Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Arriving at El Lago del Bosque, a Concordia Language Immersion Village in Minnesota this past summer, was like stepping into another world for Harpeth Hall sophomore Elizabeth Lefler and junior Shreya Priyadarshi.

While many students view the summer holiday as a time to take a break from classes, for Elizabeth and Shreya, it became an opportunity to delve deeper into their academic studies by immersing in Spanish language, culture, food, and history.

For a month this past summer, they attended over 180 hours of advanced Spanish classes focused on vocabulary and grammar joining students from Montgomery Bell Academy at El Lago del Bosque as part of MBA’s Wilson Grant, which encourages students to spend their summers exploring and furthering the intellectual passions they have developed at school.

The students at El Lago learned various accents, phrases, and cultural differences between Hispanic countries taught by counselors from around the globe. For meals, they tried Spanish paella, Mexican tamales and frijoles, and even asado argentino, an authentic Argentinian barbecue dish, opening their senses to the tastes of Hispanic countries. During free times, they could try their hand at fútbol or learn traditional dances such as the Argentine tango and Spanish flamenco.

All the while, Elizabeth and Shreya strengthened their Spanish language skills, allowing them to start the new school year more

confident about their abilities.

“Along with the lifelong friendships and learning experiences we made from this immersion, we enjoyed every moment of our learning experience,” said Elizabeth.

Together, they shared their experience at El Lago del Bosque with their peers at Harpeth Hall’s National Hispanic Heritage Month all-school assembly celebration.

National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, recognizes the contributions, culture, and history of the American Latino community.

During the student-led assembly, middle and upper school students joined Elizabeth and Shreya in sharing what they learned in classes and ended the event with a school-wide sing-a-long celebrating Spanish music and dance.

"It is important to recognize the excellence, resilience and resistance of the Hispanic and Latino communities as we join them in celebrating their heritage and value their accomplishments in our Harpeth Hall community and our city," said upper school Spanish teacher Bela Lodygensky.

Harpeth Hall’s recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month continued throughout campus in the last few weeks as Spanish classes worked together to share Hispanic history and culture with the school.

In Spanish 4, students created Spanish-language biographies and infographics of accomplished and famous Latinos in the United States and posted them throughout the upper school. Students in other Spanish classes then took part in a bingo-style scavenger hunt to find and learn about as many of these cultural leaders as possible.

In Spanish 5, students prepared lessons for their peers to celebrate Hispanic cultures across Latin America. Each student chose a different country to research and create materials for use in other Spanish classrooms, including lessons on the country and culture, short readings, games and activities.

And across campus, students created vibrant chalk drawings that represented Tapetes. In Mexican culture, Tapetes are created for Día

de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. At Harpeth Hall, students created their Tapetes on the sidewalks around Souby.

Each fall, National Hispanic Heritage month affords students the opportunity to learn more about the significant cultural contributions of Latino Americans throughout our history.