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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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Celebrating Lunar New Year, the Asian American Pacific Island Club organized a potluck on Friday, Jan. 31, aiming to bridge cultural differences and connect members of the La Salle community.
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The Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Club held a potluck celebrating the Lunar New Year on Friday, Jan. 31, highlighting their cultures and community while bringing people together over food.
Organized by the leaders of the affinity group — seniors Halle Ngo, Rita Tran, Minh Trinh, and Kari Yatushiro, along with juniors Larissa Bonn, Isabella Montecucco, and Kyra Nguyen — the potluck aimed to introduce people to cultures they might not be as familiar with, seeking to create an environment for members of the community to connect with one another.
“Culture is essential to being a human,” said religion teacher Mr. Dan Marcantuono, also known as Mr. Marc, who attended the event. “Exposing yourself to things that are different then your own experiences is how we develop empathy. It’s how we practice good morality.”
While Nguyen explained that the leaders were a little bit anxious leading up to the event, only decorating two tables in the empty cafeteria as “we were really nervous that no one would show up,” the room quickly filled up with students, staff, parents, and members of the community.
“We were really impressed with the result,” Nguyen said. “My favorite part was just seeing people happy.”
Behind the scenes, the group leaders started planning for the potluck a few weeks in advance, purchasing snacks, assembling decorations, and coordinating with parents and members of the community who prepared several of the dishes beforehand. The student leadership involved was an aspect of the event that particularly stood out to Mr. Marc, as he emphasized that the skills the group leaders practiced — including teamwork, coordination, and decision making — are crucial to success later in life.
“A lot of being an adult is just executive functioning — learning how to make things happen — and in the service of culture is one of the best ways to be doing that,” he said. “To put things on like that is just a credit to the people who are organizing it.”
