Gallery • 3 Photos

Aidan Auperlee

During the week of October 7th, the CRLS Spanish Club brought food and festivities to lunchtime.

“I love to spread Spanish culture, and I just think that heritage is something to be celebrated and happy about. And who doesn’t want tacos?” exclaims CRLS Spanish teacher and Spanish Club advisor Eydie Ortiz with a laugh. 

From October 7th-11th, excluding the 9th because of the district-wide day off for Yom Kippur, and during all three lunches, José’s Mexican Taco Truck was parked between the Arts Building and the bridge to sell Mexican food as a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Speakers played Latin music and volunteers sold decorative t-shirts to fundraise for a trip to Spain and Portugal later this year.

Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month dates back to 1968 when it got its start as Hispanic Heritage Week during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency. Now it’s celebrated annually from September 15th to October 15th. Hispanic and Latinx students make up 14.2% of the CRLS population, the third-largest population group after white and African American students. As a result, cultural celebrations like the Spanish Club’s are opportunities to ensure that CRLS is an inclusive and supportive school environment. 

Along with Latinx staff members, Señora Ortiz and the Spanish Club organized the event. When asked about CRLS’ past celebrations of the month, Señora Ortiz said, “I think Mr. Juan Casillas once did an assembly a couple of years ago, but I don’t remember anything else.” 

She went on to say, “My dad’s family was from Portugal … my husband’s from Honduras, and my son’s father is Bolivian. So I’m raising a Latino child, and we speak Spanish at home. I think it’s important to celebrate all cultures and people from different backgrounds … we have a large population of students coming from different countries that are Spanish-speaking, and I think this will make them feel welcome.”

Teachers aren’t the only ones who feel this way about Hispanic culture. Puerto Rican freshman Natasha Butler-Rahman, said, “Coming from a school where the majority [of students were] Latinx, Hispanic Heritage Month was all about being proud of your Latino origin, and every month was kinda Hispanic Heritage Month … I’m really excited to see what they do at CRLS!”

On Monday, the first day of the event, Spanish Club members watched as bewildered students walked outside with their lunches, confusedly staring at the food truck, while speakers blasted Spanish music and happy club members and teachers danced the macarena. There were exclamations of, “right, the food truck!” as students hurried to get in line. Ninth-graders Elise Economou and Isabel Becerra were both particularly happy with the event. Economou said, “I think it’s a really cool idea to have a food truck … having it stay for a whole week is a good idea.” Becerra, who speaks Spanish, said, “I was happy with the food truck, and I think they planned the event really well.” 

This piece also appears in our October 2019 print edition.