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On October 31, HBHS students gathered for the school’s newest after-school activity: Culture Club. Culture Club was founded by juniors Anuhya Chilakapati and Kirti Das to “explore all the cultures that are in HB and share them around [the] school and highlight their importance,” said Chilakapati ‘25.
Inspiration can strike anywhere, but for Chilakapati, she found it within her community. “The thing that mainly inspired me was talking to other people and relating to other people who have not only my own but other cultures and hearing about their experiences and about their lives,” said Chilakapati. After creating the idea, Chilakapati and Das sought a teacher advisor who would support and further their mission. “I was really excited when Anuhya [and Kirti] approached me asking me about Culture Club because we don’t have anything like that at HB,” said teacher advisor Mannat Sidhu.
Being a new club, Culture Club is still finding its footing and place within the HBHS community. Building a solid foundation of committed members is the first step to creating a successful club. New members share their hopes for the club. “I am excited for everyone to share their individual experiences and for all of us to learn new stuff together,” said member Lolly Adair ‘25. Through participation, Cait Engle ‘25, a new member, hopes to help gain critical skills for her future. “Culture Club will allow me to be a more diverse, open-minded person, and gain valuable knowledge about other cultures as I progress into college,” said Engle. On the teacher side, Sidhu hopes Culture Club will allow the HB community to “see how much we all have in common and become more of a close-knit society.”
During their first-ever meeting, club presidents led the charge in planning events and activities. Many enthusiastic members from a wide range of cultures inputted their opinions. As a group, they decided on tentative activities including Friendsgiving, Food Night and Karaoke Night. Food Night will allow for students to “get to sample different foods from around the world,” said Chilakapati. Putting a Culture Club twist on a traditional karaoke night, the club plans to “sing songs from around the world…in different languages,” said Chilakapati.
After building a strong foundation, Culture Club hopes to connect with the entire school community. “I want to not only have the club involved with cultural events but the whole school and increase the knowledge of culture,” said Chilakapati. This could be done partly by connecting with the language-focused cultural clubs: French, Latin and Spanish. The next Culture Club meeting is on November 14, celebrating Friendsgiving.
