Prefect Council hosts Spring Market event

By Everett Lakey

Prefect Council held the Spring Market, where students sold homemade food and goods, on the Quad on May 11. The market consisted of 14 tables for students to purchase items using Venmo and cash.

Natasha Clement ’24, who sold jewelry at the market, said she enjoyed sharing her crafts with the community.

“I sold handmade resin jewelry, and each piece had handpressed flowers inside, all of them real,” Clement said. “I think there were fewer people at the spring market than the winter market, which had its own pros and cons, but I did sell a couple of things and it was also nice getting to display all the pieces that I make. I [also] always have fun just seeing what everyone else has created.”

Bianca Calvillo ’23 said she decided to sell portraits instead of the crocheted hats she sold at the Winter Market.

“At the winter market, I sold crochet hats, and when the spring market was announced, I knew I wanted to sell something again,” Calvillo said. “Because I didn’t have as much time on my hands as I did last time, I planed to sell $1 portraits that I drew live with crayons. Since the portraits were going to be drawn at lunch and at break, I decided to make them more cartoonish and realistic because of time limitations.”

Calvillo, who sold over 10 portraits, said she greatly appreciated her peers’ enthusiasm about her art, and that the fair gave her a special opportunity to interact with members of the community.

“Even though it might not seem like a lot, I enjoyed being able to bring a smile to my peers’ faces when they saw themselves as a cartoon,” Calvillo said. “I would say that half of my customers were my friends and others were people I hadn’t really talked to before.”

Kogi is specifically Korean American, and also mixing a little bit Mexican American. We’re trying not to not be too homogenous with the identities that we’re trying to represent.”

Ho said proceeds earned by ASiA from the Multicultural Fair will be donated to charity.

“All the money from the bunnies and the food truck is going to the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum,” Ho said. “The organization is particularly seeking to improve the mental health of Asian communities.”

JFA leader Charlotte Newman ’24 said she was glad community members were interested in cultural heritage.

“I really liked it when people asked what the food was called, or asked what holiday that we were getting ready to celebrate, it made me really excited to share about the culture,” Newman said. “The point of SLIDE [Student Leaders for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity] events is for people to learn about other cultures and their community members. So I was really excited that people were interested in learning [about cultures].”

Newman said along with sharing Jewish food, her club celebrated Shavuot, a Jewish holiday that starts in May.

“Shavuot is a celebration and it’s in May,” Newman said. “Traditionally, it’s a celebration of the first harvest of summer, and the gift of the Torah, from God to the Jewish people. It was exciting to be able to celebrate this at the Multicultural Fair, because at Jewish Club, we typically are a bit more cultural than religious.”

“To have new Co-Chairs each year is a challenge, but a reality,” Limerick said. “It’s the natural cycle of high school leadership [as] students move on to bigger and better things. Each year there is a fresh dynamic [and] a new diverse group of incredibly motivated and visionary students, who set out to make change together. Even though they may be new to the SLIDE Co-Chair role, each student is selected because of their previous DEI-focused leadership experiences and thus [each student] is ready to take on the elevated responsibility.”

Limerick said she wants SLIDE to play a more public and active role in organizing events within the school community.

“Next year, a goal I have is for SLIDE to be more well-known within our school community,” Limerick said. “Often, SLIDE makes things happen behind the scenes — planning a diverse and engaging WinterFest this year for instance — but I hope our public presence becomes more felt next year, and for SLIDE Co-Chairs to be widely known by their peers as positive changemakers.”