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Food For Thought



It is the end of Hispanic Heritage month. What better way to celebrate than a Nuestra Cultura Latina Celebration? 

 

7th grade Dual Language students in Ydalia Pena’s U.S. History class recently studied two Native American tribes and how their environments shaped their development. This lesson–which was taught in Spanish to ensure a strong content foundation in social studies–sparked a conversation about the students’ own cultures, and they discussed how even within Spanish-speaking countries, there are significant cultural differences. 

 

The lesson culminated in projects to showcase the students’ own Latino cultures by presenting images of traditional foods, music, traditions, landscapes and an important person or group from their country. 

 

The classroom was decorated with flags and posters and the smell of empanadas, arepas, taquitos and cuban sandwiches filled the air. The mood was celebratory–every time a teacher or administrator entered the room for presentations, the students clapped and cheered.

 

“We are celebrating our cultures by bringing in traditional foods,” explained Ronal Palma Soto, “my mom was up until one in the morning making tamales.”

 

Student groups got up in front of the class to explain different countries' cultures–each group had a jazzy team name based upon shared interests: The Ones Who Don’t Rush, The Instagrammers, Teamwork, Team Soccer, and Focus on Money.

 

“Imagine dancing the marimba and carnival and tamales,” said Angie Gomez, “that’s Guatemala. Tamales are so delicious and are a mix of Indian and Spanish cultures.”

 

As she spoke, she referred to a slide of images representing Guatemala–yellow and red dresses, the blue and white flag, tamales wrapped in corn husks, a map of the country and party pics from carnival.

 

The class then visited Mexico with a presentation by Brandon Jiminez Diaz and Elizabeth Reyes. They described a rich culture of traditional music–mariachi–carnival–and delicious foods like pozole–pork and hominy stew.

 

After the presentations, everyone lined up to sample foods from all the cultures which blended together to create a delicious plate.

 

“As a child in the Dominican Republic we had la bandera or “the flag”–rice, beans, and meat–every day for lunch,” explained Ydalia, “It reflects a central part of my culture and is a point of pride as I look back onto my childhood.”

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