The No Place for Hate Committee held its second annual A Seat at the Table event for the WHS community on Dec. 5 in the library. The concept for the event originated back in 2022 through the NPFH Immigration and Allyship Subcommittee. The subcommittee wanted to create an event not only to celebrate diversity in the school, but also to foster an inclusive school environment for new students. They decided that the best way to achieve this was for students and staff to share their family immigration stories over food. Senior Sophia Basaldua, who helped plan and lead the event in 2023, said, “We were thinking, how do we get people to share stories? What is the one thing that a lot of people connect over? And food became the main thing [that we came up with].” Kimberly Leegan, a NPFH co-coordinator, noted the power of sharing food with others. “It’s a natural consequence when you get together and you share food together that you speak to each other and you have a conversation,” she said. With a grant from the Westfield Education Association, the event was catered by a variety of local restaurants in order to provide the cultural dishes for participants. When the event first debuted in 2023, Leegan said, “It was such a successful event that when we started our NPFH Committee again this year, that same group said, well obviously we want to do it again. We want to make this an annual thing.” Coming off this success, NPFH decided to expand the seating for this year’s event. However, more people showed up than initially anticipated and not everyone managed to literally get a seat at the table. Despite students bringing over additional chairs, the unexpected turnout left many students and staff members standing around the bookshelves. Junior Arden Rappoport, one of the heads of planning this year’s event, said, “Honestly, after the turnout of [the event], I think next year we might need to extend it to be in Cafeteria A.” Like last year, the highlight of the event was hearing everyone’s stories. Some students and staff had stories prepared, and others decided to go up and share during the event without preparing ahead of time. Basaldua explained, “Even if you have nothing planned, you’re welcome to share. Any story is worth listening to, especially during such a beautiful moment like that.” Sophomore Samar Hasan, who shared his family’s story, said, “Celebrating our diversity is definitely one of the things that helps prevent hate from winning. Sharing our stories helps make the world a better place.” Both Rappoport and Assistant Principal Jacqueline Spring, a NPFH co-coordinator, welcome all students. Spring said, “There is a place in NPFH to get involved to create this event for next year.”