The culmination of much coordination and hard work, this year’s Open House event at Diamond Bar High School brought much enjoyment to the teachers, parents and students who participated. Having prepared for Open House as early as last year, those involved in the preparation of the various activities intended to make Jan. 25 a night to remember. Among other things, guests visited different language projects, class walkthroughs and club demonstrations.
At 6:30 PM, visitors were greeted in the amphitheater by United Student Body student leaders, school mascots and faculty members. The DBHS Administration Team hosted demonstrations simulating their regular student activities as food trucks stood by.
“The whole vision for Open House was to create an environment that showcased our Brahma pride and hospitality,” organizer Nicolle Flores said. “This was all meant to demonstrate to our school community how much we love our school. It was great to see our community on campus learning about DBHS and enjoying themselves.”
At the front gates, Diamond Bar High’s Team Sprocket 3473 hosted a strong demonstration of their regular club activities, showcasing their bulky robot and other technological skills. Kids and parents were allowed to control the robot’s extensions using a remote control to toss a large ball into a bucket.
Guests were led through the school’s most recent achievements in full, including their status as a National Blue Ribbon School and their success in Mock Trial, Math Madness and band competitions. Parents of incoming DBHS students were also interested in hearing about Advanced Placement classes, International Baccalaureate and the new addition of the culinary science and recording engineering classes.
When the rest of campus opened its classroom doors to students and parents at 7 PM, the night became more heated. The Chinese, Korean and Spanish language departments had prepared for a collaborative event occupying the whole of the 300s buildings, where the students banded together to put on a dazzling performance.
Language students were led by Spanish teachers Sergio Navarro, Nancy Najera, Magali Rosas, Rosa Romero, Charlotte Sorensen and Brenda Zavala; Chinese teachers Jared Wu, Janet Lu and Anastasia Wolf; and Korean teacher Amelia Lee. On stage, they sang the popular Disney song “It’s a Small World” in their respective foreign languages, eventually attracting a large crowd to liven up the atmosphere. After the concert was over, teachers led students and parents into their classrooms to play cultural games native to world countries and to discuss the regular activities of the classroom.
“Hundreds of kids performed the song and the parents seemed to really enjoy it. Many people were recording, taking photos and singing along,” Navarro said. “Every year, World Language puts together multiple, or in this case, a single common performance. We feel that singing and dancing is the best way to share our culture with the public.”
At the amphitheater, the French language department, led by teachers Anthony Tietz and Caroline Ayme-Johnson, displayed an original movie directed and filmed completely by students in the French program as a sequel to their original musical last year. La Roi de Baguette’s production was assisted by San Gabriel Valley Regional Occupational Program, Printed Works Club, Pathways Academy, DBHS Recording Program and Brahma Cinematics.
“It was astounding to see the amount of ingenuity, creativity, skill and passion that was poured into the project. The French students always bring 100% to every event, so I feel fantastic about their engagement and interactions,” Tietz said. “They even brought a baguette king on a palanquin to the event while chanting his name feverishly.”
While much of Open House was utilized as a time to showcase achievements from the past semester, many students attended because of academic incentive in the form of extra credit.
In particular, the math teachers organized several major Kahoot sessions to offer every math student at DBHS an opportunity to raise their grades. They introduced a competitive element as well, directing the sessions divided by class difficulty into an academic battle between math periods.
Seeing such success in this year’s Open House event, student departments are already planning to dazzle DBHS visitors next January. The entertainment, academic opportunities and celebratory mood associated with this after-school thrill leave many students anticipating next year’s Open House.