Small World, Blue Nation
Waving flags of various countries, members of the International Club enjoy the view of the homecoming parade.
November 3, 2016
During the homecoming parade, onlookers watched as a group of students rode in the back of a red pickup truck, waving an array of small flags and blasting “Waka Waka,” the official song of the 2010 World Cup by Shakira. Meet West’s world ambassadors, the representatives of the school’s diverse International Club.
“International Club is where people celebrate diversity,” president, senior Jin Jin Wu said. “We want to bring together the international community at West by making international students feel welcome and accepted.”
International Club meets in Room A1203 and is sponsored by English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher Barbara Nelson. One of the staples of International Club is their monthly meetings where students honor various cultural celebrations the best way possible with food.
“We have a major multi-cultural luncheon the week before Thanksgiving vacation where students bring food from their country,” Nelson said. “We also do Chinese New Year, Persian New Year and Cinco De Mayo.”
However, aside from just participating in potluck lunches and the homecoming parade, the International Club has recently implemented a new peer tutoring system for ESL students. Students can sign up weekly to either be tutored or help tutor other students and even earn National Honor Society (NHS) hours for their service.
“It is really helpful because it helps you with the class you need help on,” senior Carlos Hernandez said. “And if you are tutored in your language, it is easier for you to understand the topics.”
From this tutoring program, ESL students like Hernandez not only receive extra help in various subjects but also are given the opportunity to get to know more students at West.
“I’m really watching and admiring the connection between the students getting tutored and their student tutors,” Nelson said. “Connectivity is really important to me that our students connect with activities and with other PWSH students.”
Nelson has been the faculty sponsor for International Club for the past few years. In previous years, Nelson said that sometimes the officers were not as proactive as they needed to be to grow the club.
“This year, we have a president who was very involved last year and was always participating in events,” Nelson said. “Jin Jin has just taken it by the horns, and I knew she would from what I saw her do last year.”
Wu joined the International Club at Shepton after observing the international assembly organized by the club every year and served as West’s International Club vice president last year.
“The club had good ideas such as tutoring ESL students last year, but none of them happened,” Wu said. “That’s what inspired me to run for president.”
Wu hopes to organize an international assembly at West to attract more members to the club. Since there are not many member obligations, students are welcome to join in their activities anytime during the school year.
“I like how the club is really laid-back,” Wu said. “It doesn’t require much work if you are a member of the club.”
Additionally, Wu wants to create a welcoming environment within the club to help international transfer students smoothly acclimate into the school community.
“Many members are actually international students,” Wu said. “So I really hope that they would come to as many meetings as they can, be themselves and feel comfortable around other students.”
International Club epitomizes what it means to be a global citizen, which can be seen most clearly through the different backgrounds of the club’s members.
“It is low socioeconomic to high socioeconomic, strong students to struggling students,” Nelson said. “We have primarily Asian, African, Hispanic and Middle Eastern.”
As International Club grows in membership and variety of activities, one thing will stay the same: the way the club truly represents the unique diversity of the student body.
“We really are a small world in a big school,” Nelson said.