The middle school students are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month through researching and presenting on Hispanic countries, creating a scavenger hunt activity for the campus, learning the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latinx, as well as the ways in which we celebrate the month.  

Students worked in groups to research and present facts about countries they selected that spoke Spanish.  They completed their presentations in Spanish as well!

This heritage month is a span of time meant for celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of Americans whose ethnic backgrounds come from the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Middle school students learned that, unlike most heritage months in the United States, this heritage month takes place between September 15th and October 15th, rather than for one complete month from the beginning to the end. They learned that this is because many Latin American countries achieved their independence from Spain on or around these days.

Students learned that Hispanic refers to countries that speak Spanish, which excludes countries in the Americas who were not colonized by Spain, for example Belize (United Kingdom), Guayana (France), and Brazil (Portugal).  In future classes, students will learn about the contested nature of the term Hispanic (Teen Vogue has a good summary here).  

Students will also learn about the term Latino, which has been a term used to encompass all countries from Latin America. However, Latinx has been offered as a gender-inclusive alternative to Latino/a or Latin@, which functions on a binary. Some argue that the -x construction is not reflective of the Spanish language, and Latine is more in line with the languages used by many of the people within that group.