Lakeside School

On Sept. 27, Lakeside’s Latine/Hispanic student affinity group, LATISPA, hosted the school’s fourth annual Hispanic Heritage Month assembly. The start of the month, celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 in the U.S., honors the independence of five Hispanic countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, with Mexico and Chile’s independence days shortly after on Sept. 16 and 18.

To begin the assembly, we led a brief educational presentation to the school on related terms and the history behind the creation of the month. The content that we have been engaging with in Andy Aguilera’s Latino Studies history class tied in really well with the themes we hoped to present. We’re very grateful that this course is running for the first time at the school as it reaffirms LATISPA and Lakeside’s mission of showcasing the diversity within our community.

Since Hispanic Heritage Month was created to honor the histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latin Americans in the United States, we next chose to celebrate our heritage by performing a bachata dance in collaboration with Lakeside’s Global Dance Club led by Mateo G. ’24 and Akal S. ’25. During early September we began rehearsing Tuesdays and Thursdays during activity period with other members of LATISPA to prepare for the assembly. We even had an early morning rehearsal with Mateo’s parents on the Sunday before our performance. These practices also gave us an opportunity to bond with other Latine and Hispanic students and take pride in our heritage. This safe space made our time together enjoyable and rewarding, free from fear of making mistakes while learning the choreography.

After exiting the stage showered by roses and cheers, we returned, hoping to share more of our vibrant, energetic culture with the wider school community. Mateo talked about his love for spontaneous dancing which transitioned us from the performance to a school-wide dance lesson. With bachata music blasting over the speakers, we invited everyone to the gym floor to pair up and learn the basic steps of the dance. It was such a joy to witness everyone engaging with the dance and having fun while doing so. Even the teachers joined in! 

Furthermore, we wanted to present something memorable. As members of LATISPA throughout the years, we noticed that the declining participation and visibility within the club greatly affects the sense of Latine/Hispanic community at Lakeside. We were really lucky this year to hear back from many students on their eagerness to participate in this assembly. Previous LATISPA leaders have done amazing work showcasing our Latine/Hispanic culture in past assemblies; we wanted to build on that by demonstrating the diversity and inclusivity of our mission by giving everyone an opportunity to immerse themselves in and participate in our culture. 

We continued the celebration after the assembly by sharing a newsletter written by Eva T. ’24 and Gabi G. ’24 to the whole school, highlighting important Latine/Hispanic role models. We will keep sharing these monthly newsletters with LATISPA members and the greater Lakeside community. By starting the year off with a strong assembly and following up with engaging material, we keep our community wondering what we will do next, hopefully increasing our visibility for years to come.