Members of the Spanish Honor Society at Whiteland Community High School prepare for a flag parade through the hallways of the school in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in 2024. The honor society is partnering with the Clark Pleasant branch of the Johnson County Public Library to host Hispanic Heritage Month Community Day on Oct. 4.
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The sights, sounds and sensory stimulation will swirl around you.
Inside the Clark Pleasant branch of the Johnson County Public Library, patrons can nibble on Hispanic snacks and swing to the traditional dances of the Spanish-speaking world. They can play a game of “Pato, Pato, Ganso,” (“Duck, Duck, Goose” in English) or square up for a round of fútbol.
Busting piñatas and discovering bilingual books will all be on the table.
Crucially, in the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, they will also walk away with a greater appreciation for the cultures than they did before.
“It’s really important that our community sees every individual and every culture that is represented in the community. We want to spotlight Hispanic Heritage Month because it’s something that sometimes gets swept under the rug,” said Cooper Adams, president of the Spanish Honor Society at Whiteland Community High School.
Whiteland’s Spanish Honor Society is partnering with the Clark Pleasant library for a special event celebrating Hispanic heritage. Hispanic Heritage Month Community Day on Oct. 4 will feature food, dance, stories and more highlighting the beauty, tradition and energy of a variety of Hispanic countries.
Organizing an event designed to bring so many aspects of the Spanish-speaking world to Johnson County is an opportunity that both the society and the library are excited to present.
“The Spanish Honor Society of WCHS has a history of volunteering in the community and at JCPL. Together, we will provide all ages with an event that entertains, educates and enriches our community,” said Monica McKeown, children’s services programmer at the Clark Pleasant library branch.
The idea for Hispanic Heritage Month Community Day was born from the imagination of the Spanish Honor Society at Whiteland. The student organization, found in schools across the country, is an academic honor society focused on Spanish language excellence. According to the club’s website, its purpose is to recognize high achievement in Spanish by students of secondary schools and to promote continuity of interest in Hispanic studies.
Founded by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese in 1953, the honor society spread to secondary schools throughout North America.
In Whiteland, the Spanish Honor Society was founded in 2018. Organizers called its chapter “El Guaraní,” which comes from an indigenous group in South America and means “warriors” — a fitting symmetry with the mascot of Whiteland Community High School.
The El Guaraní chapter meets the second Tuesday of each month to plan its activities. The group focuses on three pillars: learning about and spreading the Hispanic culture, excelling academically and service.
“A lot of what we do is volunteering. We’re very involved; we like to do a lot of different things and help as many people as we can,” Adams said.
Members have volunteered at events such as FIESTA Indianapolis, one of the area’s biggest Hispanic celebrations, as well as at school and community events.
Hispanic Heritage Month is one of their most active times, as they put up displays in school, march with Hispanic country flags through the hallway and put on a number of other activities for students.
They also work closely with the Johnson County Public Library. That connection helped birth the Community Day.
The event got its start after Whiteland’s Spanish Honor Society was named National Chapter of the Year by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. In addition to being a prestigious recognition for the group and the school as a whole, it also came with a grant to support organization activities.
Honor society members had decided to find ways to expand outside the walls of the high school and be more impactful in the community.
“We feel like the biggest need in our community is education and spreading some of the wealth of knowledge we have, making that more accessible to other people,” Adams said.
Adams contacted McKeown over the summer, who had worked with the honor society many times in the past. Together, they devised a community event that would be planned by the Spanish Honor Society and hosted by the library.
“One of the things they really wanted to do was have, not necessarily an information fair, but to educate the community about Hispanic heritage. They wanted to make it something for all ages — having stuff that’s fun for kids, but also have things for adults too,” McKeown said.
The event is designed to share the beauty of Hispanic culture in a fun, welcoming and approachable way. Spanish students from Whiteland will be creating tri-folds offering a wealth of information of Spanish-speaking countries.
Spanish Honor Society students will give demonstrations and performances, offering people the chance to learn traditional dance. Visitors can created Hispanic crafts such as marigolds and paper skeletons, play games and try different baked goods.
Throughout the day, the club will hang piñatas and let people take a whack at them.
Being housed at the library, the event also is heavy on literacy. Attendees can explore bilingual books, walk along a bilingual pop-up StoryWalk and learn about library services to learn a new language will allow guests to immerse themselves at their own pace.
“It’s going to be a pretty packed event,” Adams said.
IF YOU GO
Hispanic Heritage Month Community Day
What: A celebration of Hispanic heritage featuring food, crafts, dance and more, created in partnership between the Spanish Honor Society at Whiteland Community High School and the Johnson County Public Library.
When: 12:30-3:30 p.m. Oct. 4
Where: Clark Pleasant library, 350 Clearwater Blvd., Whiteland
Cost: Free
Information: pageafterpage.org/hispanic-heritage-month
