On Jan. 20, 2026, Rolla High School students gathered in the Fieldhouse between second and sixth hour to experience our school’s Culture Fair. The Culture Fair is an event run by RHS Leadership every year to help share different students’ cultures with the rest of the student body. Seniors Basmalah Elgawady, Addy Toney, Lyle Brophy and junior Carlo Tomasini organized this year’s fair. It featured 23 different presenters from cultures all around the world including a table from Pakistan, Egypt, South Korea, Germany, and many more.
RHS junior and foreign exchange student Carlo Tomasini gave a presentation on his home country of Italy this year. His presentation featured information on Italian food, internet trends, tourist attractions, and his hometown.
“[My favorite question was] probably like someone asking about my hometown. You know, it’s always good to speak out. I always enjoy speaking about my home,” Tomasini said.
Next time you go to an informational event like this, try asking questions that speak to things the presenter would be passionate about, like their hometown. In addition to this, asking broader questions is also a great way to learn more about your peers’ cultures and home countries. One senior, Adil Azeen, a senior at RHS and one of the presenters for the Pakistan table, said that his favorite question was about the legal system in Pakistan.
“I really like that question, because not many people look at that kind of perspective when it comes to countries,” Azeen said.
By framing questions towards key issues like this, you can create conversations that are not only engaging for yourself, but also for the presenter. This will usually make the answer more complex and interesting for you. Junior Justice Fuhs, another foreign exchange student from Braunschweig, Germany said that a common problem he experienced with the culture fair was the lack of background knowledge.
“A lot of people don’t really know the … geography outside the US,” Fuhs said.
You can’t know about every country in the world, but if you can focus on what you DO know, this will help you to have significant conversations with your presenters.
If any students wish to expand their knowledge of cultures beyond what they can be told at a culture fair, and want to experience the culture firsthand like Tomasini or Fuhs, they can reach out to our local Rotary Club to find out how to do foreign exchange. Students attend either a school year or summer in a foreign country of their choice. During their time, they can learn more about a language and participate in sports and other activities to fully immerse themselves in another culture. Fuhs said his favorite part about being in foreign exchange right now is the wrestling program.
“I really like it because I met a lot of friends here, and it’s just a lot of fun to compete with other students and to wrestle,”Fuhs said.
In a foreign exchange program you can experience activities just like this, with the added benefit of informing yourself about the culture of the country you choose. If you want to sign up for foreign exchange through Rotary Club, you can visit their website rotary.org to find out more.
