¡Viva la Herencia Hispana!

At Paideia we're winding up our month-long recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month with the Día de los Muertos celebration on Saturday.

Last year at the el día de los muertos celebration, the Literary Greats altar created by Claire, fabulous founding leader of the high school book club, won the $50 3rd prize. Pizza at Book Club!!

 

In the high school last week, LASSO (the Latino student group) created a 'Flag Garden' in front of the high school building to represent Latino/Hispanic countries of origin in the Paideia community.  Ninety-two flags, representing 78 students and 16 countries populate the garden, with Mexico (25), Cuba (14) and Colombia (10) comprising the majority.  Also in the garden are flags of Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Spain, Uruguay, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Costa Rica.  Eight Paideia faculty members are represented by 6 country flags.  The flag garden will be on display through this weekend.

Officially, Hispanic Heritage month is September 16 (the real Mexican independence day) to October 15, but since the Latin American Parents' big event is for El Día de los Muertos (and usually held on the Saturday closest to November 1), we get 6 weeks each year.

I get a kick out of fiction that is somehow directly related to real events and situations, so the ¡Herencia! display this year was themed "FACT --> FICTION," and paired non-fiction titles with novels on similar themes.  One of my favorites is the quinceañera pairing :

 ¡Quinceañera! The Essential Guide by Michele Salcedo;  Cuba 15 by Nancy Oso

 Always Running: La Vida Loca  by Luis J. Rodriguez ; 

Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida  by Victor Martinez

October begins with Grandparents Day on a Friday, and the school-wide BBQ & Square Dance on Saturday.  The annual Library Book Sale takes place during both events. What fun!  This year we got a number of strong additions to the Novelas in Español collection.  

I always enjoy the brain-exercise of seeing how titles are translated from English to other languages, and vice versa.  Como Agua para Chocolate/ Like Water for Chocolate  and Juego de Tronos/ Game of Thrones are exact translations.  On the other hand,  Correr o Morir ("to run or to die," or Run or Die) is a pretty accurate description of the plot, but a whole lot more Shakespearean than the English title, The Maze Runner. 

Happy Halloween today.  Tomorrow, remember and honor all those who have come before us on All Souls Day, the Day of the Dead.