-grade students in Mark Klumpenhower’s social studies classes have spent the last five months becoming experts on an assigned country. They will present their findings during the Culture Fair from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, June 11, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, at the school, 34620 Ninth Ave. S.,

The 64 students were each assigned a country at random. “I did not allow them to have a country they were already familiar with,” Klumpenhower said. “They had to learn, had to grow somewhere and some way.”

This is the 17th year Klumpenhower has had his students do the project, and he always tries to engage the community in it.

“I see the value in letting the students have the experience. They it take more seriously that way,” he said, adding that having students interact with adults they don’t know provides them with real-world experience.

Klumpenhower said he wants community members to attend the event and ask students questions about the countries they have researched.

“I expect (the community) to learn a little something about their world and learn a little something about what our seventh-graders can do,” he said. “We can really underestimate what our kids can do.”

Each year, Klumpenhower and those who attend the Culture Fair are impressed by the event.

“They are always blown away by how well they can do and how well they can talk about it,” he said.

Lydia Totey shows off her display about Bhutan during Federal Way Public Academy’s Culture Fair in 2017. Courtesy photo