Tukwila students and their principal said they were excited to share their personal stories with conference attendees. From left: Amina Ali, Foster High Principal Jim Boyce, Songul Izzatova, Kevin Lim;, Michelle Tran, Carlos Vega, Donna Enguerra and Michael Fertakis.
Photo by Rachel M. Lusby
Possibly the most diverse senior class in America will graduate on Friday, June 11, at 7 p.m., in Tukwila's Werner Neudorf Stadium.
The Foster High School Class of 2010 attended the most diverse school district in the nation, according to the New York Times. This class, of 173 students, comes from 36 different countries, and they speak over 30 languages.
This class, as a whole, has many accomplishments, and made huge contributions to their community.
Seniors in the Advanced Placement Literature class competed to have President Obama speak at their commencement ceremony. They produced a video that depicts the ethnicity of the senior class and sent it to the president.
Foster Senior Adrian Quichochoa, along with several other students, created a video on the 2010 Census. They felt that this was an extremely important project that merited the time spent to inform Foster students, and the Tukwila community, how critical this information is for future funding of education.
Quichochoa joined State Rep. Zack Hudgins in producing a video and shared it with the community.
E.P.I.C. (Educating the Pacific Islander Community) is a club created and led by seniors at Foster High School. Through music, dance, and history, they teach themselves and others about their heritage. The primary purpose of E.P.I.C. is to support students in their quest for education after high school.
After the tsunami hit the Samoan Islands in September 2009, the students joined together to process their grief and to find a way to send support to the ones they love.
What came from their grief and shock is the song, "Our Pacific"-- lyrics and music written by the students. Their song-- a message of strength and unity -- brought them closer together and provided them an avenue to raise money for the victims of the tragedy.
The students sold their professionally recorded CD and raised over $1,100 to send to the Samoan islands for Tsunami relief. They also performed their song at a music benefit concert at the Moore Theatre. "No matter what type of Islander -- Tongan, Samoan, Chamorro, or Fijian - -we are all united." This is their message.
