Posted by Communications Staff on 3/27/2023
Jet Shee is a sophomore at Lewis & Clark High School. About seven years ago, he and his family fled their home country of Thailand and came to Spokane as refugees through World Relief.
Anilang Alee, also a sophomore at Lewis & Clark, came to Spokane 12 years ago with his parents from the Marshall Islands looking for jobs and better opportunities where the water wasn’t contaminated with radiation.
Shee and Alee are now involved with LC’s Multicultural Club and helped organize their second annual Culture Night for students and families to celebrate their cultures and those of their classmates.
The event was student-led, and Shee and Alee were at the microphone throughout the evening introducing dancers, singers and a fashion show to showcase the common attire from different cultures. A meal followed with students and families from LC’s feeder pattern schools.
“It’s a way to represent our cultures and our school,” Shee said of the event. “Being in the middle of this city, we’re going to have all sorts of people from everywhere. It’s a great way to represent and show our stories.”
“We wanted to host this so people can get their story out,” Alee added. “People that don’t know about our cultures will learn about our cultures. We wanted to create this so we can have fun explaining our cultures.”
The fun was on full display in the LC commons.
The dances, songs and fashion show were a huge hit with students confidently showcasing their culture. Students also arranged about 20 display tables to share what it’s like living in Mexico, Iraq, Tonga, and lots of other places around the globe.
“There are a lot of different backgrounds at LC,” Shee said. “Some people come from places where there are wars that destroyed their country and they had to flee to here. Others came for better opportunities.”
In the afternoon before Culture Night, displays were set up during the school day for all of LC’s 1,700-plus students to explore and learn. Shee and Alee both said the student turnout was higher this year.
“A lot more people were interested and curious because they heard how good it was last year,” Shee said.
Culture Night is a big celebration, but there’s also a long-term benefit to hosting these events. Both Shee and Alee said they felt the events invigorated the overall culture at LC and educated students, too.
“I think this event makes the kids happy because there’s more for them to teach and more kids that want to learn about their culture,” Alee said.
The event also educates the international students. While organizing the event, Shee was enlightened about the diversity of his school.
“I was really surprised at how many refugees we have, specifically from Ukraine, but also Iraq, Afghanistan,” he said. “It surprised me that there are kids with similar backgrounds or backgrounds of war or poverty. They came from all around the world to here.”
