![Hosting the SCLA Casptone Mentor Dinner outside allowed for more attendees on September 27, 2021 at Silver Creek. This event would’ve usually been held inside. According to Lauren Kohn, a SCLA 12 teacher, “If we have a higher number of people, as long as we can host the event outside, then that seems to be keeping every[one] safe”.](https://schsnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/sxMAIGbSYGodZkqmrvTi5YWcJ1ssWA08ApkeMLpp-900x675.jpeg)
Lunar New Year is a traditional Asian celebration that rejoices in the transition to a new year in February. Silver Creek High School hosted their own celebration to Year of the Horse on Saturday, January 31st.
Back in 2011, the Asian Pacific Association of Longmont was looking for a bigger venue to host the Lunar New Year celebration. Silver Creek communicated with the Asian Pacific Association of Longmont, connected their Silver Creek Leadership Academy (SCLA) program, and incorporated their global and cultural leadership class to provide Silver Creek High School as a venue without cost.
Now, 15 years later, the event has attracted around 2,000 people, making it the largest celebration in Northern Colorado. This crowd of attendees are treated to an event run by 90% student volunteers.
Michelle Smith, a sophomore at Silver Creek, is one of these student volunteers, but she has an even bigger role: The volunteer coordinator, meaning she recruited and organized all the other helpers. She worked from set up to clean up, ensuring that everyone was in place. However, preparation began months in advance.
“Starting in September, the Lunar New Year board meets once a month at [Silver] Creek to go over what needs to be done, and from there we each do our own task,” Smith said. “I’m the volunteer coordinator; I’ve helped with other parts of [the event], like the art show and working with orchestras, but my main thing is getting and organizing the volunteers.”
Balancing all of this work for such a large event is a difficult task, but Smith worked hard to handle it, attempting to treat event planning just like any other school homework.
“I mainly do it the same way you’d work on school homework: after school, when you have time,” Smith said.
Smith’s partner, Alex Payton, is a sophomore and member of SCLA. During the event, Payton was instructing people where to go and what each volunteer’s job was, leading through collaboration. Though it was a big job to run this event, Payton feels it’s essential to prioritize.
“It’s important to recognize the Asian part of the community that’s here in Longmont,” Payton said. “We owe a lot of [Longmont] to that part of the community. I think it’s really important to educate newer generations… about this gorgeous cultural tradition.”
Carrie Adams, the SCLA program director at Silver Creek, recognizes the volunteer coordinator’s ability to organize such an incredible event, meaning their hard work has paid off. Adams believes working on such an event enriches the students’ lives, as well as teenager reputation.
“They get a real opportunity to see what goes into running a giant event like that, from start to finish, and what it takes to be kind of organized to think all the way through,” Adams said. “I think it’s [also] good for people to walk in the door and see hundreds of teenagers working their butts to do something positive.”
Not only does the event help each of the students, but Adams also believes that it helps the entire Longmont community. The event is built up of students from many different schools, adult volunteers, Silver Creek students, the Innovation Center, and so much more. All of these people collaborated to welcome the Year of the Horse.
“The idea is that we want people to be exposed to different cultures,” Adams said. “We get kind of sucked into our own personal culture [and] we don’t expand our horizons to really understand the beauty and the majesty of other cultures. I think we need that in our country.”
It’s not just Silver Creek High School that is prioritizing this exposure to other countries. Adams emphasizes that Longmont, Colorado does a magnificent job of this, especially through other celebrations like Cinco De Mayo.
“I think our community, Longmont as a whole, really tries hard to connect cultures. I love that about where I live, but I think the school district does that as well,” Adams said. “We want those interactions. We all have to work together to make a place where people want to live and that is a good place to raise families.”
Ultimately, Adams enjoys how Lunar New Year brings the community together, whether it be Silver Creek’s community, the school district community, or the Longmont community.
“When we come together, we can have a good connection with each other,” Adams said. “We’re part of the school district and it’s important to connect with each other.”
