From Sep. 15 to Oct. 15, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated worldwide. Millions of people get together to celebrate the independence of their countries from Spain and to embrace their heritage and culture.
Denisse Fuentes, community liaison at VHHS, explained that the month recognizes all Hispanic and Latino communities, not limited to just Mexico, but South America and the Caribbean islands.
“It traditionally starts on the 15th of September because there are a number of countries that celebrate their independence either that day or the following two days,” she said.
Fuentes highlighted the importance of celebrating Hispanic Heritage month at school.
“Doing cultural celebrations that are visible to all students is important, regardless if you are Hispanic or not. We’re celebrating the month because it unites us in a way that people may not recognize,” she said. “We celebrate our diversity by having these events. It’s taking the [Global] in DARING and bringing it to life, where students have access to cultural dances, and cultural activities.”
Hispanic Heritage Month at VHHS
The activities conducted at school to celebrate Hispanic Heritage were trivia during morning announcements for a chance to win churros, piñatas, papel picado and paper flowers confection, banners decorating the cafeteria, la lotería, and a Mexican folkloric dance performance.
Student initiative sparked most events. Michelle Bastiani, English Learner teacher, worked closely with students from LASO and International Club, with the aid of counselor Tiffany Heinlein and English teacher Rebeca Garcia, to craft activities that reflected student interests.
The events aimed to build awareness and celebrate all Hispanic cultures present at school and what they represent.
“It’s important to recognize individual countries and their differences, and celebrate that independence and their uniqueness,” said Bastiani.
Orlando Alas Sandoval (12), who was involved in the planning of activities through LASO, shared the importance of celebrating Hispanic culture.
“It’s to demonstrate that [Latinos] come in different sizes and packages. We come in different skin colors, different heights. None of us are the same,” he said. “[The celebration] shows that we’re here. We have a presence in the school, and we acknowledge it. We will never back down.”
La lotería is a bingo-style Mexican game featuring images that relate to the culture. Similar to bingo, cards are called out, and players have to see if they have a corresponding image.
Jorge Hernandez (11), who called out the cards during lunch periods, said helping out was a way to embrace his Latino pride, aside from blasting and singing along to Spanish music.
Celebrations held at school can make students of the represented culture feel seen, but can also expose other people to the history, beauty, and richness of different cultural practices, music, and traditions.
Diana Maldonado (11) said some people are exposed to Hispanic festivities for the first time during this celebration.
“You’re just trying to communicate with everybody [during Hispanic Heritage Month] to show them that it’s a good experience,” Maldonado said.
On Sep. 29, an outside dance group performed a Mexican Folkloric dance during lunch periods in the foyer.
Justice Moncivaiz (9) shared her thoughts on the performance.
“It was very beautiful. I liked how many different people were [represented] in it, the beautiful dresses, and all different colors,” Moncivaiz said. “A lot of people that usually sit in the back of the cafeteria came forward and stood there to watch [the performance] or record it. It was really bringing people together.”
Several students came forward to Fuentes and shared how they felt heard, seen, and visible by the performances. She realized a lot of people had been impacted by the performance just by looking at the smiles on everybody’s faces while watching it.
“[The smiles represented] the feeling of watching cultural dances in a school that’s predominantly white, the appreciation of it,” Fuentes said.
As a conclusion to Hispanic Heritage Month, all Hispanic and Latino students of District 128 were invited to attend the Latinx Student Summit at Sullivan Center on Oct. 19.
The Summit hosted award-winning author José Olivarez, who performed poetry about his Mexican-American identity from his books “Citizen Illegal” and “Promises of Gold”, and led a poetry writing workshop where students wrote poems that conveyed their identity.
Speakers lectured students on the importance of mental health awareness through the context of Latino communities and cultural access to mental health services, and they engaged in a panel discussion with adults from the Libertyville and Vernon Hills communities on Hispanic identities and the education and resources available to these communities.
Taqueria Maya provided lunch and students participated in bachata dance lessons.
Abby Lopez (10) shared that being exposed to different cultures and perspectives, as well as learning about people’s life experiences and how they grew from it was a very meaningful takeaway from the Summit.
“Hearing everybody’s experience and being able to relate was so powerful to me,” Lopez said.
Embracing heritage
Some members of the Vernon Hills community reflected on their journey of embracing their heritage and being proud of their roots.
Moncivaiz joined LASO to learn more about her culture by helping with Hispanic Heritage Month activities. She believes it’s important to be proud of who you are.
“[Diving deeper into my culture] has been such an amazing journey. It’s doing things like [helping out] that get you more interested in learning more about who you are,” Moncivaiz said.
Alas Sandoval recalls a time where he didn’t embrace his El-Salvadoran heritage, but that changed after taking a Spanish class his freshman year.
“One way I’m working towards fixing [not representing my culture] is just by wearing my flag, bringing in something that’s very nationalistic,” Alas Sandoval said.
Fuentes has had a long journey of embracing her identity and now is empowering Latino youth to do so, too.
“I am so proud that I can finally admit my identity, that I celebrate Mexican [culture] and being Mexican American all the time, because that was a huge struggle in high school,” Fuentes said.
Lopez believes no one should ever be ashamed of their heritage.
“If there’s any way you’re able to step up in school and show your heritage, never be ashamed of it,” Lopez said. “There’s always good people that are gonna be there for you.”
Access these links to check out the performances:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CeZWLeu-eDgzVsRkUxByZxiq1rnNdHrK/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DF1mW4TndhOtdRFk4EsJ5WCGs5Z4ngPi/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DJiFSbG5xwb_mX4sAQ_mp-LdEKzZ1qmk/view?usp=sharing
