Day of diversity: ‘Bridge Builders’ celebrate cultural exchange

WASILLA — With the fastest growing population in the state, Mat-Su Borough School District and city officials have decided it’s high time the Valley had a group to truly celebrate diversity.

“Everybody in this room came from somewhere,” said Wasilla Mayor Bert Cottle to hundreds of students, teachers, parents and community members at the “World Flavors” potluck at Mat-Su Career and Technical High School on Saturday.

Supported by the Anchorage Bridge Builders, which president Lourdes Crawford said has existed for 20 years, the potluck was sponsored by the new Mat-Su chapter of the organization in partnership with the Mat-Su Borough School District.

Crawford said she expects to see the Mat-Su chapter further the Anchorage group’s same mission and goals:

“To build friendship among racial and cultural groups,” she said.

Palmer Job Corps student and North Pole High School graduate Jazlyn Anderson-Rice, who was dressed to perform a Filipino dance, compared the potluck to the Native American “pow wow” held in Fairbanks every June.

“Everyone comes out no matter what you are,” she said.

Her friend and classmate, Sharon Ellana — originally from Nome — said it’s important for people to stay connected to their cultures and “don’t be afraid to jump in and learn” about others.

Graduating Career Tech senior Peyton Murphy said that’s no problem for her. As a former exchange student in Japan, she said she came to the potluck for further cultural exploration.

Murphy said she also hoped to encourage students from other countries who may be reluctant to open up about their heritage in Alaska’s schools.

Annie Angaiak, a home-schooled junior from Wasilla who’s originally from Naknek, said she’s seen that reluctance manifest.

“Some young people might be ashamed of who they are but it’s important for them to be proud,” she said.

Angaiak herself, though dressed in traditional Alaska Native attire for a Yupik dance, also has Croatian and Italian heritage that she hopes to learn more about in a trip to Europe at the end of the summer.

First Lady Donna Walker said she and her husband would like to see all Wasilla, Mat-Su and Alaska residents invest in not only their own individual heritage, but to come to understand and appreciate that of others as well.

“Our goal is to continue to grow that across the state so that we can truly become a community of friends and show the world how to be the first city and the first state without prejudice,” she said.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.