The Cambodiam Club recently sponsored an Asian
Show. There were dancers, singers, and musicians from Cambodia, Vietnam,
China, and India.
By Quyen Nguyen
Blair High School is a unique school with a lot
of different kinds of activities and ethnic clubs for anyone to join.
According to the school records more than 1,000
international students who were born outside the U.S. go to Blair. Many of those
students join ethnic clubs because they want to share their cultures with their
friends and staff at Blair.
In the African Club, the African students want to
show their culture and express it in the way they dance. According to Mr. Ngbea,
the African Club sponsor, “ We try to show what the motherland in Africa
is, the land where we were born and where we lived,” he said. The African
students have participated in many dance programs. A few months ago they were
in a show for Black history month. According to some of the students who saw the
show, the African Club did a wonderful job. The show had a lot of meaning to the
audience and for the African students. But it was not easy for the students to
get ready for the show. “It took us forever to practice because of the snow
days, ” Antonia, the president of the African Club said.
The show that the African Club participated in was
sponsored by a group called “Sankofa.” Sankofa means, “We look
back where we come from.” Many of students in Sankofa are African American
whose ancestors are from Africa. They look back to Africa and want to know about
it. “We try to figure out how to use performances to show the ancestors
customs,” said Mrs. Roark, the sponsor of Sankofa. “ It is kind of
a challenge for students. It’s just for fun.” Mrs. Roark added that
there were about fifty students who were in the Sankofa show.
The Chinese Club is another ethnic club at Blair.
The club does a lot of activities, like watching Chinese movies, raising money
for charities, and selling artificial flowers, like on Valentine’s day.
Chinese students make the flowers by hand. The Chinese Club also has students
who perform at different shows. Mr. Wang is the sponsor of the Chinese Club. “
If you are interested in Chinese Club, we welcome you,” he said.
Students in the Hispanic Club think of their club
as a big family. They have a students who perform in dance shows and they also
have a program called Platicas Latinas. They meet often to hear speakers and get
advice about college. Spanish-speaking students are welcome. Mrs. Castro, the
sponsor, is famous for helping Spanish-speaking students with everything they
need. “I have try to be a role model for my students. I am very proud to
be a teacher,” she said.
Because Blair has a lot of Ethiopian students, it
also has a large Ethiopian Club. Ethiopian students like to participate and unite
together in their club. Their emphasis is on Ethiopian culture including fashion,
music, and dances. Annually they produce a big program celebrating significant
advances in their history. “We are very pleased to welcome anyone to come
join with us to share our culture,” said Surfal Medsenia a sophomore in
the club.
This year the Cambodian Club started again after
not existing for many years. Cambodian, Hispanic, and Vietnamese students met
every week with Mrs. Natalie Chhuan who is the coordinator of the club and is
very knowledgeable of Cambodia dance and shares this with club members. Dr. Sam
Ang is their music professor, and Mrs. Sovanny Chun their dance teacher. The students
learned a lot about Cambodian dance and music. They sponsored the Asian show this
year and presented the things they learned.
There are other clubs at Blair that we were
not able to get information about for this article. The Indian Club, the Muslim
Student Association, the Korean Club, the Japanese Club, and the Middle Eastern
Dance Club are the ones we know about that we missed. Look for information about
them and other ethnic clubs in future issues of Silver International.
