For many students, the month of April radiates stress from cramming for AP tests in early May. However, for Paly’s Student Diversity Coalition, April brings the excitement of setting up the annual celebration of Not In Our School Week to promote identity safety and acceptance of diversity in race, sexual orientation, gender expression, religion and culture from April 14-18.

This year’s celebration will feature a barbeque and several performances from many musical and cultural groups to draw in participation from all students, according senior GSA co-president Alex Rose-Henig.

“We have added a lot of fun activities that all students can be part of,” Rose-Henig said. “We have student entertainment groups [performing]. Hopefully Hipnotik will join us and be doing a performance for us, [and] different ethnic groups are doing presentations that relate to their own history.”

Students will also get the chance to work on a mural project that is specifically being created for NIOS Week.

“It [the mural] shows the diversity of all the different groups of Paly,” junior GSA co-president Alex Coblin said. “The cool thing about the mural is that it can be taken apart and put back together in many orders”

The mural will be made up of six different canvasses put together, and each of the pictures individually is its own portrait, according to Coblin. Once it is put together, it will form a larger picture.

Contrary to tradition, Paly will hold its Day of Silence the week after NIOS. This year’s National Day of Silence occurs on April 25 and will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old from Oxnard, Calif. who was shot and killed on Feb. 12 because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.

As for funding, Paly’s SDC has held multiple car washes and a Chevy’s night last Tuesday to raise funds. Rose-Henig estimates that NIOS Week will require about $4000 in order to prepare many lunchtime activities for students.

“It has been especially difficult for us [to fund the event] because a lot of people are stigmatized by the fact that the GSA is involved,” Rose-Henig said.

Nevertheless, Rose-Henig and Coblin hope for a strong participation from the student body.

“One of the reasons [Paly] is pretty special is [that] we are lucky enough to have a pretty large population that is willing to plan and participate in the events, at the same time as having some amount of discrimination inherent in the Paly campus,” Rose-Henig said.

At Gunn, NIOS Week is celebrated with classroom and lunch activities, according to Gunn GSA advisor Daisy Renazco. Students will have allotted times during the week when they will watch the “Not In Our Town” Movie, and reflect on discrimination. Gunn’s GSA and YCS clubs will lead the Day of Silence and a final day of dissolving stereotypes, both traditions of Paly’s NIOS celebrations.

“Not in Our School Week is very important in promoting acceptance,” Renazco said. “Providing an environment where all students feel comfortable and safe to be who they are is very important.”

NIOS Week was initiated by the district and is a district-wide celebration, and the Paly administration has been helpful in the planning of Paly’s NIOS week. However, Paly’s NIOS week is entirely student-run, according to Rose-Henig.

“Going through all of this fundraising and doing all of these car washes, Chevy nights, and asking different organizations for money really puts your heart and soul into this,” Coblin said. “You really hope that it goes off with a bang and that everyone will know about it.”