HHS students hold celebration of diversity

‘Cultural diversity night’

may become an annual event
By:Sally Goldenberg
   Theresa Skipper wanted to increase awareness of the various ethnic backgrounds represented at Hillsborough High School.
   She tried a bulletin board for Black History Month, but it wasn’t enough to teach other students about cultural diversity, she said.
   So she and a few friends of mixed cultural backgrounds cultivated "Cultural Diversity Night," celebrated last Thursday in the high school auditorium.
   "I was kind of thinking that our school kind of needs something that would help promote cultural diversity, with what’s going on in the world, all of the events," the high school senior said in an interview Tuesday.
   "It seems like people were misunderstanding people and I think that some of that could go away with something like this," she said.
   The event involved nine musical performances, ranging from Indian dances, to a salsa dance titled "El Gran Combo," to a Japanese song called "Fukai Mori," or Deep Forrest.
   High school students, family members and others from the community performed.
   A foreign exchange student from Switzerland, Andy Laubli, who is studying at Bridgewater-Raritan High School sang the German punk rock song "All for the Sake of Love" with Bridgewater-Raritan junior Mark Woodall.
   Theresa, who organized the event with Hillsborough students Angela Brackett, Monica Gadhok and Ashley Kalena, said she hopes the event will grow.
   To that end, social studies teacher Toby Kansagor will head up a club entitled Help Promote Cultural Diversity next year, to manage this event and other activities, Theresa said.
   Michelle Simborski, faculty advisor for this year’s event, said student participation enhanced the event.
   "I think one of the highlights of the evening was getting students up on stage to perform," she said.
   After the performances, high school students brought a variety of ethnic foods for sampling.