It’s dinnertime at LHS with some great food for the Minority Dinner on November 7. The doors open at 5:30pm and the event goes from 6-8:30pm. Everyone will meet in the LHS cafeteria for the good food that awaits. Anyone from grades 6-12 is invited to attend this dinner, but minorities and their families get an invitation in the mail.
“This is our sixth annual dinner and each dinner is sponsored by the district, but the minority clubs run it,” Dept. Chair Brenda Wiederholt said. “We all can feel some school pride in that fact.”
“I think it’s fair that people get invited because they’re a minority. I think the evening is very beneficial and there are no stereotypes,” senior Nyshelle Posey said. “The people are there to learn about getting a good education, to make a difference, and not looking for sympathy.”
Each year there is a speaker who educates the students on subjects such as college planning, texting and driving, and much more. This year the speaker will be Gwen Grant from the Urban League. She is giving a presentation on challenging yourself in school.
Another continuing tradition is the culinary arts students at LHS cook the meal for the banquet, Minority club members serve and wait the tables, and LNHS students provide breadsticks for appetizers.
A lot of people have been going to this event throughout the years with siblings or friend in the past. But some students have not gone to the Minority dinner before.
The minority clubs have been trying to reach out to more students this year by sending an online invitation via school email.
“I haven’t been to the minority dinner before,” sophomore Emma Jones said, “but I still think it’s a good event to have for the minorities. It seems like a really helpful event and it would be nice for those who need the confidence and college support. I do think I will go next year though, just to get the experience.”
Since freshmen are also new to the school and its activities, not all of them know about the minority dinner, especially if they aren’t a minority themselves.
But freshman Janai Simpson went to a past banquet in a past year. “I really liked the students who served the food, they were respectful and kind,” Simpson said, “The speaker really tries to reach out to us and our age group, but sometimes they got off topic. Overall, I like the free food, the speaker reaching out to us, and the feeling of really being cared about.”
Many people have gone to, and enjoyed the minority dinner throughout the years. Now the Minority clubs are waiting excitedly for what is to come for this year’s banquet.
