Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in the Lawrence School District

Two Lawrence School District classes took diverse paths to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Months that stretches from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Sixth-graders in Marianella Mena’s bilingual class applied technology to learn about famous Hispanic athletes, artists, musicians and poets. The middle school students created PowerPoint presentations and explained the impact of the person they chose.

Luis Navarette highlighted soccer goalie Claudio Bravo from Chile. “I picked him because even though he is a famous athlete, he continues to use his fame to help other people in need,” Luis said. Bravo is considered one of the three top goalies in the world. He plays for Manchester Club in the European Premier League and has played in the second most — 123 — international games in his country’s history.

Poet Ruben Dario, from Nicaragua, was spotlighted by Daniela Orozco, who came to the United States from that country in May. “His poems are studied in the schools of Nicaragua,” Daniela said. ‘I picked him because when I was little I like to recite his poems.”

Holding dual citizenship — Peru and the U.S. — was not what attracted Andrea Pozuelos to creating a presentation on Carlos Ismael Noriega. “I learned about the NASA space program and want to be an astronaut when I grow up,” Andrea said. “I like science, space and exploration. Noriega, a former NASA astronaut, works for the National Aeronautics Space Administration.

Fifth-grade elementary school students in Gilynn Cromartie’s bilingual class used a more traditional route to honor the different cultures. They produced a recipe book reflective of their native countries such as the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.

“I learned about countries and the foods they eat there,” student Jasmin Vasquez said. “Even though we are from different countries, we all speak Spanish which is cool!”

Student Ryan Guadamuz-Hernandez gave his response in Spanish: “Aprendí sobre otras culturas y sus comidas. Ahora yo sé más de mis compañeros aquí en mi clase. Aprecio que puedo aprender más sobre diferentes países.”

Translation: “I learned about other cultures and their foods. Now I know more about my classmates here in my class. I appreciate that I can learn more about different countries.”

Whether it was a PowerPoint presentation or cooking instructions, Cromartie underscored the benefit of celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. “I think that by composing a recipe book that reflected our different cultures and nationalities, my students learned that being different is OK!,” she said. “It is important to celebrate our differences because it allows us to learn from one another.”