By Josie Collier
Executive Features Editor
The MBX Foundation funded Mira Costa Link Crew’s second annual Costachella during A.M. and P.M. office hours on April 10 in the Mustang Mall.
Costachella is a school-wide event with the goal of raising school morale, junior Link Leader Lemony David said. Mental health awareness was a prominent focus of the event this year, and Costachella partnered with Mental Health Awareness Week to emphasize the importance of social and emotional wellness at Costa.
“It was wonderful to partner with such an important cause,” Link Crew adviser Maddie Hutchinson said. “I’m glad that so many resources were available for students to explore and to learn from and take to utilize in any way that they feel is necessary.”
Local South Bay organizations, including the Children’s Health Center, the Beach Cities Health District and Freedom4U, set up booths in the Mustang Mall. Costa students also set up a booth in order to raise awareness about sexual assault and the upcoming Denim Day on April 24, when students are encouraged to wear jeans to stand with victims of sexual assault.
“My favorite booth was the one about families understanding and supporting their LGBTQ+ children,” junior Link Leader Ginger Mcguinness said. “I just think that it is really needed at Costa so it was nice to see a booth like that.”
Costachella featured music from student bands, including Business Casual, Rat Band and Melochromatic. Business Casual and Rat Band played during A.M. office hours while Melochromatic played during P.M. office hours. Student DJ Cole Ficklin also played during lunch and at the end of P.M. office hours.
“Performing at Costachella was amazing,” Rat Band member and junior Dexter Brown said. “My favorite part was our last song when everyone was cheering. It was so rewarding and exciting.”
Costachella also had a dream wall where students could anonymously respond to prompts, such as “I don’t feel embarrassed when,” “If I could not fail I would” and “I’m inspired when.” There was also a separate wall that had a “Teacher shout-out” prompt, which allowed studentsto write something positive about one of their teachers.
“My favorite thing [was] the dream wall because you can see people’s certain opinions about things, and some are funny and others are relatable,” David said. “It shows the kind of connections we have at Costa, and how people are able to relate to each other even if they do not know each other.”
Costachella also provided food to students wearing the purple mental health awareness wristbands, which teachers handed out to homeroom classes earlier in the week. With the purple wristband, students received free ice cream from Kinecta’s ice cream truck. Link Leaders also handed out lunch from Mendocino Farms to faculty and staff with funding from MBX.
“My favorite thing about Costachella [was] the sense of community and everyone participating, enjoying themselves and having a fun time,” junior Kelly Shea said. “I also like that the music is local band groups from Mira Costa itself and that people have a chance to express themselves and show off their music to their peers.”
Students could also participate in a raffle during A.M. office hours to win prizes such as Soulcycle classes, Rabano or Yogurtland giftcards and weekend two Coachella tickets. During P.M. office hours, Link Leaders and Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale announced the winners.
“Costachella was great this year, and I’m really proud of all the students who worked on it,” Hutchinson said. “At the end of the day, Costachella is meant to highlight the diverse talents and passions on this campus while giving students an opportunity to share their own personal voice and opinions, and I think that we accomplished that goal and engaged more students.”
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