For a school that is known for its diversity, the recent cancellation of Heritage Night seems to be a contradiction. Annandale’s diversity is what makes us unique and stand out among most high schools not only in Fairfax County, but in the nation.
With over 80 countries represented within these walls, the thought of Heritage Night, the one day that celebrates AHS’s diversity, being canceled is despairing and abhorrent.
For the past few weeks, the administration has been searching for sponsors to hold Heritage Night, an event which students perform cultural dances, skits and play instruments to showcase their cultural identities. However, they came up short handed and announced last week that the annual tradition is canceled.
If our school really values our diversity, the administration could have hired a director or even parent to take control, even without a teacher sponsor.
Someone should have stepped up because students would have run it themselves if they had been given the opportunity.
Had this been Homecoming, cancellation would have never been an option.
A school that prides itself in its cultural range is willing to throw away the one event that makes it stand out.
Heritage Night is a part of our school; it represents who we are and what we value — our students, but most importantly the variety of perspectives they bring. We are not a typical school, and our students have the opportunity to meet new people and come in contact with almost every corner of the world.
Heritage Night is truly the epitome of the mosaic that AHS is. Call it cliche, but in reality, each performance that night taught the audience a glimpse of the “real world.”
To have it canceled this year is not only a major blow to the “AHS identity,” but also to our students.
It is a chance for the ESOL department students to reconnect to their cultures, as they are immersed in this new-found Americanized community. Even for a majority of the population, most of whom are second and first generation kids, the night was a chance to reconnect with their heritage that as students we take for granted.
But even if it is just a temporary cancellation, it plays a large impact on the community, whether it be for the leaving seniors this year or the new freshman who have yet to witness the event.
The pressure and time requirement it takes to put on the show isn’t easy. It is, after all, the most lucrative event of the school year.
However, from now until the end of the year either with a shared board of students and teachers or administrators and parents, the event should not be deserted.
Regardless of its quality, Heritage Night is vauled for its intrinsic values.
It is the fact that our school is so rich in diversity, with a diverse amount of varying religions, traditions and customs, that we can create an entire show representing the world is unbelievable in itself.
It is our identity, who we are and what makes us both an educational and real-life beyond-the-textbook school.
“I am disappointed that we had to cancel it this year,” Randazzo said. “We want every event to be at its best when we put it on.”
