After months of preparation, Westridge hosted a community celebration of diversity and cultural education at the second annual Night Market. The Market is a night of festivities in hopes to spark cultural competency on Westridge’s campus. Led by the Multicultural Parent Collaborative, the Night Market includes food trucks, booths from various Westridge Upper School affinity groups, food, the middle school Water Warriors, and various cultural performances.

 

The event was held April 5 in Madeline Court with upwards of 100 people in attendance. Adorned with twinkle lights and papel picado decorations, the court lit up with French and Mandarin music playing.

 

Halle Yuhan, one of the leaders and founders of the Multicultural Parent Collaborative and avid member of the Westridge Parent Association serving as the 2018-2019 president, was the brains behind the event. “The purpose of the MPC Night Market is to celebrate the diverse cultures of our Westridge Community,” remarked Yuhan.

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The Multicultural Parent Collaborative is a subcommittee of the Westridge Parent Association. “The Multicultural Parent Collaborative is basically every parent at our school. We do cultural events, highlight when there may be a special celebration.  Wee have food sharing parties where we just come together and share food from our own homes and cultures and we try to bring [the students] special speakers that can help educate us on diversity,” described Yuhan.

 

Christine B.,’20, and Isabella G.,’20, heads of Middle Eastern Affinity led a booth to celebrate the upcoming Easter Holiday. They provided classic Middle Eastern dishes and had guests play an egg cracking game usually played on Easter in Armenian Orthodox traditions.

 

“We’re here to represent our culture and spread awareness about being Middle Eastern to people who probably don’t know what half of this is,” Christine said.

 

Jay Hee K.,’20, who attended the event as well as made rainbow rice cakes, gyeongdan, and honey rice cakes for the “Liberty in North Korea” booth loved the Market. “Seeing people come together to celebrate the diversity in various cultures was an amazing experience!” Jay said.