With February upon us, the Latinx club is hosting its first ever Cupid’s Ball at Edison. A Valentine’s Day themed dance is the first of its kind. Latinx welcomes its doors to all who wanna participate and have a fun night celebrating love and friendship.
In the past years, the Edison community has held annual events, like Homecoming or Fright Night. These events are popular among Edison students and have become an Edison tradition. Homecoming is organized by the Black Student Union (BSU) with different themes each year, while Fright Night is hosted by Peer Group Connections (PGC) annually as a Halloween themed dance.
Our valentine’s tradition was limited to selling candygrams. Now the Cupid’s Ball opens up a new experience for Edison students. This dance celebrates the idea of love and friendship while also connecting to the diverse communities at Edison. The dance will feature fun activities, food, dance, and music. As of right now, tickets are on sale for $5 at the cafeteria shop.
“Some people have this misconception that Latinx Club is only for the Hispanic kids … with this dance, we’re hoping that a lot more students from all types of backgrounds and cultures come. So we don’t want to advertise it as only Latinx, but more like for the whole school,” said Ms. Azua, advisor of the Latinx club.
Her comment reflects one of the main challenges the club faces as it prepares for the Cupid’s Ball on February 6th encouraging students that the event is open for everyone. The goal being to create a welcoming space for the entire school community, not just Hispanic students. To reach this goal, Ms. Azua shared her planning process with the school community.
“We already talked with photographers and the DJs. And the flyers have been put up around the building. And day of, we’re just going to set up the cafeteria. And we get a lot of support, again, from our colleagues,” said Ms. Azua, the Latinx advisor.
As Ms. Azua mentioned she had help from the school community. In order to fund the club for activities, the PTA helped by selling snacks, Ms. Velez helped with cameras and equipment, Ms. Loveras helped print out flyers/posters, and COSA Ms. Inderjeit helped out on making sure the dance was approved. On top of that, Ms. Chevry continued to provide assistance on any issues that arise, which promoted the idea of community and connection at Edison.
“In Spanish, it’s called the Day of Love and Friendship. It’s a day of love and friendship… That it just doesn’t have to be, you don’t have to bring a date. You can come with your friends and celebrate that,” said Ms. Azua, the Latinx advisor.
While Ms. Azua emphasizes the focus of friendship and school spirit, the board pointed out that the dance is monumental.
“First of all, we’ve never had a form of Valentine’s dance in the school, so this is something monumental, not only for our club, but the school,” said Wendy Fajardo.
As part of the board of the Latinx club, Wendy Farjardo shares her inspiration of why the club wanted to introduce the dance as it will be a way to bring together students at Edison as they also plan to make this dance an annual event. With bringing students together to celebrate the month of love and friendship and create a welcoming community for everyone.
Wanting to make this event inclusive for all they planned to make sure that no one gets left out as it’s supposed to bring students together. The club members expressed how they hope many hear about the dance as they want it to be an annual event. As well as planning to have special valentine theme decorations and activities, such as best duo and trio to make the students feel excited, too; it will be a night of dance, good vibes and fun.
“I’m going to expect something similar to what Fright Night was. So, maybe like decorations up in the cafeteria, maybe. Music playing. I know they have teddy bears being given out, so I’m kind of expecting something like that,” said Senior Tasniah Emdad.
The dance should be engaging and leaving a lasting impression. Tasniah has high expectations for the turnout of the dance. Furthermore, Tasniah let us know that as a PGC leader, she wants to be involved and show support to Latinx as they were welcoming to her.
“I feel like because a lot of the time our PGC advisors kind of drill it into us that we need to be there to support our other clubs and groups and other affiliations. So, I want to show my support. So, that’s why I want to go to Cupid’s Ball,” said Senior Tasniah Emdad.
