Meadow Hill School Celebrates Patria Latina!

Meadow Hill School has previously celebrated the “Cinco de Mayo” event for many years as an opportunity to acknowledge the Spanish Heritage at the school.  This year the teachers decided to change the name of the celebration to “Patria Latina”.  This was a very conscientious decision since it was noted the growth of the student population had changed from a Mexican dominant perspective to a very mixed Latin American.  We have many students now representing countries like Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Peru to name a few.

Even though the name of the celebration changed, the format of the celebration did not! Each grade level did a unique presentation highlighting the diversity of the school community. The first class to take the stage was Mrs. Valentin-Garcia’s Kindergarten class which sang and danced to the song “Echa Pa’lla” by Pitbull.  It  was followed by Miss. Melendez’s  first grade class singing and dancing to the song “Vivir Mi Vida”,  by Marc Anthony.  Mrs. Nieves’ second grade class presented a short Digital Story Telling video where her student’s narrated and illustrated the story of Ferdinand. Our third grade ENL class presented a short play called: “Patria What?”. Mrs. Rodriguez-Rivera’s class used the stage to explain why the students should be proud to celebrate their Latin Heritage.  Mrs. LiVolsi’s fourth grade class delighted us with many Spanish tongue twisters!  Our last presentation was a wonderful authentic Pre-Columbian Dance: Luna Caracol by Jorge Reyes.  This dance, with costumes was done by our 5th grade class, directed by their teacher Mr. Martinez.

In addition, Mr. Dennis Camt, Principal of Meadow Hill, took the opportunity to acknowledge and present to formal MHS bilingual students currently on the Honor Roll - 8 of them achieving the distinction all 3 marking periods - with a certificate of Academic Excellence. Mrs.Gloria Figueroa, Kindergarten Bilingual Teacher Assistant, was also honored for her many years of service to MHS. She is retiring in June and will be missed by all!

At the end of our talent gala presented by the students and all acknowledgements were done, it was the parents turn to shine!  The parents brought typical native foods and desserts from various countries for all to enjoy such as: tacos dorados, empanadas, pozoles, tinga, enchiladas, arroz con gandules, arepas, tamales… the list goes on! MHS encourages our latino scholars to continue being change agents in and outside of the classroom maximizing their learning! Thank you to every community member and families for their ongoing support!

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!