Lilliana Escobar
Editor
Hispanic Heritage Month is commemorated annually in the U.S. from September 15 to October 15. Latinos Unidos, a student group for Hispanic students, has planned events throughout the month to celebrate the impact the Latino community has on ACHS.
The club held events such as the Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff on Sep. 27 and a closing celebration on Oct. 14. During these events, which were open to Latino and non-Latino students alike, attendees celebrated with food, music and art activities. Leslie Auceda, a Spanish teacher at King Street Campus, is the sponsor for Latinos Unidos and works alongside club leadership to plan these events.
“[We want people to] socialize with one another and have fun [by] eating foods that are traditional to the Hispanic community and to play games that are traditional to us [Latinos] such as Loteria [Mexican bingo],” Auceda said.
Auceda says that these events felt like celebrations.
“It brought me so much joy to see students eating pupusas, curtido [salvadoran cabbage slaw], taquitos de Pollo [chicken taquitos], playing Loteria and making Papel Picado [paper folk art],” Auceda said. “It personally felt like [a] holiday to me since my family celebrates in the exact same way. I see the students embracing their culture and not being ashamed of who they are.”
She says she wants the student body to celebrate diversity from all different backgrounds in our school, which is something that students didn’t get the opportunity to do when she attended then-T.C. Williams in the 2000s.
“When I was a student here, there was always a divide between Latinx students born in the U.S. and those who weren’t [because] their level of English wasn’t proficient,” Auceda said. “At the end of the day, we’re all the same and should unite and support one another. Everyone should embrace their Latinidad.”
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in September because September 15 is the independence day for many Latin American countries: including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. Mexico’s independence day is September 16.
Hispanic Heritage Month has been celebrated since President Lyndon B. Johnson made the week of Sep. 15 to honor the contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities. President Ronald Reagan extended this time period to a month in 1988.
