From February 2 to 6, Irvington hosted its annual multicultural week. The week featured events from various cultural clubs across campus during lunch.
The week started off with a collaboration event between Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and Culinary Club, where students gathered in Mr.Rodocker’s room during lunch to participate in a spring roll (goi cuon) making event. President Michelle Nguyen (12) explains the significance behind the event, “We chose to host a spring roll/ goi cuon workshop because we wanted to share some history about the food of Vietnam, which is a really big part of our culture and has become widely popularized globally as well. We thought it would gain more attention as many students love Vietnamese food, and it would help us teach those who enjoy our cuisine to appreciate the history behind it as well.” Overall, the collaboration was a success with a strong turn out of 35 students who had a great time making and personalizing their own spring rolls and enjoying the meal.
Similar to VSA, the Japanese American Club (JAC) also hosted a collaboration event with Culinary Club on Tuesday during lunch. Students gathered in Ms.Ferrer’s room to make onigiris, a rice ball with various ingredients inside it. President Ryan Lee (12) explains their choice behind the event, “We chose to do an onigiri making event because I feel like the best way to connect with culture is through food. Onigiri is a common staple in Japan so learning to make it is a great way to help students understand more about Japanese culture.” This event drew around 30 students, filling the classroom with many eager to learn about and enjoy the dish.
Wednesday was international jersey dress up day where students dressed up in jerseys from all around the world! During lunch the cultural clubs had a food fair in the courtyard, where some clubs held performances. The Filipino Youth Association (FYA) club held a traditional Tinikling dance. Member Kaitlyn Law (12) who participated in the dance explains the importance of this dance, “We do the traditional Tinikling to the show where all of our modern dances come from. Doing the traditional dance is really fun and it brings a lot of nostalgia and memories for us since this is what FYA first started with. I think if anyone has the right determination and they practice a lot, then they can definitely do this dance too.” Overall, the performances showed the many different cultures of Irvington students.
On Thursday, students dressed up in cultural clothing, filling the campus with vibrant colors. Students wore qipaos, kurtas and áo dàis, just to name a few. During lunch, ASG offered face painting in the courtyard. After school, the Chinese Culture Club held a game night for all students to join.
On Friday, students decked out in their blue crew and recognized Korean culture with the Korean American Culture Club (KACC)’s Squid Game lunch time activity in the big gym. Sihyun Wee (11) KACC’s event lead comments on their choice of game, “Squid game often encourages lots of attention from different people and different cultures. And since that’s the sole purpose of multicultural week, we chose to do a squid game for the attention that we get. The games in “Squid Game” are also very well known, so it is easier to explain and for people to indulge in the Korean culture. Obviously, it doesn’t fully cover the ideas of traditional culture, but it gets to the surface of what we believe as Korean culture, and especially because it’s getting more modernized as time goes on.” Some activities included Mingle and the well known Red Light Green Light, participant Isabelle Wong (10) comments, “I really enjoyed it. It’s really fun to just play around with other people and make new friends, and overall, I’m a huge fan of the Squid Game. This was such a nostalgic game.” Another participant Manini Vaish (10) says, “I would say that there was a lot of energy during this event and hanging out with your friends made it an even greater experience.” The lunch time activity was a success and was a fun break for students.
Unlike previous years, the rally was hosted the following week on February 11 and 12 during flex. The Rally featured acts from clubs highlighting their cultural dances. Some performances included performances by Irvington’s one-and-only ICED, IBC, MECHA, SOOR, VSA, juggling club, FYA, Natya and Sitaree. Irvington’s VSA showcased a fantastic hat and fan dance while FYA performed their traditional Tinikling dance with songs like “Sugar on My Tongue,” “24 Karat Magic,” “It’s Getting Hot in Here,” and “Like That.” MECHA showed up with flags of all cultures before their performance. Finally, Sitaree brought in the heat with their high energy performance mixed with Bollywood and hip-hop components.
Overall, Multicultural Week was a success with fun events and performances that gave clubs a chance to show and share their culture with others. Students got a chance to learn about traditions from other countries and immerse themselves in a whole new experience.
