this is IT

Language teacher Alicia Cofiño said. The week-long celebration included students decorating different areas of the campus with paper t-shirts and flags. The main event was on Wednesday during advisory where students gathered in the gym to watch the flag parade, dance and musical performances. Some also volunteered to participate in soccer penalty and basketball dunking competitions.

“The performances were done by students for the student community, because they like when they see their classmates participate,” co-organizer and World Language teacher Luz Argote said. The event allowed students to come together to celebrate something that connects every student, despite their country of origin: sports, dancing, and music.

“I was very impressed with all of the performances. I really enjoyed watching the dragon dance, because I was not familiar with it,” sophomore Mirel Chaia said.

Story by Andrea Malpica

As a traditional Chinese song echoed across the gym, senior Hernan Rodriguez led the line of Chinese students and club members as they ran on stage to perform a traditional Chinese Dragon Dance. “Being the leader of the Dragon Dance is one of those experiences that I will look back on and be amazed by all the work we did together,” Rodriguez said. The crew spent six Sundays practicing, in order to learn the steps. “Practice was really fun, because we learned how to do these really cool formations and got to see it all come together,” junior Lucia Rotolante said. The dragon dance is a significant tradition in China, and performers wanted to share it with the community. “The dragon is a symbol of luck in China; I want to bring our culture to our campus because we’re all like a family,” co-organizer Zoe Chen said.

SENDING A MESSAGE. Senior Luke Rozenberg performs the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” in front of the student body. He decided to play this song, because it was his favorite. “I really like it and it’s upbeat. It got the audience excited,” Rozenberg said. Photo by Andrea Malpica

MAKING THE SHOT, senior Anthony Iser clings to the hoop after he finished dunking the ball. He participated in a dunking competition hosted by the team’s basketball players. “My favorite part was competing with my teammates,” Iser said. Photo by Mia Carrasco.

READY TO SCORE, sophomore Victor Lefebvre D’argence prepares to score a penalty during the soccer penalty competition. He represented his home country, France. “It was really fun, but at the same time it was pretty hard to shoot, because we had to spin five times around the ball,”

Victor said. Photo by Andrea Malpica

FOCUSED, senior Victor Giraldez leads the band as he plays the drums. His favorite song that he played was the NFL Fox theme song. “We prepared the songs we played for the football team earlier in the year, so it was fun to play it for the audience,” Giraldez said. Photo by Daniel Lara.

IN HARMONY, the band plays songs that they prepared for the football team to the audience. They played some upbeat orchestra songs led by senior Victor Giraldez “I like to play this music, because it gets everyone hyped up,” Giraldez said. Photo by Andrea Malpica

CELEBRATING THEIR VICTORY, the soccer team walks into the gym in possession of their trophies as coach Federico Mor-Tatis introduces them to the student body. They celebrated their big win for states as the audience cheered in support. “For a moment it felt like our soccer team consisted of the entire student body. It felt like the whole school was just as proud as we were to be raising those trophies,” senior Mateo Acosta-Rubio said. Photo by Andrea Malpica

UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT, the Sundancers take center stage and strike a pose. They performed “Rio,” a ballroom-style dance that introduced culture from Brazil. “The best part about preparing this dance was knowing that we were going to present a different style than we normally do,” senior Alexandra Quevedo said.

LAYOUT DESIGN - ANDREA MALPICA