Bells jingled from her fuchsia-colored Indian dress as Anika Jagasia raised her arms and stamped her feet into choreographed poses.

The 7-year-old was one of several students to parade across the stage at Irving B. Weber Elementary School as part of a cultural fashion show, but she was the only one to perform.

Nerves did not affect Jagasia's intricate bharat natyan dance, even in front of more than 400 classmates, parents and teachers. They packed into the Weber gym, 3850 Rohret Road S.W., Monday morning for United Nations Day, a celebration of the diverse student body.

"This is the third time I've performed it," said Jagasia, who got up at 7 a.m. to get ready.

The morning's events included classroom presentations on customs, cuisines and cultures from around the world given by parents of the school's international students. A procession of classes, each one bearing a national flag, filled the gym for the festivities, which concluded with a fashion show of traditional garb, group songs and Jagasia's dance.

Flags lined Weber's front entrance and a hallway poster proclaimed, "It's okay to be different," while another poster listed each of the 27 homelands of the student body. They included Russia, Nigeria, Togo, Sudan, Egypt and Israel.

"We have a commitment to our international community. We have a commitment to community building, and we see ourselves as part of the global community," said teacher Connie Greenleaf, who has led the program since its inception 12 years ago.

Weber enrolls 495 students, 35 percent of whom are minorities and include many international students, Greenleaf said. The University of Iowa's international student housing lies within Weber's district, adding to the schools diversity, she said.

"For the international students, it's a day when they can feel real pride," said principal Chris Gibson. "Kids can realize they are similar to kids all over the world."

"It validates who they are, and it highlights diversity. This is a unique kind of diversity, it's not just recognizing African Americans and Hispanics," said Comfort Kouadia, a Cameroon native who wore a traditional Cameroon woman's professional outfit for the fashion show.

Anuja Jagasia came to see her daughter Anika's performance. She laughed with Kouadia about the unlikelihood of finding this event in America's heartland.

"Maybe on the East or West Coast," Jagasia said. But she said it was a surprise she was glad to find.

"It makes all the children aware of what the different countries are about, not just names," she said. "It is important in today's political climate to start learning about these things now, at a young age."

Students also found the event productive. David Ahn, 10, and Alex Choi, 9, said they enjoyed dressing in traditional clothes so the other students could learn about their culture.

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