When we look at American schools today, we see a variety of cultures of students who come from different walks of life. These diversified student bodies come together in our American education system to learn about things that would be useful for them in the world, and how to use those pertaining skills to establish relationships and success in the world.

Though American children come from very diversified backgrounds they are often held to the same standards and bars of success and we want a diversified curriculum in our schools to reflect the diversity of our student populations.

From September 15th through October 15th here at Kenwood we celebrate Hispanic Heritage month. It’s an opportunity for those in the Hispanic culture to celebrate their culture and for others to learn more about the Hispanic culture.

Kenwood Senior Amaya Freeman shares, “It’s important to recognize multiethnic groups because there are so many ethnicities. Without the representation, the United States would not live up to being called ‘the melting pot of the world’.”

As has been the tradition in years past, students here at Kenwood High participated in Hispanic Heritage month in several of their classes and organizations. This year the Spanish honor society hosted a Hispanic Spirit week and making flyers. The Honor Society also put out friendship bracelets with a bookmark in every teacher’s mailbox. Students, staff, and guests are greeted in the lobby by display by the ESOL department celebrating Hispanic heritage.

You can find Kenwood halls decorated with posters about Hispanic countries and famous people from Mrs. De Léon and Mrs. Jelovac’s World Language classes and students then visited each other’s work as part of a passport learning walk activity this Friday, Oct 6.   “We will play music, dress in clothing to reflect our culture, and do this activity during 2A, but really classes can do it anytime is good for your schedule with their classes,” adds Señora Jelovac.

Señora Jelovac organized a cooking activity (arepas) with Chef G for Hispanic Heritage Month! The cultural cooking experience will take place in Chef G’s classroom on Wednesday, October 11 during 3B period. “We will learn about arepas, its history, and we will taste arepas with fun fillings like cheese, ham, and guacamole. I will play a video about cooking arepas, and students will do their own cooking!” shared Jelovac.  Each Spanish teacher can nominate up to three students who deserve to be in this special cooking experience.

It’s important to celebrate this cultural month to acknowledge what would not have been possible without Latinos in our society. The Hispanic Identity is a mixture of diverse experiences that have continued to progress within our nation. As the Hispanic population grows in our nation, it is important to talk about and celebrate our Latin American Immigrants and Latinos not only during Hispanic Heritage Month but anytime as their contributions to our society continue to influence us all.