Last Friday, students and teachers gathered on the Green during lunch to celebrate M-A’s first “Corn Day”. In this lively event, students took a break from their stress-filled week to eat corn-centric foods and play corn-themed games.
Along the perimeter of the Green, vendors sold a wide assortment of corn-based foods, including corn dogs, corn on the cob, popcorn, and cornbread. The Leadership committee, which hosted the event, also put out cornholes and bean bags for entertainment.
Freshman Josie Weiss, a Leadership student, said, “The year is wrapping up, and we wanted to have a special occasion to make people excited. Especially because everyone is stressed right now with finals and AP tests, we wanted to make delicious food accessible so everyone could relax and enjoy the time.”
Students and teachers came out in spirit and rocked their farmer attire. Everywhere you turned, you were bound to see a tan cowboy hat or colorful plaid flannel. Freshman Kealy Bryman remarked, “I think it’s really cool that people can dress up together and have fun. There’s not usually this many people on the Green, so that’s nice as well.”
“It looks like everyone is having fun. I’m seeing a lot of people dressed up, which is really nice,” said biology teacher Mark Helfenberger.
Western country and traditional Latin music played jauntily in the background. Sophomore Tula Basta, who helped DJ, explained, “We compiled a list of songs that we thought were on theme with a western, corn-y type of music. We also mixed in Latinx-based songs to make sure that we are incorporating aspects of their culture as well.”
Sophomore Kaitlyn Harding, who helped organize the event, said, “It was just a funny idea when we were brainstorming at the start of the quarter, but it transformed into this big event.”
“This is our first time doing this, but I definitely think that it should become an annual thing just because it’s so fun. It’s a whimsical event,” Harding continued.
Sophomore Zoe Fong, another student in Leadership, said, “I just hope that everyone has a really good time at this event, especially since we’ve never done this before. I’m hoping that the reception is good enough that we can continue it for years into the future.”
Latinos Unidos of M-A (LUMA) also sold Latinx foods like tamales and esquites. Tamales are a traditional Mexican dish made with corn dough wrapped in a corn husk, and esquites are a cup of corn kernels slathered with mayo, cheese, and hot sauce. “Both tamales and esquites are really important foods to our culture. We wanted to share our love with these foods with everyone else,” said senior Kimberly Becerra, who helped sell these dishes.
They also sold horchatas and agua de fresa, which are sweet and creamy traditional drinks with roots in Latin America. Junior Nat Barman said, “The horchatas are really refreshing. They have a nice, sweet flavor, but still have that additional spicy kick.”
Junior Stephanie Gomez-Martinez, a representative of LUMA, said, “We are selling here today because we wanted to introduce more people to our Hispanic culture.”
LUMA also hosted a Sabor Latino event that day after school, filled with fun performances, like Baile Folkorico, cultural food, and fun activities— including riding a mechanical bull.
Corn Day was a gateway for social and cultural mingling. Barman commented, “I think that Corn Day helps us come together as a community. There’s a lot of different cultures here selling their own corn-themed food, which is nice. Plus, the games they brought out, like cornhole, bring people together in a fun way.”
Barman continued, “Nonetheless, I think it’d be cool to see more countries and cultures with their own corn-themed food and activities. It would make this day a whole lot better.”
Still, Corn Day was a joyous success, filled with students dancing along to the lively music, devouring corndogs and tamales, and competing fiercely at cornhole.
Have an a-maize-ing day, Bears!
