By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

MARIANAS High School on Friday celebrated its 30th Cultural Day with the theme “Cultural Education Through Diversity.”
The event was highlighted by an utt-building competition and various cultural demonstrations. Members of the public were among those on campus to show their appreciation for the students’ resourcefulness and creativity.
According to teacher Cherlyn Cabrera, overall chairwoman of the event, “this celebration not only provides us an opportunity to entertain people, but it also gives us chance to be creative and raise funds at the same time.”
The celebration kicked off with a parade of cultures in which students wore various national costumes.
The freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes competed in fundraising competitions.
“The class that gets the most points, both in the utt-building contest and the presentations, will be awarded trophies at the end of the school year,” Cabrera said.
Guests bought food and other items offered by the students at their utts.
“Every booth was built using only natural materials,” senior student Keish Paez told Variety, “and we’re very proud that we made our utt without using any nails.
She added, “What makes our utt unique is that no matter how the wind blows it will stay firm because we chose the right wood and covered the roof to make it strong.”
Their utt displayed orchids.
“We want every corner of this utt to be alive with flowers that can provide a warm welcome to everyone,” she said.
Paez said joining the contest was important because “it is through building the utt that we learn how to make houses.”
Freshman student Josephine Ada said building the booth was exciting and fun.
“We learned to cooperate and work together for a common goal which is to get the most points,” she said.
Ada’s group used coconut leaves for their utt’s roof and tangan-tangan sticks for its foundation.
Junior students Dora Ada and Brian Salas said besides getting the best kind of wood for their utt, they also used various kinds of flowers and fruit for decoration.
“It’s nice to have flowers and fruit here — they make our entry more unique and beautiful I guess,” Ada said.
This year, MHS also staged a singing competition among students.
“We have five contestants and it’s really fun to see them singing. This is a first for cultural day,” Cabrera said.