LAHSO club gathers to watch Disney’s ‘Encanto’
LAHSO and Allie’s members watch the Disney movie “Encanto.” Photo by Amy Arias Quijano.
April 14, 2022
This article was submitted by Amy Arias Quijano (10, J&C).
Manual’s Latino and Hispanic Student Organization (LAHSO) came together to celebrate Women’s History Month by watching the Disney movie “Encanto” during their March 18 meeting.
LAHSO and Allies is a club dedicated to bringing together Manual’s Hispanic students and creating a safe space for them to share and discuss their different backgrounds, histories and cultures without judgment. The movie Encanto, based on a Colombian family, portrays some of the hardships that Hispanic and Latino children go through.
The club members came together to enjoy the film and sing along to the soundtrack, including Vice President Andres Aguirre’s (12, MST) favorite song from the movie, “Waiting on a Miracle.”
LAHSO, as opposed to other duPont Manual clubs, was actually founded by a teacher rather than a student. Señora Ana Castro (Spanish) says that she started the club due to a lack of Hispanic representation within the Manual community.
“I saw that there were Hispanic students that didn’t have a place, didn’t have representation, and so I started looking for Hispanic students that wanted to be part of this organization; that’s how LAHSO was born,” Castro said.
While the club was created to connect the community of Manual’s Hispanic students, it is open to anybody that would like to join.
LAHSO doesn’t only help Manual’s Hispanic students find each other, but the club also provides leadership opportunities and has partnered with other organizations and places such as La Casita, Backside Learning Center and the University of Louisville that advocate for undocumented students.
“What we want is to help the Hispanic community—to give leadership opportunities to Hispanics and drive donations,” Castro said.
LAHSO has even provided information to their club members about college and scholarship opportunities.
“A lot of times, Hispanic and Latino students’ parents have no idea how the application or scholarship process is managed in the United States, so we also help with that by giving information to our students,” Castro said.
The next and final LAHSO and Allies meeting will take place after school on April 15th in Room 233. For more information on LAHSO and Allies, contact Ms. Castro in Room 233.
