For spanish-speaking only students at EHS, Latin Club becomes a place to call home.
The Latin Club began a few years ago when spanish-speaking only students were arriving at EHS. The goal was to form a place for connections between bilingual students at EHS to help them navigate through their classes and new environment. The club does activities together and assists each other in making their new surroundings feel like home.
The Latin Fiesta brings awareness of what it means to be latino, and represents a distinct and unique culture. Eaton High School Spanish teacher, Aleena Griffin, said, “Last year, we had two classes of native speakers at the same time before lunch. Last year’s fiesta was actually a class fiesta, and turned into lunchtime where many people came out and had fun, and we wanted to host one this year that was intentional for the whole school to participate in”
On Sep. 16, Latin Club hosted a fiesta during lunch time in celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day. and the culture that the Latin Club all shared together.
Griffin said, “For the students that stayed on campus, they had a lot of fun with the different booths, sodas, foods and games set up. We sold like 130$ of Mexican bracelets, lots of kids played soccer outside, and kids danced to the music and broke the pinatas.”
During the day, a modified version of the normal schedule was featured to allow the Latin Club the time needed to set up and provide a positive experience for the many who came to enjoy the fiesta.
Because of the modified schedule, a longer lunch was provided, and many students were able to enjoy the festivities. Omar Rodriguez(25), a member of the Latin Club, said, “The Latin Fiesta we hosted was a huge success, the sight of seeing students of our school show up and support us brings me shock and joy, because I didn’t think that many students would show up and support.”
Much work went into the set-up and execution of the fiesta. Different cultural decorations, food, and information tables were set up for the many students at the fiesta.
President of Latin Club, Jose Escalera (25), said, “For the fiesta, we were commemorating Mexico’s independence and we try to bring people’s attention to our traditions and our country. It was a success, and many people had fun, some did not stay on campus and participate but it was a success.”
Escalera was one of the many Latin Club members who participated during the fiesta and assisted running the many booths and games that were featured during the celebration.
Fortunately, for the Latin Club at EHS, they continue to plan to hold these celebrations to assist spanish-speaking students of EHS. The Latin Club is a huge part of the high school, and will continue to bridge the gap between the unique cultures and traditions present at EHS.
Latin Club in the future hopes to encourage even more students of EHS to take part in the cultural celebration. “I think that in the future we will not do a long lunch, and maybe more students will be motivated to stick around and participate. Also, I think for students to start supporting each other more, it starts with putting yourself into other people’s shoes. So for example, if you were a student in another country and you were hosting an event to teach about your culture, would you want your classmates to show their support? Of course! So it comes down to treating others the way you want to be treated, and sometimes that means putting others before yourself, which is a good trait to have as you go through life,” said Griffin.
The fiesta this year will go down as a success, but the club hopes in the future that more students of EHS will be encouraged to participate in bringing attention to the vibrant Latino culture shared by members of Latin Club.
