Student members of the Korean American Parents Association (KAPA) danced to popular Korean songs, participated in several musical ensembles and presented a taekwondo demonstration to showcase various aspects of Korean culture to the school administration at the Oxford Plaza Hotel on Oct. 28.

James Chung ’19, who acted as the liaison between the parent body and the students, said that this year KAPA tried to make more of an effort to encourage students to participate.

“Last year, the parents organized the event, and it turned out well,” Chung said. “This year, though, we had kids decide what they wanted to do, and we’ve started a trend of having students be more involved in KAPA and determining their acts.”

A month before the event, students began planning their musical routines. Lyon Chung ’21, as well as several other sophomores and middle schoolers, decided to dance to Korean band Got7’s hit song, “Just Right.”

“Collectively, we practiced [“Just Right”] for ten hours, as a team,” Chung said. “Each team prepared separately and worked really hard.”

A group of KAPA members also participated in a taekwondo demonstration in order to showcase the martial arts aspect of Korean culture. Ian Han ’21 said that the performance required intensive preparation and training beforehand.

“We practiced the forms and the different movements a month and a half before and tried to coordinate them with the music,” Han said. “We also practiced techniques to break wood boards by kicking.”

KAPA members said they enjoyed the event, whose purpose was to celebrate Korean culture and the arrival of new students to the organization.

“I think the event welcomes new students and families to the Korean-American community, and it strengthens the bonds of existing members,” Chung said.