In the spring of 2023, the cultural fair was held for the first time in a couple of years at SHS. Even though it was a fresh start, students managed to show acts from their culture such as singing, dancing and modeling in a fashion show.
Preparations for this year’s cultural fair have started for students to be confident, be proud and enjoy their own culture.
“I love watching students that are often very quiet or reserved and don’t participate a lot become outgoing and confident,” principal of SHS Amy Boone said.
In this diverse school, there are a lot of international students. One of their difficulties is that they can’t feel connected with the school and other students. Some teachers and students hope that the Cultural Fair will help overcome this problem.
“We wanted a way for students to be proud of the culture where they come from, and find a way to utilize that connection with each other.” Boone said.
Students who joined the event last spring not only felt accomplished, but also enjoyed seeing others feeling confident in their roots.
“… I really like seeing how others really like showing off their cultures and how they really felt being more open with themselves,” junior Khai Aung, president of the Cardinals Celebrate Culture, said.
Students have started to prepare early for this year’s culture fair to get ready by hosting a Mini Culture Fair on Oct. 4. They are trying to add more arts, fashion, music and dances to show how diverse each culture is. They think it is important
to be prepared for being successful and being confident with their show-castings.
There were many students who worked hard to perform aspects of their culture despite any challenges they faced.
Even though they had various feelings for the performances before, they came to enjoy introducing aspects of their own culture.
“Before singing the song, I was shaking, because I was scared that crowds were going to laugh at me,” Wesely Sailm, one of the performers, said. “After singing the song, they clapped their hands and they gave me compliments.
One of the girls who danced in front of crowds was also nervous to show her act, but she came to be confident with her culture after joining this Mini Cultural Fair.
“I was so excited and I am still so excited,” Diya Patel, a dancer, said.
The cultural showcase Fair is meaningful and impactful to keeping an open mind and understanding each culture. The fair is not only intended for students to share their culture, but grow together as one community at SHS.
