Cultural assembly celebrates diversity

The annual Diversity Assembly took place on Friday, April 9 during an extended second period. Students from various clubs and nationalities took part in the event to promote diversity and to share their cultures.

Although the annual assembly originally lacked performers, an abundance of last-minute sign-ups led to both assemblies running overtime, causing the school to follow a modified schedule for the rest of the school day.

“In the beginning we were lacking people,” said senior Angela Tang, the ASB Diversity Assembly Coordinator. “But then we had too many because as the assembly got closer, more people wanted to participate.”

The assembly began with opening remarks by current Junior Class President and ASB member Libby Strichartz.

This year, the assembly featured introductions of acts in different languages, further promoting the theme of diversity.

Clubs such as the Latin Student Union (LSU), Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), Jew Crew and French Club performed. Performances included dances, poems, songs, martial arts, readings and a Russian fairy tale.

Acts this year included a variety of cultural presentations. The French Club sang a rendition of the French national anthem. The group was conducted by French teacher Christophe Barquissau who held baguettes as batons. There was also a Taekwando presentation featuring senior Jinjoo Lee, junior Kelly Hoover and freshman Kayhon Saze- Garihe, who performed nunchuck and bow staff sequences to the beat of various techno songs.

LSU celebrated its heritage by performing two Latin group dances, the Cumbia and Merengue. Representing LSU in a separate performance, seniors Marisela Carillo and Ana Flores impressed the crowd with their colorful costumes and rhythmic footwork in a dance called the Baile Folklórico.

Juniors Ali Nowakowski and Jennifer Cooper of GSA read a self-composed poem about acceptance while junior Dede Smith and senior Sarah McGee read poems by Langston Hughes.

Juniors Jacqui Treiger and Jill Rubin from the Jew Crew told the story of Passover, and were followed by junior Jonathon Vronsky’s reading of a Hebrew passage to celebrate the day of remembrance for the Holocaust and its victims.

“I was representing the [Jew Crew] and I wanted to do something special,” Jonathon said.

The number of songs this year increased from last year, with senior Mia Waldern singing a piece she composed about her reflections on racism in society, senior Faye Cheng singing a popular Taiwanese song titled “The Wife” and English teacher Michael Smith giving his rendition of R.Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.”

“Mr. Smith performs every year and he is always very popular,” Angela said.

Junior Cynthia Wang performed an Asian country song on her flute and junior Rachel Wang, senior Faye Cheng and juniors Katherine Jia and Angela Li from Gunn High School aimed to break the negative stereotype that Asians cannot dance by putting on a pop dance performance.

“I think this was a great chance to show my talent,” Rachel said. “I watched last year’s [assembly] and it inspired me.”

Senior Jinjoo Lee, who performed in the assembly with nunchucks, shared a similar view.

“It was nerve-racking,” Jinjoo said. “But it was fun to show another part of yourself to people.”

Audience member junior Haley Sugimoto had a positive opinion of this year’s assembly.

“I like how it’s not the same group of people performing each year,” Haley said. “I like how the assembly mixes it up and I like not knowing what to expect.”

Jonathon agreed that diversity is important and should be promoted in the school.

Many students enjoyed learning about different cultures and traditions.
Audience member senior Christian Mason had some suggestions for next year.

“I like that a lot of groups did stereotype breaking performances,” Christian said. “But I hope next year the performances are more cultural rather than what is hip now.”

The Asian dance act was cut short during the second assembly due to time constraints.

“At first we were confused about why we were getting cut short,” Rachel said. “But then people told us it was only because they ran out of time, so we were okay with it.”

Angela believes that ASB will be able to better manage the time and number of participants in next year’s assembly.

“In the future, I’m sure ASB will watch the clock carefully and leave at least five to ten minutes or so at the end for safety time,” Angela said. “We will also definitely talk to clubs a lot earlier and give them time to plan. Overall, we hope to just get the word out early and let them know that this is the time they can shine and just have fun with it.”