On Friday, April 17, students enjoyed food from around the world during lunch from 12:15 p.m. to 12:43 p.m. at the Multicultural Fair located in the library.
The Multicultural Fair was hosted by link leader member Junior Karen Truong. There were 22 booths at the Multicultural Fair, with most of the booths run by more than one person. For example, the Vietnam booth was run by junior Karen Truong, junior Nikki Nguyen, and junior Ben Hoang. The Philippines table was hosted by junior Hannah Zeman and freshman Alisha Ross.
There is a great deal of work that goes into planning and hosting the multicultural fair. “Hosting the multicultural fair consists of a lot of networking and asking around,” Truong said about hosting.
Different booths made different things. For example, the China table made Pork Fried Rice. “I made Biko. It’s a sweet-rice pudding kind of thing,” Zeman said about what she made.
The students with tables at the multicultural fair had different reasons. For example, Zeman was roped into it by Truong. “Growing up in Simi Valley, yes it is nice and accepting, but I’ll never forget the times I was teased or bullied for my looks, or my race, but more so the things that I ate that were “weird” or “gross” in school. So, I think it’s those experiences that makes culture so important to me and something I think people should be willing to share with each other,” Truong said about her experiences.
Truong would like to thank Assistant Principal Ms. Myszkowski, Ashley Rotellini from ASB, economics teacher Mr. Downey, AP Human Geography & AP US History teacher Mr. Dennert, the librarians Debbie Mackey and Linda Rodriguez, food teacher Mrs. Smith, and all of the students and parents who volunteered hours to make food and posters for the event. Truong would also like to thank junior Nikki Nguyen, junior Ben Hoang, senior Thomas Richards, Simi Valley Unified School District’s diversity director Dr. Chavez, and Assistant Principal Ms. Myszkowski for helping clean up.
