Every year the student body highly anticipates CIA Day, and this year was no exception. From lecture-based to hands-on learning activities, students eagerly participated in various workshops led by various affinity groups. Activities included creating a timeline of LGBTQ+ history, playing a Jeopardy game of Asian-Americans in pop culture, and watching a presentation debunking stereotypes of women’s rights in the Middle East, among many others.

A new addition to CIA Day this year was an assembly in the gym. However, this was no ordinary assembly, as it required students to directly participate by moving around the gym. During the first half of the assembly, students sat on the gym floor, while the UNITY heads presented questions about the community’s experiences—whether their names were commonly mispronounced, whether they felt like they were the only person in their respective minorities in some of, if not all of, their classes, and whether they were often confused for someone of a different gender. Students stood up if they had experienced what the heads asked about. The second half of the assembly consisted of this-or-that style questions in which students walked to the side of the gym that corresponded to their opinion on the matter. 

CIA Day coordinator Leah Greene is pleased with the execution of this new addition to CIA Day, stating, “I definitely think I feel satisfied, especially hearing the kind of talk after the assembly—it helped people feel like they were not alone.” Her favorite part of the assembly was the first question of the this-or-that activity, which asked students whether they preferred growth or security. She expresses, “It was really interesting to see some people’s opinions vs other people’s. People always interpret the question differently; I also think that shows how diverse our school is.”

When asked what could be improved on for next year’s CIA Day, Leah communicated, “I definitely feel like we could have done a better job making more announcements and making them more fun,” for instance doing “more positive marketing, and more hyping it up.” In addition, Leah proclaims “we wish CIA day could be a week long instead of two  days. If we could have done activities for a week, we could have had the affinities expand on their topics and allow students to do more interactive and lecture-based learning.”

In conclusion, CIA Day accomplished its goal of creatively educating students on topics they do not usually learn in the classroom, whether through lectures or through interactive activities. Hopefully students will  apply their new-found knowledge outside of the classroom and in their future careers.