Hispanic Heritage Month
Throughout the month of October, Aaron School 30th Street celebrated its first annual Hispanic Heritage Month! This year the Humanities Department, in collaboration with the Spanish teacher, wanted to commemorate Hispanic and Latin American culture and create a more inclusive and multi-cultural school environment. To kick off the celebration, Ms. McClean, the Spanish teacher, led a school-wide assembly where she explained the history of Hispanic Heritage Month, and previewed some of the activities that were going to occur throughout the month. The students also had a great time learning and practicing Spanish greetings, such as “Hola,” “Buenos días,” “¿Como estás?” and “Hasta luego.”
Hispanic Heritage Month began with “Hola Week,” in which all students and faculty were encouraged to practice their Spanish language skills by greeting everyone in Spanish. Although some students were hesitant at first, eventually the halls were filled with Spanish greetings during transitions! Additionally, many students continue to greet each other in Spanish, even after Hispanic Heritage Month had ended! In addition to “Hola Week,” students also worked in their Advance groups to research and illustrate flags from various Hispanic countries. Each Advance group was assigned a country, and once the students completed the flags, they were displayed throughout the school building. Following the flags project, in their Advance groups, the students researched and created projects about the Hispanic countries they were assigned. Each group produced a poster that contained facts about the Hispanic country, as well as images that represent the country and a Thinking Map to organize the facts they found.
In addition to the Advance cultural projects, many students also learned about influential people from Hispanic countries in their other classes. For example, students in the Environmental Science class researched and learned about the contributions of influential Hispanic scientists. Students taking Introduction to Art and Global Art Perspective also learned about and created art projects relating to Hispanic artists.
To close out Hispanic Heritage Month, the Humanities Department hosted an Expo, in which all of the Hispanic Heritage Month posters, art work, and flags were displayed throughout the gymnasium. The students then participated in a scavenger hunt, in which they identified information about the various Hispanic countries. Ms. McClean then concluded the assembly with some closing remarks and a big “gracias!” to everyone for their participation in this wonderful cultural celebration!
