Hispanic Heritage Month expands at Messmer

By Brianne Jarrett

The color of life, the sound of joy and happiness, and the aroma of the fresh, spicy food swirls around. However, there is much more to Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from September 15th-October 15th. It’s not just about the fresh salsa, stir-fried beef, the music, or dancing.

Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the independence and cultural tradition of five different countries including Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. Because the celebration is so meaningful, Messmer incorporates aspects of the traditions into the typical school day. The students enjoy when it’s here.

Junior, Yasmin Sanchez talks about the Hispanic Month stating, “I’m glad that we have Hispanic Heritage Month at Messmer. It shows other students here more about the heritage.”

Mrs. Cristina Edgar, Mrs. Suzy Welsh, and Ms. Jennifer Wolske, foreign language teachers, plan exciting ideas for students to expand their knowledge of another morality culture of certain Messmer students.

“Hispanic Heritage is the contribution to our country and world”, says Wolske.

It was in 2005 when Messmer first brought Hispanic Heritage Month to the school. The celebration was not as developed as it is today, but it did show appreciation to the 15 or so Hispanic students because it proved that Messmer was striving to be a diverse school.

The first year there was only an assembly, but each of following years it has expanded. The whole point of starting this celebration was to change the stereotypes from others about a culture that is not a strictly American culture.

This year celebration will have much more exciting things to offer including an assembly, which will include Hispanic dancing and other factual information. There will also be Spanish masses, Hispanic food, and time in resource rooms to learn more by watching a movie.

The foreign language teachers have been planning field trips to make this celebration more interesting. On Friday, September 26th there was a virtual field trip in the Distance learning Lab about Con Suelo Samarripal, an award-winning storyteller.

Many students at Messmer celebrate at home as well. Junior Karla Romero celebrates it with her family. She celebrated this holiday in Mexico and when she moved to Milwaukee.

“My family celebrates it by going to a parade on the Southside, and in the schools of Mexico we used to make up a couple of dances,” states Romero.
Mrs. Welsh who happens to be half Mexican and Puritan recognizes the independence by getting together with her family and eating Peruvian food as well as going to the parade.

Even if you are not Hispanic, just being a part of this celebration helps us become more globally aware of things outside of our American culture. Plus, the Hispanics of our school would be appreciative on the acceptances of their culture. So just come and be a part of the celebration! “ Every year we learn something, and every year we get better!” concludes Welsh.