By Shalom Montero

Tuscarora High School is always thinking about the community, and U-NITE is the best way to let its students show just how united and connected they’ve become with their community. From completing the hours of volunteering, to going “above and beyond” like we hear teachers and faculty talk in school assemblies, the students of Tuscarora High School helped the U-NITE come to life. Around 200 adults and teenagers made up U-NITE, an event which captured the many cultures that make up the THS community and displayed the love that we all have for our roots. Tuscarora students and faculty came together to represent 45 different countries, and from directors to models to performers to cooks, it took a lot of work and effort to make all of these things come together in such an amazing way. Ms. Lyon, a history teacher and U-NITE co-coordinator, and Ms. Gill, spanish teacher and co-coordinator, did an amazing job at getting all of the details ready for the big day.

All of the students who were a part of U-NITE have only positive things to say about it. Even though they woke up early to practice their performances, then went to school to participate in honors and AP classes, only to end the day working part time jobs, they did not complain and had an appreciation for the hard work and dedication demonstrated through their peers and their leaders. “[It was] kind of hard because I take a lot of AP classes… but it was a great show. No complaints,” said senior Vinnie Thekkel. She is only one voice of the many who did not only help out in the days leading up to the performance, but volunteered the night of. There were students who did not stay after school only because they had plates from their countries that they needed to bring to the event. Some students went above and beyond and made almost half a dozen dishes to show the school a piece of their culture and in a way dedication in the most humble of ways. Most people did not know it was you that did the dish, but they got a chance to try something new, something that they didn’t even know they liked.

Volunteers were such a big part of the night, and without them it would have been drastically difficult to have gotten anything on time. There were students that did not go home but stayed throughout school day and unto the night to make sure that everything was done, including junior Misky Sharif, senior Anna Cho, and Key Club members. Sharif spoke praise for Key Club’s involvement, saying, “They helped things go much smoother, and made things more organized and professional.” She was one of the student managers, alongside Cho, trying to help things stay organized and in shape for when people would come in.

“The best part was getting to know students that I wouldn’t have been able to get to know otherwise,” said Ms. Lyon. When speaking of the amount of students who became a part of the Night of Unity on Wednesday, April 17th, she only had praises for the work done. Auditions were placed to see who would want to be a part of the performances, and Ms. Lyon along with Ms. Gill were flabbergasted at the amount of the students that decided they would be a part of the U-NITE celebration. There were two rehearsals the Monday and Tuesday prior, and although some things were hard in the beginning, including trying to find the order people should go in and the time that it would take for all of the models to take the stage, U-NITE was an amazing show that should not be overlooked. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, from getting all of the acts in place to uniting the school, but THS’s very own culture festival was a success, and only good things are expected for next year.