By Angelina Taylor and Jasmine Reed

Staff Writers

Hammond’s diversity is one of its many valued traits and is greatly highlighted by the student body. Students at Hammond are very proud of their culture and go through great lengths to bring it to life at Hammond, especially through clubs. The Hispanic Heritage club is a safe space for the Hispanic community at Hammond and it’s been very successful during its years at Hammond. This year there are new student unions at Hammond brought to educate Hammond students about these specific cultures. The African Student Association is a student union for African students to connect and bring to light the many different African cultures represented in the student body. The ASA was founded in March of 2021 by senior Adriel Beckley therefore this year will be its first full school year as a club. “I started this club because I saw many other schools had an African Student Association and I wanted to create a space for African students in Hammond to connect.” -Senior Adriel Beckley.

Bringing the African culture alive is very important for Adriel and she hopes to find major success for her club throughout the school year. The sponsor, Mrs. Hijazi has made it possible for the ASA to have many successful events and meetings by supervision, organizing location of meetings and events  “I see the importance of our kids having this club to express their love and appreciation for this culture ” – Mrs. Hijazi  The ASA has had a very successful bake sale, and plans to use the money for upcoming events, one of them being their Christmas social, “to spread more awareness for the club”- Junior Kamira Aji. The ASA has had a lot of positive feedback from students. “I think it’s a great idea to have an African Student Association here at Hammond, it’s going to have a really positive impact on the school and the students” -Sophomore Charmaine Amoeteng. The ASA hopes to find lots of success as they strive to spread the many African cultures represented at Hammond.

The Asian Student Union is a new club founded this year, by Sophomore Mary-gil Sojo and Jenna Ha to create a safe environment for all students. “Our reason for creating ASU was to create a safe space for people. Not only Asians, but for everyone of all races, gender, and religion, our main focus is spreading Asian cultures and traditions throughout Hammond!” – Sophomore Mary-Gil Sojo. The spread of Asian culture is an essential part of this club and there will be many meetings and events to help educate others on Asian culture.  During meetings, there are games and snacks provided for the members as a fun way of helping teach the culture to students. “It’s a nice, fun and safe environment” – Sophomore Marcus Lee. ASU has some exciting events in store, such as korean barbeque club outings, lunar new year festivities, and more to help achieve this goal. By holding these events, it will spread the word of the ASU and cause more people to join and learn about the many different Asian cultures that Hammond students hold. The ASU has a lot of help from their sponsor Mrs. Jones, she supervises meetings and helps organize events, “I feel honored to be asked to  sponsor the club” – Mrs Jones.