Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 every year to recognize the achievements, history and culture of Hispanic people. The tradition began on Sept. 15 1968, to celebrate the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
It began as Hispanic Heritage Week, and was later expanded to become Hispanic Heritage Month in 1988.
At Manual, 4.3% of the school’s nearly 2,000 students identify as Hispanic or Latin American. Hispanic Heritage Month is most widely recognized at Manual by Latin American/Hispanic Student Organization and Allies, or LAHSO, a group with around 40 members.
Every school day of Hispanic Heritage month, a member of LAHSO came on the morning announcements after Dr. Newman. Each day, LAHSO shared a story of a hispanic person in history that many students may not know.
“The story I shared was about Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican woman in space. It was a very empowering story” Katharine Hernandez (11, VA) said.
Echazarreta became the first Mexican-born woman in space just two years ago in 2022, and at only 28 years old.
“When you ask anyone the first thing that comes to their head when thinking about Hispanic culture, it’s usually food or music,” LAHSO President Roselline Peralta Danger (12, HSU) said. “Sharing these stories on the announcements has been an amazing chance for us to show that our culture is so much more and so much richer than that.”
In addition to morning announcements, LAHSO hosts bi-weekly meetings during Hispanic Heritage month and the rest of the year. To celebrate, they decorated the library, held family feud trivia and had a guest professional to teach salsa dancing. The members of LAHSO who chose to participate in salsa dancing will perform at Manual’s Multicultural Fair during school on Nov. 26.
Outside of school, students use Hispanic Heritage Month to spend time with family and celebrate their culture. In the city community, they had the opportunity to visit Louisville Slugger Museum’s exhibits honoring hispanic players, the Latin Music Awards Kentucky and earlier in September, Worldfest.
“To me, Hispanic Heritage month represents our culture and shows achievements and history to people who might not know about it,” Daniel Miceli (10, VA) said.
LAHSO is a growing club, increasing from around 20 members last year to 40 this year, and they are always welcoming new members of any cultural background. To learn more, visit their Instagram.
