Sierra Pacific High School is full of students of diverse ethnicities and cultures, but it feels like there are few opportunities to showcase that diversity.
There are a couple of clubs that focus on celebrating different heritages, like the Portuguese Club or the Asian American Pacific Student Alliance, but those do not represent all of the unique groups that make up Sierra Pacific High School. There are still a number of cultures that students may never know about because there aren’t any opportunities for members of that culture to share about it. So, in order to bring more awareness to other students about different traditions, and make students feel more solidarity among people of the same ethnicity as them, there should be more cultural experiences made available at school.
School doesn’t just mean education in subjects such as math or science, it should also mean education in traditions and lifestyles that you are unfamiliar with. There are so many different ethnicities that make up the city of Hanford and the United States in general, and their traditions should be recognized; after all, their amazing foods, clothing, and celebrations are what make the U.S. so vibrant. It’s time to stop ignoring or overshadowing these wonderful, exciting ways of life and give them the attention they deserve. Having more ethnic experiences would be a good way to both shine light on underrecognized cultures and help interested students learn about them.
Morgan Frank, a member of the Asian American Pacific Student Alliance, said that she enjoys learning about different peoples’ cultures.
“Overall, it feels like a pretty inclusive space,” Frank said. “I would like the opportunity to learn about more cultures.”
Therefore, not only would more cultural experiences be immensely informative and fascinating, they could also serve as a space for people of that ethnicity to feel safe and validated among people of the same heritage as them. A prime example of this is the HBCU (Historical Black Colleges University) Field Trip that African-American students from Sierra Pacific High School were invited to.
Summer Mendes, a mixed student at Sierra Pacific who went on the field trip, shared, “We went over the campus and code switching, which is where a lot of black students have to switch their language from more slang to professional depending on their environment. They also had the football player Robert Golden there as a guest speaker.”
Aside from the field trip being very educational, it also served to make Mendes and many other students feel seen and included.
“You’re surrounded by people who understand the same things you’re going through, and you can talk to them about things you can’t with people who aren’t of the same race as you,” Mendes said.
The introduction of more cultural experiences to Sierra Pacific High School would be a very welcome change, as it would be enriching for students who want to learn more about other traditions, and it would give students a chance to feel solidarity among people of the same ethnicity as them.