International week unites all cultures
From Arabic music in the quad to Vietnamese on PTV, International Week, led by NPHS’ International Baccalaureate (IB) students is a time to learn and immerse oneself in the many cultures that make up our school. Deborah Dogancay, IB coordinator, has been working with students to make the event possible, “International Week is just an opportunity to celebrate diversity in the cultural richness of our campus and also to bring awareness to global issues,” Dogancay said. Each day of the week of Feb. 28 to March 4, a different activity celebrating diversity as well as commemorating and spreading awareness for more serious global events took place. Tim Chen, junior and IB diploma candidate, has been involved in the process of planning International Week activities. “Some activities that are going to take place are that we will be selling different country foods, having posters or online posts about global news, and activities like the IB dance team performing during nutrition and lunch,” Chen said.
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Global Awareness
A new addition to the vast lineup of International Week activities is Global Awareness day. IB students were given the chance to create flyers about world issues they are passionate about. “In the past we’ve only been we’ve really only taken a festive approach to just celebrating diversity which I think is an important part of it but [we’re], trying to create responsible citizens so we also need to take it to the next level and bring global awareness to maybe some of the more serious issues.” Dogancay said. This year’s Global Awareness day flyers offer information on a wide variety of topics ranging from Air Pollution in South Africa to the immigration crisis.
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Food
As IB students continue to spread awareness of different cultures, food and culture day plays a crucial role in this job. As one of the quad activities, IB students make and sell food representative of their cultures. Students explain how these food items are made and explain the cultural significance of the foods they brought.
Various clubs are set up in the quad to sell their foods, one of them being the Make A Wish club which is selling Indian sweets and snacks as well as doing henna for the student body. Himani Pothulu, a member of the club, is excited to sell food at lunch and help spread cultural awareness. Pothulu believes in the power that food can spread culturally. “I have my own culture to share. I love to learn about cultures other than mine outside of international week,” Pothulu said.
Eshan Badwal, junior and treasurer of Doctors of the World club, another club focused on spreading culture this week, appreciates the message behind International week. “[The goal] is to foster an appreciation for those cultures and for diversity in general. In our ever-changing world, it is imperative that we become more tolerant and accepting of all cultures, and this week helps us at NPHS to do exactly that,” Badwal said.
Adi Chattopadhyay, co-president from the same club, shares a similar opinion on spreading diversity on campus. “A lot of Newbury Park culture is dominated by American culture and we spend most of our time at In-N-Out and MOD pizza and I think being exposed to different foods is important to be a global citizen,” Chattopadhyay said.
Language
A huge aspect of the IB program is learning an international language, students have prepared a PTV special highlighting world languages. Mina Nguyen, junior and IB diploma candidate, is one of the leaders in the “Celebrating Languages” category of International Week. “Our focus was mainly on language so we got to show people various languages with their eyes and also with their ears,” Nguyen said. As students walked onto campus on Tuesday, they saw various simple phrases of different languages written in chalk around campus.
IB Dance
As performing arts is a vital concept to the International Baccalaureate program, IB Dance takes its part in International Week as their goal remains to help spread diversity and culture on campus. Vanessa DaKroob, senior and IB diploma candidate, has been preparing with the program for their upcoming concert Friday, March 4. “Part of [dance] is like taking studio dance that we’re all really passionate about and then expanding it to a global scale,” DaKroob said. “So being able to learn different styles all around the world, kind of like connects people through dance, we kind of want to show that movement can express culture.”
IB Dance provided multiple performances during nutrition and lunch on Thursday, March 3. Kaylee Aschbrenner, junior, hopes these performances to spread the program’s mission statement and goal for International Week. “Our mission is to educate students about all the different varieties of dance across the world,” Aschbrenner said. “Also this week is our IB dance concert, so it is also preparing us for that.” From a variety of dance styles across the globe like Cuba, India, Africa, and Mexico, IB paves their way to successfully creating a cultural connection through dance.
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Quad Activities
During International Week, the quad was bursting with cultural activities and experiences. “Students can get involved during international week by participating in events, buying food, and watching the performances,” Chen said. Students will be able to enjoy a dance put on by the IB dancers, eat cultural food sold in the quad and experience international art. Himani Pothulu, junior and full IB diploma candidate, will be making and selling Indian snacks and sweets as well as giving henna to people. The profit made will be donated to the Make a Wish club here on campus. “My goals for this international week are to raise money for the Make a Wish club and most of all have fun with the different cultures represented on campus,” Pothulu said.
The goal of International Week is to get more of the student body involved in practicing global mindsets. Many programs do this through simple enticing ways. “I think students can get involved in making a more inclusive environment by being open-minded to every person and anything that seems different than what you are used to,” Pothulu said. Part of Make A Wish’s goal during this week is exposing the student body to new experiences and getting them involved in activities they are typically not involved in. Ideally, a more involved, accepting environment is the ultimate goal of this week. “I think students could express their cultures and share stories about their differences, talking and accepting all cultures allows for a more inclusive environment,” Pothulu said. Pothulu continues to explain the power and relevance of this week specifically by explaining how exposing the NPHS student body to different cultures and customs in school is largely impactful in many positive ways.
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