As a brand new club, Diversity Council intends to promote awareness and celebrate diversity throughout LHS. They plan to do many activities, community outreach and even have guest speakers.

“The Diversity Council is open to all LHS students,” Guidance Counselor and club sponsor Kathy Alagna said. “We will focus on our own personal development by inviting guest speakers from diverse cultures and attending a field trip to the Nelson Art Gallery to view the Plains Indian Art Exhibit and part of the Asian Art Exhibit.  We will have monthly events to increase cultural awareness to the entire school.  These ideas are still a work in progress.”

As a new club that formed this year, they have only had a few meetings. But council members already have a clear idea of what they would like the club to be about.

“[The goal of the club is] to teach kids not just here at LHS, but everywhere about different cultures and the history of them,” freshman Ayraka Straws said.

The club hopes to accomplish this by hosting a Diversity Dinner. The dinner will celebrate all different demographics within LPS and will be held second semester.

Community outreach will be another foundation of Diversity Council.

“I know that a lot of us in the group are also involved in other volunteer organizations like Key Club and NHS so we’re definitely going to look for a way to insert the group into those organizations and involving the community,” senior Mary Mwaura said. “I know that at LMS they had a cultural fair. We had a lot of different speakers and people from different cultures come and put on a little fair. It’s an idea that’s in process, along with a lot of ideas we have going on. We have a big picture, but it’s all about narrowing it down to what we’ll actually end up doing.”

Members of Diversity Council believe that all students who have an interest should definitely give it a try.

“I would recommend Diversity Council to any LHS student because we all experience diversity on a daily basis, but sometimes we just don’t acknowledge it,” senior Riley Peek said.

“I would recommend the club because, of course as a Diversity Council, we want a lot of diverse people from diverse backgrounds because everyone has something to offer,” Mwaura said. “And I think it’s a really good way of being able to expand your knowledge. Having that opportunity makes for a more diverse culture within our school and within ourselves and hopefully within our world as we move on to other stages of life and take that knowledge with us.”

Students may have heard of the African American Association, as it was a club in previous years at LHS, but it is no longer in existence. Counselor Brenda Wiederholt, the former sponsor, felt that Diversity Council better encompasses all the differences LHS students see on a daily basis.

“We wanted to make sure all students had a place to come and feel welcome and celebrate their differences,” Wiederholt said. “We are talking about ethnicity, race, gender, disabilities, everything that encompasses diversity.”

The club meets Thursdays during Liberty Hour B and welcomes all new faces in support of diversity.