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It�s a snapshot of American suburban high school life that we�ve become familiar with, the kind of stuff immortalized in American Graffiti and John Hughes� films.
But take a closer look. The two giddy girls are not Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy. One, with her wide eyes and her olive skin is clearly of Indian descent while the other, by her pale complexion and the way she accentuates her appears to be Eastern European. The gaggle of puffing and strutting males, a common enough occurrence in any refuge of teenagedom, stands out here in the heterogeneous representation of the participants, a sort of Locker Room United Nations.
Niles Township High School District 219, which contains Skokie�s two public high schools West and Niles North, is one of the most diverse districts in the state. According to the Illinois State Board of Education�s 2001 Illinois School Report Card, of District 219�s over 4,500 students, 60 percent are white, 3 percent are black, 6 percent are Hispanic and 31 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander. The Report Card does not break down demographics any further, but if the surrounding community is any indication � and as a macrocosm of the school it certainly should be � each of these classifications contain dozens of cultural and ethnic subcategories.
Superintendent Neil Codell knows that his district is a special place. He said that the multiculturalism prevalent in both Skokie high schools is a source of pride to the students, the faculty and the community.
�The United Nations would do well to copy our model of how kids get along,� Codell said. �It�s a sweet place. Both schools are absolutely wonderful in how they promote harmony and respect diversity. It�s very natural too, how it�s done.�
Codell said that the schools work hard to balance a student�s assimilation into the mainstream with their need to preserve their own cultural identity. He said both schools have various student-run clubs catering to diversity, and are open to all students regardless of ethnic identity.
Of course, when it comes down to it, students recognize it is up to themselves to decide how they will interact with their peers. Ninos Oshana, a senior at Niles North, says that he became disillusioned with the reclusive Assyrian community at his school and decided to open himself to other students.
�It wasn�t that easy at first,� Oshana said. �A lot of Assyrians aren�t that positively looked at; they are the group that struggles. A lot of them mean well, but they have a tough time at school. I decided to take a different path. I got involved with athletics and other clubs. I wanted to separate myself from that culture.�
Oshana said that he found his participation on the football team to be one of the most rewarding activities of his high school career. He said his team was composed of a melting pot of cultures but that there was never any tension because the obstacle of football trumped all other issues.
�Our coach used to joke that we have most diverse defense in all of the country,� Oshana said. �We had an Afghani kid, a black kid, a Jewish kid, I�m Assyrian. It was good because we had to work together. When you are on a football team, the last thing you are concerned about is race.
John Reeder, another North senior says that assimilation is not an issue, that it�s not even on the average student�s radar.
�It�s not a big thing, it�s really not a barrier between people making friends,� Reeder said. �Everyone likes each other. Obviously the Russian kids are going to hang out with the other Russians and speak Russian, and the Chinese with the Chinese and so on. But everyone still interacts. They don�t separate themselves from everyone else.�
