Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in LS and MS

Spanish exchange students visited a Town Meeting and talked about paella and churros. (Read more about their visit here.) For the past 5 Mondays, SAGE served a special dish at lunch celebrating a Hispanic country with a traditional dish from that country. Some of the foods included plantain tostones, street tacos, ropa vieja, burritos, churros and carnitas.

The exchange students also sang in Spanish and played guitar for Middle Schoolers, and Shorecrest parent Margy Saben gave dance lessons in a style influenced by Brazillian and African cultures.

 

Students in grades 3-8 were invited to a presentation in the Janet Root Theatre by the student-run troupe Dance Education Organization of USF. They presented and led Spanish dance styles from around the world. Everyone in the audience got up and learned some moves, and the whole performance was streamed live on Shorecrest Instagram.

At the last LS Town Meeting of this month-long learning experience, LS Chargers with Mexican ancestors talked about mariachis and the history of this iconic piece of Mexican culture. Everyone at Lower School Town Meeting enjoyed a Mariachi ensemble performance!

To close out Hispanic Heritage Month in MS, students completed projects and wrote a report on their participation in a Spanish language and cultural activity for enrichment or personal enjoyment. Students presented a variety of projects: a watermelon-shaped piñata, a Chilean flag piñata, homemade sugar skulls, tres leches, churros, alfajores, arroz con leche, horchata, tacos, and burritos con salsa verde. One student read the book "Pobre Ana" and another read "Patricia va a California," both by renowned foreign language instructor Blaine Ray. One student went to a Mexican restaurant and interviewed the owner, a gentleman originally from India who lived in México for part of his life. He then moved to the USA as a small business owner. He recently turned his gas station in Gulfport into a Mexican restaurant. He truly lives the American Dream! His is a story of success, when hard work, dedication, and passion paid off.

This has been a wonderful Hispanic Heritage Month at Shorecrest, and most importantly the students were part of it, enjoyed special performances, tried new foods, made new friends, and many embraced their Hispanic culture. 

More photos & videos here.