By PAIGE SAENGSOUVANNA
Staff Writer
UHS organized its annual Spotlight week to commemorate the fine arts, including acapella groups, graphic design, dance company, color guard and more. “They [fine arts] give students the outlet they need to express themselves freely, which in my opinion is invaluable,” Ellena Eshraghi (Sr.) said.
Spotlight Week started off with “Music Monday” as students dressed up as their favorite music artist or band. During lunch, students crowded the Crossroads to watch the color guard team perform. “Color guard, footnotes, undertones, the string quartet, and the monks of funk all did such an outstanding job,” Nina Zand (So.) said.
Another student comments his experience watching the performances. “I was never really exposed to stuff like bands at school and the quartets so seeing them perform and do what they love was awesome,” Bi Tran (So.) said.
ASB was selling pins and white arts core t-shirts that could be tie-dyed. A yarn wall gave the students the opportunity to connect strings of yarn to words that described themselves. At the end of this project, different colors and lengths of yarn were intertwined with each other and it was something unique to students. “While I was filming people [for Univision] using the yarn wall, I noticed how creative it was to give people who aren’t even a part of the arts programs a chance to participate in Spotlight week and have fun with it,” Melissa Finn (Jr.) said.
On Tuesday, inspired by crayons of various colors, students dressed up in one color from head to toe. One student commented on her opinion about the impact of arts on the school community. “Without the arts, our school would be bland. Uni has so many gifted and talented students who have helped contribute at our school and I don’t think enough people at our school take enough time to appreciate that.” Clare Jun (So.) said.
On Wednesday students dressed as islanders in support of the opening night of the fall play, The Tempest. The cast performed a snippet of the play during lunch. “Our show is different from anything Uni has ever done before; people get to really delve into our immersive production and experience the magic of the Tempest,” Shaden Ahadi (Sr.) said.
Students wore UHS arts core merchandise on Thursday and participated in an Arts Trivia game during lunch at the Crossroads. “Film Friday” gave students the opportunity to dress up as their favorite movie character. Footnotes and Undertones sang at lunch, putting their own twists to both old and modern songs. “I had no experience singing and I only dreamed of being a part of something so cool… performing was so exhilarating.” Jun said.
“There are so many artists on campus, some who make it known and some who stay silent on it, and through spotlight week we all get to showcase this amazing culture we partake in,” Ahadi said.
