On Monday night, April 24, Asian Pacific Americans Student Services hosted a ceremony recognizing Asian students for their academics, attendance, fine arts, and sports. The program took place at the Catalina High School Auditorium, and the awards were given to students of various schools throughout the district, including middle schools. Sahuaro had one of the highest number of students honored.

The program began around 6 p.m., starting with a Tae Kwon Do (a form of martial arts) presentation. The performance was intended to reflect the hard work of the students’ hard work, as Tae Kwon Do requires a lot of discipline. After they had finished their presentation, 2 seniors from Catalina High performed a dance of a traditional Nepali song, called Siraima Sirbandi. Originally, the dance was supposed to be before the Tae Kwon Do presentation, but due to technical difficulties with the sound system, they had to push it until after.

Once the opening performances had been completed, students began to be called. Starting with middle schools, and then going on to high schools, almost a hundred students were called out for their achievements. Junior Tina Le said that “Going on stage was almost like a routine for me.” She continues on to say however that “it encourages her to do more, to do her best.”

However, many more people were supposed to be recognized, but weren’t able to attend. From Sahuaro, only seven people attended, but 30 people were invited. There were various reasons for not being able to attend, such as other commitments. Mekayla Phan, a senior, says, “I was apologetically preoccupied with a lot of school work that I was unable to attend. However, I am very honored to receive the award.” She agrees that the award was important, as “Asian-Americans need more recognition in our community.”

Congrats to all who were awarded!