The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology celebrated Culture Day on November 19, an annual event where high school students honor their heritage through traditional clothing, performances, and a block party.

 “To me culture day means celebrating who I am, where I come from, and how I choose to view and interact with the world,” said Jeandely Noresi (Class of 2027), a student council member who helped plan the event.

Many students in the HS223 community come from different places around the world and Culture Day brings all different cultures in the community together. 

“Culture day is the “gem” of the year, the biggest single event that we do. It’s something we look forward to even though it’s a lot of work and it’s something that’s a beautiful event,” said Ms. Nedjra who, along with the Culture Committee, helped plan the event. 

“It is a day that we got a lot of positive feedback from the community and how much people look forward to and get to represent and share it with others,” said Ms. Nedjra.  

Students did not have regular class periods for the whole day due to the celebration of Culture Day and instead spent time doing cultural activities and participating in affinity groups.

“Culture Day was fun. It was very interactive. You could hang out with your friends. The affinity groups were fun. It was nice to interact with other students,” said Karen Peralta Villano (Class of 2027).

Students play a large role in getting the school ready for the celebrations.  

“I helped Mr. Carter prepare masks for culture day to hang and display. The masks represent your culture and something that is important to you. It was very sentimental to see them up because they represented the cultures of the school. It was nice to see how diverse the school is,” said Angie Uzhca (Class of 2027).

Food was also served from different cultural backgrounds and it was a unique experience for everyone since they got a taste of what different cultures can cook up. 

“The food was diverse. I had never tried a lot of it before and it was very interesting,” Karen Peralta Villano.

During 7th and 8th periods, cultural performances took the stage in the auditorium with the entire high school was in attendance.   

“I liked [the cultural performances]. Everybody showed out. I loved the fact that we were all together. This was one of the best culture days that I have been to,” said Aviana Braun (Class of 2026).

There were many performances that were put together for this special day and the event was MC’ed by Steven Henriquez (Class of 2026).

“The girls dance team was my favorite because they grew on me as I watched them practice. They wanted me to gas them up when it was time for them to go and as time went on the dance was good and everything they had from everybody getting involved and the crowd involved. It was good,” said Steven.

Overall, Culture Day continues to make the HS223 community feel proud about who they are and where they come from. It’s a day that brings everyone together. 

“It was very fun. It was probably my favorite Culture Day because I feel like this year we had a range of  cultures. The performances were very good. The students were more involved with the performances this year. It was fun to be with my friends,” said Saffiatou Jobateh (Class of 2027).