The American education system has been dominated by Spanish classes and activities forever. So, when the Arabic program came to fruition at Oak Lawn Community High School, it became an instant hit.
In 2024, the superintendent of Illinois, Tony Sanders, visited OLCHS to witness the flourishing Arabic program, which has developed significantly since then.
On January 17, 2025, the Yemeni Culture Night was hosted by Arabic 3 Honors and Arabic Honor Society and organized by Mrs. Marwa Elmasry. Mrs. Elmasry, who is the only current Arabic teacher at OLCHS, highlighted that the event was a “team effort” in which more than thirty students volunteered to help bring this idea to fruition. Currently, OLCHS has a steady Yemeni population. However, the Yemeni population is still scarce, marking Yemenis as a minority.
Due to this, many of the students who volunteered had to take on two responsibilities: performing dances, poems, and speeches and also learning about Yemeni culture.
These responsibilities made Yemeni Culture Night all the more beautiful. Previously unknown to many, they celebration brought the culture to light at Oak Lawn Community High School.
Once Safa Yasin, Jood Awwad, and Tarik Shehada welcomed the guests to the event, they were led into the Performing Arts Center for the opening remarks.
Mr. Wargin, the assistant principal and head of extracurricular activities, made the welcoming remarks. Mrs. Elmasry, the event supervisor, then made the opening remarks and introduced the students who helped make this event happen.
To start the night, Students in Arabic 3 Honors presented a slide overview of Yemen. These students were Juniors Nasser Saleh, Sarah Alsheikh, Rayyan Atieh, Mohammad Badr, Yunis Saleh, Sujood Abukhroub, Sarah Al-Qazaq, and Senior Elena Emleh.
This slide served as an educational foundation of Yemen and was extremely important as the must-know information before the other slides and activities were introduced.
Sujood Abukhroub, co-president of the Arabic Honor Society, presented two slides about Yemen. The first slide, presented alongside Elena Emleh, went in depth about the languages in Yemen. In this slide, the attendees learned that Yemen was the first Middle Eastern country to be created.
The second slide Abukhroub presented was alongside Nasser Saleh. In this slide, The attendees learned about the customs and traditions of Yemen. One strong tradition of Yemen involves a traditional dance, where Abukhroub highlighted, “girls wear beautiful dresses” and perform a dance routine.
The next presentation featured a poem by junior Mohamed Badr titled “My Town is My Home,” which was a beautiful poem about Yemen’s history. Badr spoke a particular line that stood out to Sarah Alsheikh: “Yemen stays at peace even where there are obstacles.” This highlighted Yemen’s struggle yet its endless endurance.
After the beautiful poem was an equally beautiful song sung by Sarah Alsheikh. The song, “sing sing,” was a Sanaani-style song, calm and poetic, sung in lahji singing. It was originally written by Yemeni singer Ammar Azuki and was a harmony to Ramadan’s positive and spiritual vibes.
An interactive experience took place following the presentations, with six activities open to the attendees. Four ushers, juniors Jayda Shouman, Meera Shreiteh, Hajir Abu-Khadeeja, and senior Aassma Yassin, led the way in this experience.
These interactive experiences were the highlight of the day. Juniors Mohamed Badr and Sarah Alsheikh led the History of Yemen Station. In this station, Badr spoke of the beautiful islands in Yemen and their “rare beauty.”
Juniors Nasser Saleh and Sujood Abukhroub led the Yemen Customs and Traditions station. Although not Yemeni, Abukhroub stated that she felt “inspired by the Yemeni culture,” and this inspiration drove her when presenting this booth.
Juniors Amena Akili, Yunis Saleh, Sarah Al-Qazaq, and Senior Elena Emleh led the Yemeni Cities: Sanaa & Hadramout booth. Juniors Rayyan Atieh, Miraim Abdelrahim, and Hesham Alsawalhah led the Yemeni Cities: Aden and Socotra booth.
Junior Rory Ali, senior Omar Ali, Sophomore Yusef Abdallah, Junior Abraham Shariff, and Sophomore Mohammad Khaddash led the Dress Like a Yemeni Photo Booth and map of Yemen. In this station, participants had the opportunity to take a Polaroid picture while wearing Yemeni clothing provided by the booth.
Mya Williams was photographed at this station and described her experience as “putting yourself in someone else’s clothes,” a reference to putting oneself in someone else’s place to show empathy.
Finally, juniors Sarah Elamin and Rawan Sharfi led the extremely popular Henna and face-painting booths, where Fardos Saleh, a Yemeni sixth grader at Simmons, and Yosra Saleh, an eighth grader there as well, both got their faces painted.
Rawan Sharfi, of Sudani descent, is excited about next year’s Sudani culture night. Sharfi stated, “I feel thrilled because there’s a war going on, and it’ll be a good way to represent and spread awareness of what is happening.”
Sharfi continued to speak about Yemeni culture night, highlighting how she is “excited because this gives a chance to recognize other cultures that are not really known about.” Sharfi felt that Yemen was being recognized for the beauty that many didn’t know it had.
To engage the attendees, Nasser Saleh and Adam Qurt hosted a Kahoot game to test their knowledge. Then, assistant principal Mr. Wargin presented the prizes.
Before the day’s last event, Mohamed Badr presented a poem titled “Peace from Yafaa” in the Yemeni dialect. Badr, who had presented a poem about Yemen earlier in the day, presented this poem about himself. Badr, being of Yemeni descent, had brought Shay Adani for the guests. Shay Adani, which is a mix of tea and Almarai milk, was an instant hit, with many guests complimenting its “casual sweetness.”
Badr highlighted, “I was very tired from working this event. But so was everyone else, Yemeni or not.” Badr humbly stated, “Everyone worked together to make this come true.” This statement was proven true by the number of volunteers at the event.
In the final act of Yemeni Culture Night, Rory Ali, Aubrey Mathias, Sujood Abukhroub, and Elena Emleh performed a traditional Yemeni dance, which August Jerger described as “a heartwarming symbol of dedication” to learning the Yemeni culture for this event.
The four girls, although not of Yemeni descent, learned the dance to highlight an important aspect of the Yemeni Culture and make their classmates proud.
Senior Omar Ali, President of the Muslim Student Association and a part of the Photo Booth, and fashion show is no stranger to the culture being showcased.
Ali, who is Egyptian, stated, “The Yemeni Culture Night was an exclusive event that allowed us to learn more about the Yemeni culture and engulf ourselves in the arts and the culture of the Yemeni people.” Ali, fond of learning about different cultures, was very fond of the representation shown to Yemeni people, having felt that this recognition was crucial.
Mrs. Elmasry, the organizer of the Yemeni Culture Night, stated, “There are 22 Arabic-speaking countries, and I plan to highlight every single one.”
Mrs. Elmasry had previously helped celebrate Palestinian culture on a similar night and plans to celebrate Sudan culture next. She humbly spoke, “This is a diverse group of students working in harmony. It shows us we can be one loving family.”
Standing tall with a diverse and respective population, Oak Lawn Community High School continues to expand its creativity and success.
