The month of September is filled with joy and pride to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM). This is because today, Sept. 16, is Mexican Independence Day, the day everyone goes all out to represent Hispanic culture, all the beautiful art, and most importantly, a unified community.
“Seeing the positive presence of anybody who has a Hispanic background, especially trying to emphasize the positive, could affect the way students think or believe in Hispanic culture,” OH Spanish teacher and Latin American Student Organization (LASO) sponsor Jessica Yandun said. “Especially here [at] OH, it is important to have people know the positive influence Latinos have.”
OH LASO and its students are trying to bring more awareness to Hispanic culture this year. LASO students get together twice a month on Thursdays at 2:30 p.m., and they discuss plans to emphasize the representation of Hispanic leadership and Latinx representation. LASO is a club based around Hispanic culture, and anyone is welcome to join them in celebrating this month.
“We try to highlight it, we talk about El Grito, trying to get the history behind it. Not only to highlight it but to get the history behind it,” OH Spanish teacher and LASO sponsor Gianna Purdom said.
El Grito is the battle cry of Mexico expressing its independence from Spain, taking place on Sept. 16. Every year, all around the world, the president of Mexico is broadcast as he gives a speech about freedom for Hispanics.
“Being able to be a Latina teacher and itself being a representation for a lot of kids here, [because] there are only 0.6% of [teachers here identify as] Latina,” Yandun said.
There are a lot of different backgrounds for those who identify as Hispanic, and many students come from varied immigrant histories, many of whom wish to express culture and independence.
“Both of my parents immigrated from Mexico. I was lucky enough to be born here because it gave me many more opportunities and chances of living my dreams,” OH senior Selvyn Fuentes said.
I am a senior at Oswego High School, this is my first year being a part of the 42fifty staff. I am an Avid student and have been on varsity soccer for 3 years.
