A new club, Asian American Pacific Islander Alliance, was formed this year to provide opportunities for cultural awareness and to elevate the voices of AAPI students.
AAPIA is a club, including Asian American Pacific Islander students, that gives students a chance to share their voices and promote inclusion throughout the school.
“We really want this to be a club where student voice is driving what we do and the activities that we engage in,” said sponsor and social studies department chair Adrijana Bisevac. “The vision includes sharing about cultural backgrounds and experiences of members, sharing and learning languages, sharing and learning recipes and food, engaging in cultural excursions and experiences, having students teach others about their background and family culture, et cetera,” Bisevac said.
On the first day this club met, they did formal introductions and made boba. Boba is a form of bubble tea that originated in Taiwan, and it has become a popular drink item across several countries. Also for their first meeting they planned their golf cart decorations for the golf cart parade. They have several new plans for future meetings, and they plan to highlight their student voices.
“That meeting was the first meeting ever, so we did introductions. We introduced ourselves and the presidents,” said senior Emily Janowski. “And then we made boba, and we also talked about the plan for the parade.”
As they progress through the school year, they continue to brainstorm ideas for future events. At the moment, they are open to any ideas to contribute to the club and future meetings.
“We have discussed doing activities that involve sharing recipes and food from different cultures, bringing in speakers, sharing and learning different languages, student presentations about their experiences, working with other affinity groups to elevate underrepresented voices more broadly, et cetera,” Bisevac said.
Since this club promotes inclusivity, students don’t have to be a part of the AAPI community to participate in the club and activities.
“I’m actually friends with the person who created it and the co-founder,” Janowski said.
Students are able to show their support for the club by coming to meetings, spreading the word about the club, and by following the club on Instagram (@gnhs_aapi). The club meets every other
Wednesday in A243. There will also be reminders sent out via Remind and the Instagram account letting members know when the meeting will take place. To join the AAPI remind, text @gnhsaapi to 81010.
AAPI was created by Kairi Domingo. Kairi is a senior this year at North, and it took her about five months to create the club. She has put a lot of effort into forming this club and is very excited for the upcoming year.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know I was able to form my own club when I became a student at North,” Domingo said.
Any student at North is able to create a club as long as there is a true purpose for the club. Kairi was able to create AAPI, and it has flourished into a diverse club that allows students to speak their voices, share their experiences, and so much more.
