Hispanic Heritage month is lively and joyous for the Hispanic community and its people. Starting from September 15th to October 15th, this is the month where the Hispanic community thrives and celebrates their people and culture. Here at OCSA we have an annual Hispanic Heritage show where students showcase their culture to their peers and parents through an after-school event full of Hispanic food for everyone to enjoy, along with music showcasing the music of Latinoamerica.

This year the event will take place on October 21st, and because of the damage caused by Hurricane Ian to the auditorium this year both the performances and the Fiesta will take place in the expo hall. Both the school entrance doors and expo hall doors will open around 6:00pm, and the show will start at 6:30pm. Admission will be $5 dollars, the Hispanic Heritage shirts are available for purchase at Mrs. Marrero’s classroom for $15 dollars, and admission for the “Fiesta”, the after event where food and music will be provided, will be $5 dollars. The week of October 21st is planned to be a spirit week leading up to the show that evening on Friday.

“The whole week we’re going to have a different experience every day, were going to have a dance competition, la Murga which is some sort of carnival from Argentina…were going to have karaoke and were going to have a day were the students are going to dress up like the colors of their flag from a Hispanic country” explains Lizette Marrero.

Mrs. Marrero, the AP Spanish and Spanish 1 teacher, is in charge of arranging the show every year.  She created the show around 15 years ago and ever since then she’s been the one in charge of organizing it. She gets help from staff to prepare the event and has some of the art teachers help by contributing with performances for the day of the event, as well as opening up spots for students to prepare their own pieces and performances to showcase their cultures to their peers.

“Mrs. Gonazlez [the other Spanish teacher], and many of my other colleagues of the arts are also collaborating with performance…Mr. Olivo helped me with the design and the artwork of the t-shirt and the program, Mr. Molineaux is putting together a piece, Mrs. Heugas a dance, Mr. Anderson with the band, the jazz band A, he’s putting together another piece, and Mrs. Testa is also putting another piece for the performances” says Mrs. Marrero.

The students in Mrs. Marreros Spanish class have the liberty of helping her out the week of the show. They decorate the expo hall by putting up Hispanic countries’ flags and setting up tables with decorations inspired by these countries. This year we have The Spanish Honor Society and Latinos in Action helping with the whole celebration. In addition, there’s lot more effort put into the show as they have the liberty to have the Fiesta after the show in the expo hall and provide the people with dinner.

“Even though Hispanic heritage month starts in the 15th in September [and] ends on October 15th, we never end celebrating our culture, we never end doing what we do in our society and in our community so there’s always a good reason to celebrate our culture in the Hispanic world” explains Mrs. Marrero. There is a great deal of work into this show by Mrs. Marrero and students, so make sure you save the date and go support them!