Preparing for Heritage Night is Harder than it Seems

Jia Williams, Feature Editor

Every year when Heritage Night rolls around, Jaguars get another look into the cultures of their friends and peers. It is a night of fun, food, and laughs, but it is also a night of coming together as a community to celebrate the diversity that Falls Church has to offer.
For the night to be as fantastic as it is, Ms. Sherman and her Leadership students work hard for weeks in advance to plan and set up the show and all the food. Much of the planning is done by the leadership students who are divided into groups and put in charge of different aspects of the Night.
One of the main attractions of Heritage Night is the talent show that caps off the night. This year, Madelyn Vasquez (11) and Erin Poplin (12) were in charge of putting it together. When asked what her favorite part of setting up for Heritage Night was, Madelyn said, “My favorite part was seeing the crowd and the performers enjoy the hard work we put in to pull the show together.” After all the rehearsals and practices, the final show was more than anyone could have expected.
Sandy Flores (11), another leadership student, also played a role in the preparations for the show. Her favorite memory from planning it was “when the ESOL classes came down to the Leadership room and helped us make decorations. They were shy at first, but as time went on they broke out of their shell and it was really amazing to see everyone working together.” This is what Heritage Night is about coming together as community to help each other out.
When organizing such a big event there is also bound to be some mishaps and problems. When asked what the most difficult part of planning it was, Sandy responded, saying, “ I think the hardest part of getting the night together is getting people involved and efficiently working together.” Madelyn agreed and thought the hardest part for her was getting the people who agreed to help to respond quickly. Many people also agreed to help but did not follow up with details, and “a lot of things were done last minute.”
Overall, the problems may have posed a challenge in the moment but were eventually resolved and the Leadership students look towards making next year’s Heritage Night even better.
Despite all the complications, the night went smoothly and we have Leadership students to thank!

Leadership Students making decorations for Heritage Night.
(Photo courtesy of Ms. Sherman)