Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated throughout Central and South America from September 15 to October 15. Across the United States there is a movement during this month to acknowledge contributions made by the Hispanic community; many Sequoia High School students with Hispanic heritage take this time to reflect on the importance and connection to their culture.
Many teachers at Sequoia include Hispanic history into their curriculum during Hispanic Heritage Month and throughout the school year. Many feel this education is especially crucial as it gives students more knowledge of their history and culture.
“Hispanics today are people of Spanish or European descent and indigenous descent. I think it’s extremely important for students to learn about their culture, whatever it is, not just their Latino culture. If you’re an Asian student, you should know about your Asian cultural roots. If you’re an Arabic student, you should know about your roots too,” history teacher Juan Duran said.
Another teacher agrees that it’s important for students to learn about their history because Hispanic people greatly contribute to our country in many ways. When students learn about these contributions, they feel proud of who they are.
“I knew what my family told me, but my peers had never heard anything good about Mexicans. And so I think it’s so important that we cover these topics,” history teacher Jesse Bustos said. “If I had more knowledge, I think I would have had more pride and more people would have appreciated the contributions of my family.”
According to the National Center for Farmworker Health, 70% of farmworkers in the U.S. are Latino. Outside the U.S., Global Agriculture claims Latino farmworkers produce 80% of food in the world.
Duran gives more insight on this.
“Most farmworkers are Latino/a descent, and farmworkers are feeders so they put food on our table. So, I think that students should feel proud of their backgrounds. And most definitely, teachers should teach them,” Duran said.
A student agrees with Duran and tells us why she was thankful for her experience learning about Hispanic and Latino history in an IB History class.
“I learned about Cesar Chavez and the boycotts. A lot of our parents don’t actually really teach us about our history. So if we’re able to get some knowledge of it through school, it’s actually very important,” senior Sophia Tabarez said.
Many students are able to connect to their histories outside class by visiting the Latin American countries their families immigrated from. Tabarez adds that this has been her experience.
“My parents are also immigrants from Mexico. So I’m very close to the history and my Hispanic identity,” Tabarez said. “I visit Mexico every year so I actually am able to see my aunts, cousins and uncles that are still in Mexico and I get to learn a little bit more about our culture every year.”
Freshman Braulio Ac Chim mentions he spent an extended period of time in Mexico with their family.
“My parents were born in Yucatán. My brother was also born in California but moved only with my mom to Mexico for a year before coming back. I was born here in California, Redwood City,” freshman Braulio Ac Chim said.