Los Altos High School’s annual Diversity Week will take place Monday, April 26, to Friday, April 30, with daily activities modified to allow for both in-person and virtual student participation. Diversity Week is a school-wide tradition of daily activities and performances to help celebrate the numerous communities on campus. 

“This year we’ve focused on demonstrating support toward minority communities that really need it and doing so in different ways,” Associated Student Body (ASB) Vice President and junior Aida Yezalaleul said. “Sentiments are just one aspect, we also wanted to provide further resources and volunteer opportunities where students can get hands on, direct involvement, because that’s what is crucial right now.”

ASB has put together the following schedule for Diversity Week, which includes activities to promote support as well as access to numerous volunteer resources and information. 

Monday, April 26: Ally Awareness Day

Ally Awareness Day has a focus of demonstrating support for minority, ethnic and gender orientation communities.

The lunchtime in-person activity will allow students to add to a “sentiment board,” in which Post-it notes and pens will be provided to add supportive notes or anonymous personal stories.

For virtual students, a form will be sent out to submit sentiments to be added to the board at school. This form will also include links to articles and resources about allyship.

The ASB Instagram account will also be a key resource used throughout the week for further information. They will release an informational graphic on Monday on behalf of 8by8, a community movement to stop Asian hate through voter registration and turnout by providing volunteer opportunities and advertising for local rallies and marches.

Tuesday, April 27: GSA (Gender and Sexuality Awareness) Day

As Tuesday, April 27, is an asynchronous school day, the sentiment board activity will continue through the attendance activity: an online form for students to submit supportive notes or anecdotes. On its Instagram, ASB will post statistics on gender and sexuality for further context and guidance on how to show support. 

Wednesday, April 28: Politics Day

An informative “Why You Should Vote” post will be posted on the ASB Instagram, along with an online political party spectrum test where students can see which political party their beliefs align with the most. There will then be a form for students to share their results that ASB will post the responses to.

On campus, ASB is hosting a lunchtime conversation circle at the grass area outside of room 408. Questions will be prompted for participants to vote on, prompting respectful conversation and encouraging discussion. Participants will also be provided with free pizza. 

Thursday, April 29: Cultural Day

During lunch, students can hear presentations on Zoom from a number of different cultural clubs on campus, including the French Club, Russian Club, Viva Venezuela, Latino Student Union (LSU) and Black Student Union (BSU).

BSU and LSU will also take over the ASB Instagram account and decorate the LAHS campus with flags and strung-up tissue paper. In person, the traditional map activity will take place during lunch, in which a world map is posted in the quad along with pins for students to mark where they are from. 

Friday, April 30: Volunteer Commissions

Most years, during the Diversity Assembly, students could sign up to put on cultural performances of choice for the school. This year, four group commissions have been compiled into a video second-period teachers will play during class. 

“The goal for students is that they know at this age in high school they can still be involved in community inclusivity and more importantly to celebrate who you are and what you identify as,” Aida said. “It’s important to feel comfortable in your skin in different settings. Since students spend the majority of their day at school, we want to make this environment one where everyone feels comfortable with who they are.”