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William Paca Middle School recently celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a variety of activities designed to recognize Hispanic and Latino cultures, honor their histories and contributions, and strengthen connections throughout the school community.
Victoria Freitas’s winning artwork, “Unidos Somos Mas” or “Together, We Are More.” Click to view more photos!
A highlight of this year’s celebration was the school’s annual Hispanic Heritage Month poster contest. The winning entry, “Unidos Somos Mas,” was created by seventh grader Victoria Freitas. Sixth grader Josue Pinto Flores earned runner-up honors. The contest provided students with an opportunity to express their cultural pride while showcasing their outstanding artistic talents.
Throughout the celebration, students participated in engaging activities in the school cafeteria, including voting for their favorite poster, completing vocabulary-matching challenges, and playing a flag recognition game. Some students demonstrated an impressive ability to identify flags from around the world in record time.
Staff members also showed their support by wearing Hispanic Heritage Month apparel, which students enthusiastically noticed and connected with through their own cultural experiences.
The annual celebration has become a meaningful opportunity for students to see familiar aspects of their home lives and cultures reflected at William Paca Middle School. Over the past several years, students have demonstrated great enthusiasm for this event, using it as a springboard for conversations, cultural appreciation, and stronger relationships among members of the school community.
About Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month takes place from September 15 to October 15 and serves as a yearly celebration of Hispanic and Latino history, culture and influence in the United States. The specific span of dates that Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated on were chosen because they coincide with the celebration of Independence Day in several Latin American countries. This tradition began in 1968 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a week-long celebration into law before President Ronald Reagan expanded the celebration into its current month-long format in 1988.
