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Volume 15, Issue 6 www.facebook.com/sagehillschool
dancing dragons
Crowd-pleasing monsters. Chinese celebratory dragons enchant students and families at Multicultural Fair by coming down from the stage and mingling with the crowd to give out treats.
Vale Lewis
Fairest of the Fair Fresh Faces Present Cultural Heritage to the Community By Kristin Saroyan executive editor
A tradition as old as Sage Hill itself, Multicultural Fair, which took place on March 21, combined the efforts of dedicated parents and enthusiastic students to bring the sights, sounds and flavors of the outside world to the local community. “Multicultural Fair is one of the big events that the Parent Association puts on every year. This was my fourth year being involved with the fair, and the planning really took all year. It was a full-time job, but it was so much fun,” Andria Strelow, Parent Association president, said. “It was all about bringing the whole community together and celebrating our heritage from all over the globe. Every year the fair is a great way to showcase your school spirit and cultural pride.”
Fresh faces built upon previous fair traditions including international food booths, live entertainment, an International Marketplace, a Public Purpose Marketplace and an Artisans’ Village to make the 14th annual Multicultural Fair their own. “The entertainment line-up is always different, and because we have different people graduating and new freshmen coming in every year, the assortment of families who are hosting the food booths is always different,” Strelow said. “So even though Mexico might be represented from one year to the next, it will always be represented by different families.” According to Strelow, student and parent volunteers comprised the backbone of the exhibits and attractions of the fair. “We had a couple of student photographers selling their prints in the Artisan Village, and we had a lot of students helping out with the World’s Playground, which is the kids’ area,” Strelow said. “The volunteers really worked hands-on with the younger members
of the community and the up-andcoming Sage Hill attendees.” While students volunteered, they simultaneously presented their cultural heritage to the community, whether
‘Every year the fair is a great way to showcase your school spirit and cultural pride.’ they were exploring the International Marketplace or performing on stage. “The fair is a good way to see a person’s background that might not be visible on the surface every day. It might come out when they wear a special traditional dress. You might
have a friend who you never knew was Portuguese, or you never knew that his mom is from Thailand. You get to see their true culture come out,” Strelow said. “About 80 percent of the stage schedule was all student bands and traditional performances.” Some of the many performances during the fair included a Barbershop Octet performance by Sage Hill’s Encore Singers, an ensemble performance by the winter musical’s cast, a Persian dance by students, a flamenco performance by guest dancer Susana Elena, an opera performance by junior Claire Dwyer and a folk song duet by junior Tess Hezlep and senior Jodie Horowitz. “I’ve never sung in front of the Sage community. I think Multicultural Fair is a good, safe place to take risks, so I decided I might as well try singing,” Hezlep said. “I know a lot of alumni came, and it was really fun. Multicultural Fair is such a community-based event. You just feel more open-minded when you’re there because you realize there is so much to the world.”