Perry High School’s quest for culture

By Ciera Woodfin / Perry High School

As we close out yet another festive celebration of the Olympics, it wasn’t hard to notice the colorful and diverse countries that grace the grounds of the opening ceremony.  At the center of the attraction the United States represented just what it has always tried to represent, all people of all cultural backgrounds joining together to represent one nation.  Although sports has been long diversified in most schools throughout the United States, high schools still struggle with the diversity integration in many cities and states.

Why shouldn’t diversity transcend into everyday life at schools?  That was the subject that sparked the attention of students, Tiffany Phan, Yong Yi Pan, and Seong Kim, who were determined to take control of the situation and create an Asian Culture Club at Perry High School.

Culture clubs are very common at universities throughout the United States and they represent certain races that aren’t usually shown. However, in many high schools where there are very few races in one location, one student doesn’t normally meet the other until an event such as a sport or pep rally.

“We have few clubs that show the different backgrounds of students, so we wanted to make a club that did.” said senior Tiffany Phan.

But, don’t let their title mislead you. Asian Culture club is open to anyone of any culture, race, or heritage that wants to learn more about a different background. What makes this particular club unique is because of their inclusion of various other races.

Phan also said, “Our main goal is to teach as many people about our cultures and customs, and hopefully get other people to make even more clubs about their own heritage.”

In addition to the students of the Asian Culture Club, senior Monica Nettles, who has a mixed background, has noticed the lack of ethnic representation at school, and is optimistic about the rise of numerous clubs to come.

“I feel that not being taught about other cultures doesn’t give us a taste of the real world,” said Nettles.

Hopefully the entire school can face the world with a bit more knowledge about the various people they come in contact with.