Meet the People

	A sign on a school wall warns kids against using bad words. (Photo by Rachel Fireman)

The Dominican Republic is one of hundreds of islands in the Caribbean Sea between North and South America. Yet this island holds a unique place in history. It one of the first spots where the European settlers and the native peoples of the Americas met. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed with his fleet of three ships on the north coast of what is now the Dominican Republic. There, Columbus and his crew encountered the Indians who had lived on the island for centuries. Four years later, the brother of Christopher Columbus, Bartolomeo, founded the settlement of Santo Domingo on the island's south coast facing the Caribbean Sea. It was the first city to be established by the Europeans in the New World.

The kids of St. Michael's School in Santo Domingo live right in the center of that history. Their city, the capital of the Dominican Republic, contains the New World's first house, first hospital, first cathedral, and first university. Today, Santo Domingo is a modern Latin American city of more than 2 million people, and the residents can go to museums, theaters, cafes, sports events, the nearby beaches, and more.

The Dominican Republic today has a very rich mix of cultures that has grown out of its history. The Europeans who colonized the islands brought African slaves to work the island's sugar cane plantations. When slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century, large numbers of Africans remained and settled here and in other parts of Latin America. Today, more than 70 percent of the Dominican people are of mixed races. The African influence is an important part of the country's culture, along with the Spanish.

Kids in St. Michael's School enjoy learning about the diversity of cultures in their beautiful country and the world. This month, they are holding a Cultural Fair with a global theme. The school's second graders are depicting the "Era of Discovery" by exploring the Native American and European cultures of the fifteenth century — the time of Columbus's landing.

Located right in Santo Domingo, St. Michael's School has 392 students in grades 1–12. Like kids in many parts of the world, they love sports, such as basketball, baseball, volleyball, and swimming, dancing, music, and club activities. The kids at St. Michael's come from families in the upper and middle classes of the Dominican Republic. Yet, there are many people in their city without good jobs that are poor, and St. Michael's students participate in projects to help them.

Many of the students love their city and their beautiful island. "Everybody knows everybody here. It feels like a small city, a small society, even though the city is growing and growing," says Cesar Pichardo, technology director of St. Michael's School. Scholastic users interviewed students from St. Michael’s in 1999.

Daily Life

• More than 90 percent of the people in the Dominican Republic are Roman Catholic.
  The year-round average temperature is 77° F.
• Traditional Dominican foods combine African and Indian ingredients. Some favorites are "moro," a rice-and-beans combination; "casabe bread" (casabe, or cassava, is a native plant with edible roots); and "longaniza," pork sausage.
• About 58 percent of the people in the Dominican Republic live in urban areas.