by Angelina Busch ’26
Source: Robert Centeno
Published 10 Nov. 2022
Hispanic Heritage Month is a national period of celebration from September 15 to October 15 designed to honor the culture and achievements of Hispanics. MHS has decided to showcase this month by informing the student body about Hispanic accomplishments and cultures. This effort was led by the Latinx Alliance Club, which is supervised by Spanish teacher Mr. Centeno.
Mr. Centeno has worked to promote Hispanic Heritage Month among youth, even at his prior school district; however, his endeavors at MHS started this year. His ideas sparked from the creation of the Latinx Alliance Club, which Mr. Centeno formed after he was “approached by a couple students last year wanting to create the club.” Since then, the club has spread the word about Hispanic heritage through exhibitions and social media.
Mr. Centeno explained that the members “worked closely with Mrs. Douglas, the history supervisor, Mrs. Vegera, the Vice-Principal, and [him]self to create TikToks” that contained facts about different Hispanic cultures. Mr. Centeno said they also planned “movie nights after school and fireside chats” to spread the word, as well as exhibits by Senora Lesinski and “the Frida [Kahlo] exhibit in the commons.” Mr. Centeno emphasized the impact coming from their work, as “the first meeting had a high rate of students, [and they] anticipate to have the same amount of students at the [upcoming] meetings.”
As for the upcoming years, the Latnix Alliance Club plans to be active, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month. Mr. Centeno notes that “it is very important to be active and expose our [Montgomery] community to the Hispanic community” and it is “nice to put Hispanic Heritage in a spotlight for this month.” If there was one thing Mr. Centeno would want people to know about the Latinx Alliance Club, it is that they “mainly put their focus to show the [community members] the struggles of being Hispanic.”
Even with recognizing the struggles, Mr. Centeno also wants students to understand “the impact that Hispanic people have. The food, the culture, what really brings us together.” Like Centeno said, Hispanic Heritage Month is not only a reflection on Hispanic history and struggle, but a celebration of all the different cultural triumphs, traditions, and customs showing what it means to be Hispanic.
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