Navya Narayanan

Members of the Paly Poly Club wear vibrant Polynesian attire and perform a traditional dance. According to June Tau, junior and performer, the assembly was a great opportunity to experience other cultures and backgrounds. “It [assembly] brings awareness to respect everyone’s other cultures,” Tau said. “I liked how we were able to see not only ours today, but other countries as well. It was nice to see that everyone comes from different things and to also respect their background.”

A hush fell over the gym as students stepped up to the microphone, singing the lines of “Wait Till I Get On My Robe” by Brandon Waddles. Moments later, songs and cultural dances from around the world took over the stage, marking Palo Alto High School’s first-ever cultural assembly on Thursday in the Peery Center.

The assembly began with the a capella performance by the Paly Choir singing “Wait Till I Get On My Robe” followed by a poem named “Highway to 80” recited by junior Danny Khan and a Ukrainian song, sung by Ivanka Kumar. Students then watched an InFocus video with interviews about cultural pride and listened to a Chinese poem from the Tang Dynasty, performed by sophomore Joyce Ma and junior Robyn Shi. The Paly Poly Club wrapped it up with interactive activities and traditional dances representing different islands.

Alyssa Bond, director of the Associated Student Body, said the assembly aimed to bring students together through a shared celebration of cultural expression and performances.

“The main goal of the assembly was to have the entire student body gathered together to enjoy performances by Paly students that celebrate arts and culture,” Bond said.

According to June Tau, junior and Paly Poly Club performer, she appreciates Paly’s diverse culture and enjoys being able to represent her own culture.

“Paly is a really diverse school; even though we all have the same curriculum, we all come from different backgrounds, different stories, different cultures,” Tau said. “It’s nice that they had this assembly today because it represented the different parts of Paly.”

Junior Omkar Perinkulum said the assembly was a great way to experience other students’ cultures and their events.

“Cultural diversity means seeing how other people celebrate their cultures,” Perinkulum said. “Like what events are significant to them and what they do. It’s what their culture truly means to them.”

According to Bond, the assembly promoted the diverse cultural representation at Paly, but there were a couple of challenges in coordinating the event since it had never been done before.

“The assembly was for raising visibility and awareness of the rich cultural representation that exists in our community,” Bond said. “The logistics of organizing an entire school assembly are understandably challenging in nature and something that hadn’t been done in recent history.”

According to Perinkulum, he hopes the assembly helps students feel seen and inspires them to explore their own cultural identities.

“I hope other students who don’t share my background can hopefully see that they can find groups that celebrate similar events and holidays and culture, or people who celebrate similar events and holidays,” Perinkulum said. “They can hopefully also join in and also discover what their culture means to them through how other similar people would celebrate it.”