- March 15, 2026
Matanzas High School AMIGOS Hispanic Club members danced at the Multicultural Festival: Yulianna Pimentel, Mariatny Gonzalez, Helen Ramos, Darly Marquez, Camila Contreras and Valentina Ponce. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Noraly Dominguez with one of her artistic pieces at the Matanzas High School Multicultural Festival. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas High School Spanish teacher Christina Gilliam (right) organized the Multicultural Festival. Noraly Dominguez (left) created the banners for many of the nations represented at the festival and designed and painted the AMIGOS food cart. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Hanna-Maria Kruhliak performed traditional Ukrainian dance at the Matanzas Multicultural Festival. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dancers representing the Portuguese American Cultural Center. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas Blue Diamond Step Team performed at the Multicultural Festival: Lily Calhoun, Jazmin Mills, Camari Johnson and Jaden Jones. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Members of Corações de Portugal Portuguese folklore dance group at the Matanzas High School Multicultural Festival. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jeremy Standish, a Spanish 3 Honors student, presented his project on Africa. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dance team from Portuguese American Cultural Center. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas AMIGOS Hispanic Club members perform a dance at the Multicultural Festival. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Matanzas Jazz Ensemble 1 performs at the Multicultural Festival. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas AMIGOS Hispanic Club members Yulianna Pimentel, Mariatny Gonzalez, Helen Ramos, Darly Marquez, Camila Contreras and Valentina Ponce. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Matanzas High School gym was transformed into a mini-EPCOT center with countries and cultures from all over the world represented. The Matanzas Multicultural Festival on the evening of March 12 was forced inside because of rain. But that did not limit the event's activities.
The school's culinary program provided international foods. Clubs and community organizations presented dance and music performances. Student displays represented countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America, including all 21 Spanish-speaking countries with students portraying a person from each nation.
Matanzas High Spanish teacher Christina Gilliam organized the event.
When you teach about cultures and traditions, you teach about respect. This is a lot of work, but I love it.
— CHRISTINA GILLIAM, organizer of the event
“I have a passion to teach about cultures,” Gilliam said. “When you teach about cultures and traditions, you teach about respect. This is a lot of work, but I love it.”
This is the second year of the Multicultural Festival at Matanzas, but Gilliam has been organizing cultural events for 15 years starting when she taught at Imagine School at Town Center and continuing when she was a teacher at Indian Trails Middle School.
Katrina Vitkis’ art classes showcased student sculptures and paintings representing different cultures. A math class explored foreign currency exchange. AICE social studies classes showcased ornaments from African nations. Shelley Tincher’s AICE English Language Arts class connected Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist to a “How to See Me” activity. AICE Spanish students in Hope Kessler’s class presented current topics from Hispanic nations. English for Speakers of Other Languages classes displayed projects from a diverse group of cultures.
Matanzas’ AMIGOS Hispanic Club, Eastern European Club, African-Asian Club, the Chess Club and the Blue Diamonds African American Mentoring Program for Girls participated. The Flagler Palm Coast High School Asian Cultural Society also participated. Community cultural groups, including the Portuguese American Cultural Center of Palm Coast and the Hispanic American Cultural Society, presented music and dance, food and displays.
Noraly Dominguez, a member of the AMIGOS club, created much of the artwork at the festival, including banners for Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. She designed and painted the AMIGOS snack cart. Building construction students constructed the cart. Dominguez’s sculptures were also on display at the art show.
The festival began with the JROTC’s presentation of colors. Brianna Fune sang the national anthem. The Jazz Ensemble 1 band and the Blue Diamond Step team performed.
“These cultural events are a unique opportunity to come together to celebrate diversity and to build awareness, respect and tolerance by learning from one another,” Gilliam said. “Despite different languages, traditions or skin color, we are all the same.”
