The FIFA World Cup is more than just a sporting event for students at Henry B. Gonzalez Personalized Learning Academy in Dallas. At the elementary school, the World Cup is serving as a teaching tool to help students learn about countries, cultures and traditions from around the world. Each cla ss was assigned a country connected to the FIFA World Cup. Third-grade teacher Marlene Tello’s class is studying Belgium. “Belgium was something new to them, so it activated a lot of their curiosity. They just learned a lot of traditions, their food,” Tello said. Third grader Sadie said she did not know much about soccer before the project. “The interesting thing that I learned about is that they invented the saxophone,” Sadie said. Teachers said the lesson goes beyond soccer by encouraging students to learn more about people from different parts of the world. “It made me be more confident and try to talk to others a lot,” third-grade student Elias said. Sadie said she enjoys learning about other cultures. “I think it’s really fun because they get to come and learn about our country,” Sadie said. The goal is not about points scored during the World Cup, but about helping students expand their understanding of the world around them. Students at Henry B. Gonzalez Personalized Learning Academy will hold a school assembly parade next week, highlighting the countries they have been learning about. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less