Cherry Hill High School East held its first Mid-Autumn Festival on Wednesday, Oct. 14, drawing more than 300 students and community members.
Three seniors organized the free event, as Eastside, the school's student newspaper, first reported: Elias Kang, president of the Korean Culture Club; Masha Lyshchik, president of the Japanese Student Association; and Alexis Madriaga, president of the Filipino Culture Society.
Seven clubs participated, filling both school cafeterias from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with hands-on activities, live performances and donated food from local restaurants. Attendees tried sungka, a traditional Filipino board game, and Japanese calligraphy. The Vietnamese Culture Club performed a lion dance, and the Korean School of Southern New Jersey staged a traditional drum and sword dance.
Kang told Eastside the idea came after a Lunar New Year festival the previous year drew a small crowd. He reached out to other club presidents to see if they were interested.
"Because [the Mid-Autumn Festival] was so new, I didn't expect this many people to come," Madriaga told Eastside.
The full list of participating clubs: Korean Culture Club, Filipino Culture Society, Chinese Student Association, Japanese Student Association, Vietnamese Culture Club, Origami Club and Young English Language Learners Club.
