Families from School District 65 gathered at Evanston Township High School Saturday for a carnival to celebrate Hispanic culture and strengthen community ties.
Carnival celebrations are common in Spanish-speaking countries during February. Celia Carlino, Anna Lebron and Jennifer Cameros, D65 moms who are active in the Bilingual Families Alliance and TWI-65 organizations, had the idea of organizing a carnival for district parents after noticing enthusiastic attendance at recent cold-weather events.
Carlino said the mothers’ group has been active the last few months organizing social events for D65 Hispanic families and their friends. She said the events are needed now especially with the closure of D65 programs serving significant spanish-speaking populations, such as the two-way immersion program currently offered at Williard Elementary.
Carlino said “we are going to be strong…we want to strengthen the relationship among all schools in District 65.” She said some programs in schools serving the area’s Hispanic community are being moved to the new Foster School, but many of the effected families will not be attending Foster.
Given these developments, she said Hispanic families still needed spaces to learn and celebrate their language and culture. “They…can continue learning the language, continue growing relationships, continue keeping our values as our community when we work together,” she said.
She added that the Hispanic population is growing in Evanston, and her group’s activities offer a good focal point for the new families. She said events aimed at the families are also a good influence on their children.
Some of the child-friendly activities offered to attendees included container planting, chess, and mask-making (masks are a very important component of Latin American carnivals).
Carlino said her community looks forward to working with institutions both inside and outside of the Hispanic community to organize more events that help it thrive. Representatives from local Hispanic advocacy groups, such as Evanston Latinos, spoke to the large number of families present, as did D65 board member Andrew Wymer.
(left to right) Jennifer Cameron, Celia Carlino and Ana Lebron. Credit: Desiree Shannon
Though the two-hour event was probably more contained than traditional winter carnival celebrations found throughout the Spanish-speaking world, there was no shortage of the same party spirit.
“It’s the joy that we witness in the community,” Carlino said.
