With nine total acts, Maggie Walker’s first International Assembly, held on Friday, March 11, was extremely well-received and memorable for all involved. Over the course of three performances—two during the day for students and one in the evening for family and friends—the cheering in the crowd only grew louder and louder. The excitement was radiating in the audience as each act came out to perform. The International Assembly did a wonderful job of celebrating a range of cultures from around the world, and putting on an exciting show that both educated and entertained the audience as Maggie Walker students were able to share their talents and celebrate their diversity.

“There was a tradition called ‘Asian Assembly’ [a couple years ago], and there would be performances representing different cultures of Asia,” said Ms. Amanda Lemco, the event’s faculty sponsor, on how the idea for the International Assembly arose. Due to COVID-19, the Asian Assembly had not taken place for a few years, and during its final year, it had withered down, with only a single show after school. The idea for this year’s International Assembly began with three seniors, the Bhangra club captains, Evelyn Galgano, Sanjana Murugavel, and Ainsley McKay. Having performed in the Asian Assembly their freshman year, the three all held a similar desire to revive the assembly. “We just wanted to bring it back because of how much fun we had with it, and how special we knew it was to the students that had gone here before us,” said Galgano. McKay, similarly, added, “It was one of the coolest traditions that Maggie Walker had.” The three seniors, along with Lemco, took it upon themselves to give the Asian Assembly a revival, transforming it into the International Assembly. On the change from Asian Assembly to International Assembly, Murugavel said, “We also just thought we’d be more inclusive, making it an International Assembly instead of just Asian Assembly.”

When talking about the goals set during the process of creating the International Assembly, Lemco stated, “We wanted to be inclusive, and represent as many cultures as possible.” McKay added that her main goal was “getting it to be as big of an assembly as it used to be, during school again.” For Galgano, the main goal was “wanting everyone to like it.” She stated, “We wanted people to get excited, and we wanted people to get hype.” For everyone involved, all of these goals were absolutely met. From the nine different acts that portrayed diverse parts of world culture, to the constant positive feedback given to the performers and sponsors, the International Assembly was truly successful.

With nine acts in total, the audience was able to take in a variety of performances based on different cultures. Each act brought a beautiful and interesting aspect to the show, from a performance of Latin American music on the piano and saxophone, and a K-pop medley inspired by iconic acts in K-pop history by the MLWGS Dance Team, to a rendition of “Dancing Queen” signed by the ASL III class, and a truly memorable performance by Maggie Walker’s Bhangra club, effectively igniting the crowd in excitement and applause. Other performances included Kuchipudi, Irish dancing, Bharathanatyam, NBT, and Bollywood.Each act was very well-received by everyone in attendance of each show, and after the performances, students had peers coming up to them and complimenting their performance, as well as teachers appreciating the revival and success of Maggie Walker’s first ever International Assembly