Club presidents met in the staff lounge on Wednesday, March 7th to discuss the new framework of International Week. Mr. Fraser was present to head the effort to get clubs excited to attend the event and to organize the specifics.
The long standing lunch time tradition is experiencing a major change. The three day long club fundraiser is now being changed to a week-long school celebration from April 23rd to April 27th, complete with dress up days, entertainment, a possible assembly and on the final night, a carnival-style club fundraiser.
“International week isn’t chopped. We’re just using different ingredients,” quipped Mr. Fraser at the most recent ICC meeting.
Fraser and the ASB activities commissioners, Ayah Bany-Mohamed and Kathy Dang, have been working together to come up with an alternative for the old International week. The foundations of the new plan were announced at the meeting.
The plan is for clubs to sell and provide a range of activities, foods, and entertainment. Music, dancing, and other performances were suggested as entertainment to accompany each clubs unique booth. The night is planned to be centered around the bowl, addressing concerns some clubs had about merchant space back in October during the Halloween Club Carnival.
The carnival-type night will be void of the strict regulations customarily enforced during lunch time; however, there will still be some regulations that clubs will have to adhere to based on district and school rules. Supervision will be hired for the night, and Fraser informed clubs that an adviser will be needed.
As of right now, club presidents are preparing their ideas to be finalized at the end of the month in another ICC meeting set for Wednesday March 21st.
When Fraser asked those present if they were interested in participating, he received a large majority of the hands. Almost all of the clubs pledged at least for now to be present at the fund-raising night and to help with the promoting and organizing of the event. However, many club presidents still had questions about the plans.
“It’s risky, I don’t know what to buy for just that one night.” Joy Chen, president of KIWIN’S, commented, “but I personally like the new idea.”
Fraser stressed that while the new International Week would have more emphasis on culture, the fundraising efforts of the clubs would still be the focus. Fraser addressed fundraising at the meeting, telling the clubs, “When I fund-raise, I work in thousands.”
How might Fountain Valley Clubs achieve such success? The key to the fund-raising effort will be the amount of people attending the “Baron Carnival” on the final night Friday, April 27th.
Fraser offered advertising ideas such as passing out fliers and having all Fountain Valley School District schools notified. Clubs will also be responsible for letting the date be known to other high schools and the F.V. community.
Fraser also pledged to go to all the local media sources in Fountain Valley. In hopes of rallying the community for support of the event, Fraser is branching out to Fountain Valley mayor John Collins, as well as the city council.
“Whatever we have to do to make this happen, we will make it happen.” There is still a lot of work to be done before a more finalized International Week takes shape, but the groundwork has been laid.
It’s KIWIN’S. Just saying.