by Divya Kumar
News Editor

With the abundance of cultures and ethnicities at Coppell High School, the annual “Heritage Night” is looked forward to with much excitement. Though it is done every year, certain features have been added to this year’s performances and exhibits to make it a greater cultural experience than before.

The event, sponsored by the Junior World Affairs Council club, will be held Friday, Feb. 25 from 6-9 p.m. in the small commons. Participants have been preparing since the beginning of the school year, when countries were selected and ideas were brainstormed for all events.

The night is planned around a variety of different “presentations”, where students pick countries to represent, make tri-boards noting their most important characteristics and hold alternate entertainment and activities at each center. In addition, several performances are scheduled to take place, demonstrating dance styles and singing methods of countries around the world.

“Heritage Day is an event in which everyone can come, learn and enjoy all of the different cultures of the world,” JWAC President senior Viviana Trevino said. “Each member prepares a type of food from the prospective country they choose and share it with the public.”

Performances for this year include an opera song, three Bollywood dances, a flute performance of the Finnish National Anthem and more. During the intermission, CHS’s ECoppell club will be presenting its ideas for sustainability and the reduction of plastic bags.

“At the end of all of the performances, the entire team of performers will come together and dance to the song ‘Jai Ho’ from Slumdog Millionaire,” JWAC Vice-President junior Priya Gupta said. “This represents our aim: to surpass our cultural differences and come together in this final moment of joy.”

In addition to this, this year’s performance will honor past JWAC president, 2010 CHS graduate Satvika Ananth, and previous sponsor, Rita Bauer, who retired last year. The performances are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and last for roughly an hour after that, when people have the opportunity to then walk around to each of the displays.

“I’m doing an eight-minute Bollywood dance with two other JWAC members,” sophomore Dishali Patel said. “We’ve been practicing for a few months; our dance incorporates typical Indian classical dance, with ‘dandiyas’, or sticks that we use as part of the performance, as well as a mix of contemporary Bollywood songs.”

Each group is instructed to prepare a food individual to their respective country; however, rather than being presented in front of each stand, this year the set-up will be a buffet.

Though JWAC has never charged in the past for such an event, this year there will be an entrance fee of $2. But rather than going towards the club, these funds will be donated to the American Cancer Society, as JWAC has created its own team for this year’s Relay for Life.

“JWAC is raising money to give the top researchers an opportunity to find a cure to this pitiless disease,” Gupta said. “Many of us have been touched by cancer sometime in our lives, and because we can all connect to it, we are passionate about this cause.”

All these new facets that have been incorporated into a night that is sure be an experience equally as enjoyable as those in the past, as well as culturally immersing for all that choose to attend.

“It’s an important event because it brings everyone together to understand different cultures,” Trevino said. “That’s truly how conflict can be solved – by understanding different perspectives that come from different regions of the world.”