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| Students Alma Perez and Aaron Madrigal; Teacher, Mrs. Adams |
John I. Burton’s Spanish classes recently celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month and Day of the Dead.
Hispanic Heritage Day is a national holiday that is celebrated in Hispanic and Latin countries from September 15 to October 15. Citizens in these countries commemorate their culture and history by highlighting their food, letting children make crafts, and participating in other festivities. The countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, and Mexico come together for their anniversary of independence.
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| Hispanic Heritage Mural colored by 2nd block Spanish |
Madison Adams, Burton’s Spanish teacher, said she does not celebrate the holiday exactly as if she has Hispanic heritage, but she enjoys reading stories and bringing the holiday into the classroom. Ms. Adams wants other students to recognize the holiday and realize that is it something to celebrate. She finds introducing new cultures and ideas to the classroom extremely fun and enjoyable. In her class, students played online webquests that let them read and answer questions about the holiday. They also created murals and had a party dedicated to the holiday.
Mrs. Adams makes it a priority to teach students not only the Spanish language, but also about the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. "It is important in America because so often we are focused only on ourselves and our American culture," she explained. "I think it opens up a brand new portion w don't get to experience every day."
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| Day of the Dead mural |
On October 31, students celebrated Day of the Dead, which shares a connection to Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve. On this day, people in Hispanic countries decorate their loved one’s graves and set up altars with family photos, flowers, candles, and ceramic skulls. On these days, they eat their family member’s favorite dishes and pan de muerto, a bread recipe for the dead. Burton students in Mrs. Adams's Spanish classes celebrated the day by learning about these traditions and enjoying treats in class; they also colored a mural depicting a "sugar skull."
Although they know the Spanish language even better than she does, Mrs. Adams works with Hispanic students who are new to John I. Burton and our country by bringing English into her curriculum to help them learn their new language and how it relates to Spanish. She tries to make them comfortable by helping them realize that she understands their culture decently well.
Alma Perez, a John I. Burton freshman, recently came to America from Mexico in order for family members to work. Alma attends regular classes although she doesn’t know English well. “It is difficult and makes me nervous,” she said about not understanding the language. In her classes, she learns through a combination of immersion in English classes and online technology. Although she prefers Mexico because her extended family is still there, she is adjusting well and especially enjoys shopping in America.
Aaron Madrigal is another Burton student who came to America from Mexico. Unlike Perez, he has lived here most of his life. His family moved to America when he was four years old to open Mexican restaurants in the area. El Dorado, a restaurant in Wise, is one of the restaurants owned by his extended family and he has a part-time job there now.
When Aaron started school, he was held back in kindergarten because of his weakness in English, but now he considers himself fluent in both languages. A variety of teachers and tutors assisted him in learning English when he was an elementary school student to help him catch up with native English speakers.. Since Spanish is still spoken at his home, it came naturally to him and he never had to consciously learn it.
Aaron does not notice a difference between the dialect taught in Spanish class and the language spoken at his home.“There might be a difference, but I don’t notice,” he said.
Both Perez and Madrigal said that Burton students have been very welcoming and they have not encountered racial prejudice at school. However, Madrigal said he has heard a few racial slurs while working his part-time job at El Dorado overheard from customers who thought that he couldn’t speak English.
Madrigal says that the food in his family restaurants is mostly authentic, but in Mexico, there is a shorter path from farm to table. For example, he said if his family were eating beef, chances are it would have come from a "cow right outside the door."
He prefers living in America over Mexico because there are more opportunities here, although he said he would like to spend time there to learn more about his Hispanic heritage to honor his family.
Tyrell Ingram and Keaton Ingle also contributed to this article.