‘A true celebration’: Cesar Chavez High students win private concert with The Chainsmokers

Angelaydet Rocha, The Record
·3 min read

Music blasted over the speakers at Cesar Chavez High School Tuesday morning, as students jumped up and down to The Chainsmokers and cheered on TikTok star Charli D'Amelio at StepFest.

It was a morning like no other after Cesar Chavez High School students won a free private on-campus concert presented by Step, a modern-day banking platform for teens, and more than $125,000 in prize money.

Cesar Chavez High School students dance to the music of the DJ duo the Chainsmokers at the StepFest event held on the school's football field in Stockton.
Cesar Chavez High School students dance to the music of the DJ duo the Chainsmokers at the StepFest event held on the school's football field in Stockton.

“We built a banking platform for the next generation. It always bugged us that schools don't teach kids about money and families don't talk about money,” CJ MacDonald, Step Founder and CEO said. “Financial literacy is really important to us. We want to educate and empower this next generation to be smarter with money.”

In honor of Financial Literacy Month in April, Step visited schools across the nation and hosted lunchtime workshops. Cesar Chavez High School, being one of them, gave students the opportunity to learn about Step.

TikTok star Charli D'Amelio speaks at the StepFest event.
TikTok star Charli D'Amelio speaks at the StepFest event.

On April 4, StepFest contest was announced on social media. The high school with the most students signed up for Step from April 1 through April 30 would receive a free and private on-campus concert with the Grammy award-winning American electronic DJ duo The Chainsmokers and a special appearance by TikTok's most-followed content creator Charli D'Amelio. On May 4 the winning school was announced.

“I'm very proud of Step for how far they've come and educating the next generation on how to be just financially more independent and being able to educate themselves through Step,” Charli D'Amelio said on Tuesday at StepFest. “I'm just very proud to be here. I'm super happy.”

Alexander "Alex" Pall, left, and Andrew "Drew" Taggart perform as the DJ duo the Chainsmokers at the StepFest event.
Alexander "Alex" Pall, left, and Andrew "Drew" Taggart perform as the DJ duo the Chainsmokers at the StepFest event.

The concert kicked off with performances by the Cesar Chavez High School dance team, jazz band, and mariachi band.

Not only did Cesar Chavez High School win a free private concert but a total of $125,000 in donations.

“Cesar Chavez here in Stockton, run away with a victory and we're just so excited to you know, give back to the students in the community, MacDonald said. “Roughly half the school signed up.”

Step CEO JC MacDonald, left, and Tik Tok star Charli D'Amelio right, present a $25,000 scholarship to student Taydem Kahmjoi .
Step CEO JC MacDonald, left, and Tik Tok star Charli D'Amelio right, present a $25,000 scholarship to student Taydem Kahmjoi .

Taydem Khamjoi, a junior at Cesar Chavez High School, received a $25,000 scholarship for referring the most friends to the Step App.

“This is such an amazing person. I've heard so much about them and they have a great future coming for them and I'm so excited to see what they're going to achieve,” D'Amelio said.

Khamjoi plans to invest her scholarship money toward college. The schools she has in mind are Johns Hopkins University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Simon Fraser University.

The Cesar Chavez High mariachi band performs at the StepFest event.
The Cesar Chavez High mariachi band performs at the StepFest event.

“I want to be a pediatrician because I love kids,” Khamjoi said.

D'Amelio presented the student scholarship along with two checks of $50,000 donations each, for the Cesar Chavez High School and Stockton Unified School District.

Chavez was one of more than 16,000 schools that entered the StepFest contest. La Joya Community High School in Avondale, Arizona, and Douglas High School in Minden, Nevada were runners-up for the winning title.

“Today was a great day because it was a celebration for these students who really stepped up and decided to get involved with Step and get involved with their finances and opening their first account,” said Melinda Meza, director of communications and media relations for SUSD. “A true celebration.”

Khamjoi not only received a scholarship but also got to personally meet The Chainsmokers and Charli D'Amelio.

“It was really special for me,” Khamjoi said.

D'Amelio's piece of advice to teens and students that look up to her is to live in the moment, have a positive mindset, and practice positive self-talk.

“I think it's important to be kind to yourself,” she said.

Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow. 

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton high students party with Chainsmokers, Charli D'Amelio at StepFest