Cars, Food, Music, and Culture Come Together in West Seattle for a Student-Organized Car Show

To celebrate the end of the school year and the start of summer break, Chief Sealth International High School's Automotive Association held its first-ever car show on June 14. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., students, alumni, community members, and local car clubs like Eazy Duz It and Team SRT from Washington and Alaska admired the array of tuned-up cars inside the parking lot of the high school.

The car clubs brought their decked-out vehicles like Chevy Impalas from the 1960s and 1970s to Dodge SRT Hellcats that rumbled the ground when their engines fired up.

"I know a lot of people at my school that are into cars, but there wasn't a place for us to come together. So, that was my opportunity to create a space where people who love cars can all collectively talk about our automotives. It builds culture and community," said Richie Nguyen, the student president of the Automotive Association.

In addition to cars, students had invited vendors and organizations to table, like Mari Matcha, Port of Seattle, Asian Pacific Islander Coalition Advocating Together for Health (APICAT), and Sap Sap Lao Deli & Cafe. The school's very own Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/Latino de Azlan club (MechLA) served up spicy and sweet chamoy gushers, different flavors of agua de fresca like jamaica (hibiscus), and chicharron to the crowd. There were also musical performances from the Chief Sealth marching band, jazz trio, rock band Opus, and Star dance group.

"My goal is to connect communities together," Nguyen said. "So this isn't just focusing on the cars, but it's a place for people of different backgrounds to come together and geek out over car culture, food, good music, and just vibing."

Jonah Klump, vice president of the Automotive Association, felt the same way. "I've always loved cars since I was really young. I was really excited to see the community that would come to support us. Our community is being brought closer together. I see so many people here that wouldn't normally interact with each other, all hanging out."

Madeleine Woodard, a Chief Sealth alum and current multilingual coteacher there, attended to support her students and was just as impressed by the reach of the car show. "Events like this show that we can come together. We can do amazing things that are exciting, fun, and beautiful."

In the face of uncertainty for immigrant communities, the show brought together Khmer, Vietnamese, Lao, Latinx, and Black community members of all ages to share a celebrated love of car culture, connection, and a moment of respite.