The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
DIVERSITY DAY
Torrington High School students celebrate their differences with music, dance
TORRINGTON » Students and faculty lined the walls of the Torrington High School gymnasium Thursday morning as junior Audrey Todd stepped to a microphone and began to sing.
The music behind her faltered and cut off. Thrown, she paused for a moment.
“I was like ‘oh boy,’” said Todd, recounting the moment later in the day. “I didn’t know what to do.”
A series of lights began to appear in the bleachers, as students illuminated the flashlights on their phones and began to sway, in a modern iteration of the long-standing concert tradition.
“It was amazing,” said Todd of the lights. “It was like a big thing of support, and it made my
nerves go away.”
She began to sing again — as she was trained to do, she said — and completed her performance a cappella, buoyed by the support of her peers.
It was that kind of occasion at Torrington High School Thursday, as students came together to celebrate the multicultural heritage of the student body with the annual “Diversity Day” assembly. The event was the 17th annual Diversity Day celebration, according to Armando Zarazu, a world language teacher at the high school.
The annual assembly is a venture from the multicultural diversity club, which incorporates students from all kinds of backgrounds.
“Everybody’s cut from the same cloth,” said Zarasu.
On Thursday, Zarazu said, 12 young people were expected to perform as part of the event. He hoped students would take away a message about their common humanity.
“We work together,” said Zarazu. “We’re Americans, although we have different backgrounds.”
For Todd, the chance to celebrate the school’s diversity was a pleasure.
“I love the diversity, because it shows the idea that everyone’s equal and everyone has a place in this country,” she said.