Some of the members of the MSC from left to right: Julia Turner ’23, Christie-Ann Nelson ’23, Iva-Amanda Nelson ’23, Jazlyn LLuberes ’23, Gian Franco Rodriguez ’21, Mariema Thioubou ’23, Abby Sinclair ’23, Angie Castillo ’21, Jaden Klebba ’21, Kendin Basden ’22, Jazzy Valenzuela ’21, Addie Castillo ’21 (Photo provided).
The Multicultural Student Club at Northwood “serves as a forum for communication amongst students from diverse backgrounds and the entire Northwood community. Through discussions and guest speakers, the Multicultural Student Club hopes to foster a school community where students learn from their differences and celebrate cultural diversity,” according to the club’s description on Northwood’s web site. Jasmin Valenzuela ‘21, one of the club’s leaders, spoke with The Mirror about MSC and what the club does. “Our group is made up of much of the people of color on campus. We start off the year with discussions on issues we see in the world. Then we go on to talk about changes we would like to see within our community. In turn, we discuss events and other ways to promote our diversity and the issues we would like to see change in,” she said. “Right now, for Black History Month, we are presenting on prominent Black events, people, and places that cultivate history,” she added.
The Multicultural Student Club is such an important addition to Northwood these past few years because Northwood has become such a diverse community recently. The MSC gives everyone from different backgrounds a chance to voice their opinion and experiences with others. Many members find MSC a safe space for themselves and others.
The month of February is Black History Month, and MSC held a series of school meeting presentations that illuminated aspects of Black history that most members of the community didn’t know about. MSC leaders Amanda Nelson, ‘23, and Jazlyn Lluberes ‘23, shared insight on what the club hoped to do throughout Black History Month. “The Multicultural Students Club emphasizes that Black History is a part of American History that should be embraced, and not looked upon with disdain,” they said. “As we are introducing less commonly known important black figures and events in history each week at our school meetings, we hope to educate the student body that the ‘patriotic’ history learned in classes and in books have excluded an important part of history that aided in America’s development. These people and events deserve to be known as their history and accomplishments are just as important,” they added.
