The students in Spanish National Honors Society at Champe are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and are doing activities to teach people about different hispanic cultures.
September 15th through October 15th is Hispanic Heritage month, where people of hispanic descents or origins celebrate history, culture, and stories that come from hispanic origins
“One thing we do is we interview staff from Spanish origin and recognize them on the morning announcements,” Spanish National Honors Society member Christie Katillius said. “It is always fun to learn about where our staff members come from.”
Here at Champe, the Spanish National Honors Society holds Noche Latina every year during Hispanic Heritage Month. Noche Latina is a little festival where people can come and learn about different hispanic cultures, enjoy hispanic foods, listen to music, and have fun.
“We work with the students who are in the Spanish National Honors Society and come up with ideas to represent each country,” Spanish National Honors Society sponsor Tatiana Peredo said. “We also prepare hispanic dishes and play games to help people learn more about the culture of each country.”
This is the fourth year that Champe has held Noche Latina. Noche Latina is the biggest thing the Spanish National Honors Society does to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
“The window display is one of the other things we do during Hispanic Heritage Month,” Peredo said. “The biggest thing that we did was Noche Latina, but we have a couple of other smaller things that we are doing as well.”
Another big thing they are working on for Hispanic Heritage month right now is the Pulsera Project. Throughout the project they are raising money that will go to countries in Central America who are struggling with money and are in need of financial help.
“People who live in Central America would send us handcrafted bracelets they made and we would resell them here to family and friends,” Spanish National Honors Society member Mia Mendizabal said. “With the money we make from the bracelets we send it all back to them and their communities.”
All the money earned goes back to Central America. The main countries the money goes to are people who live in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
“Our school has gotten recognition for being in the top 50% for selling bracelets,” Peredo said. “There are a lot of schools that participate in this project so I’m very proud of the students for all their hard work.”
There are 30 students who are in the Spanish National Honors Society. To get into the Spanish National Honors Society you have to have all the requirements and be in Spanish Five or above.
“I joined because I was enrolled in Spanish class at school and had the qualifications to join,” Katillius said. “It also just looked like a fun way to connect with my heritage.”
Champe is known to be a very inclusive community so it’s amazing to see students joining groups to learn more about other cultures.
“I joined Spanish National Honors Society to learn more about hispanic culture through the activities and the club meetings,” Mendizabal said, “and to help give back to the community is always so much fun and super important.”
Also having a sponsor who is super involved in what you do is super important and just helps make the experience more fun and makes you want to come back.
“My favorite part of the Spanish National Honors Society is participating in the activities because it’s so much fun.” Mendizabal said. “I can’t wait to see what we do the rest of the year.”
