Thursday, April 19, the combined forces of the world language department put on a “Culture Night” at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. The fundraiser was hosted by the clubs for Italian, French, and Mandarin. The event, which ran from 5:00 to 7:30pm, included a wide variety of different foods, as well as performances from talented student musicians.
“Culture Night is essentially a heritage night,” junior Rachella Carlino, Italian Club officer, said. “French, Chinese and Italian Club participated by putting together a presentation of food, art and entertainment for each culture. We had some delicious food from each club, raffle items [and] singers from the music department.”
Students paid five dollars at the door for access to an all-you-can eat buffet of various cultural cuisine, donated by students and several local restaurants. There was a large range of options, such as dumplings, pasta, pizza, croissants, breads and much more. It is safe to say that nobody went home hungry!
While enjoying their dinners, attending students listened to their classmates sing and/or play musical instruments. All of the musicians showcased were very talented and the extra entertainment was definitely a positive addition to the night.
While the language clubs have organized fundraisers in the past, this is the first year there has been a Culture Night hosted at SPFHS.
“Every year, the Italian Club has a pasta night, but the officers wanted to think of a fundraiser that could bring in even more money,” Carlino said. “We thought that if we brought in the other language clubs, it would be a really fun night and more people would come.”
Despite being the first execution of such an event, the overall feeling was that it was very successful. Over $500 were raised, which will be divided equally among each of the three participating clubs. All proceeds will be put towards scholarships for senior members of each language club.
“I think Culture Night was very successful,” Carlino said. “It was our first year, so it was difficult planning and executing, but we pulled it off and made a lot of money. We would love to continue doing this because it was a really nice night and everyone seemed to have fun.”