For Spanish teacher Bonnie Baxter,Hispanic Heritage Month is just business as usual.
In Baxter's classroom at West Ouachita High School, instruction about different Hispanic cultures is not limited to Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, which was named Hispanic Heritage Month by Congress and President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Rather, she has her students explore Hispanic and Latinx cultures throughout the school year as they learn the language.
Baxter has a series of 10 TED Talks she plans to show to her students.The first one is of Chilean author Isabel Allende, a world-renowned author, speaking about how to live passionately at any age. All of the Ted Talk speakers identify as either Hispanic or Latinx, however, none of them directly address the commemorative month.
"It's not the topic, it's the perspective," Baxter reminded her students. "So keep that in mind."
Senior Kari Crumleysaid learning the language would not have been as interesting without also learning about people who speak it.
"Once you know about the culture, you really get interested into that, 'Oh, people live their lives like this,'" Crumleysaid. "People speak the language that I'm speaking."
Baxter said she also emphasizes Hispanic and Latinx cultures in her lessons because many of her students, like Crumley, have never travelled outside the country.On top of this, she said the student population is not overwhelmingly diverse. In Ouachita Parish,the Hispanic or Latino population makes up3.5% of the overall population, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. By incorporating lessons about culture, Baxter helps her students see beyond their own bubbles.
"There's so many other cultures that we don't know about because we just haven't learned about it," said senior Ashley Rowton. "And once you start learning, it's like you realize there's just so much more to the world than what you do or what you see."
Baxter's students become exposed to variouscultures through learning about new holidays and clarifying misconceptions about well-known ones. Rowton remembers hearing about Tió de Nadal, Catalan Christmas tradition involving hitting a log, and Baxter tells her students about how Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day.
Toward the beginning of Spanish 1, Baxter teaches her students about how greetings in Hispanic and Latinxcountries differ from those in the United States. Baxter said this lesson is important because she herself experienced culture shock during a homestay in Mexico. Though she is used to having her own physical bubble, her host mom pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek, a common way of greeting someone. By relating this to her students, she said it helps them to be respectful of other customs.
In the spring, Baxter usually brings in lessons about food to help her students realize that tacos are not all there is toLatin food. Each student will pick a dish from a different country to try making themselves. In the past, students have made pico de gallo, horchata and pupusas. For some recipes, Baxter said students have had to branch out beyond their local supermarketand visit a Latin American specialty grocery to get what they needed. Once everyone makes their dish, theybring them in to share with the class.
"I tell them it's OKnot to like something," Baxter said. "It's not OK to be rude about it, but it's OK not to like something. But give it a try."
The students also learn about famous Hispanic people throughout history. Crumley remembers hearing about Selenaand how many of her peers didn't know who the singer was.
Selena wasone of the most influential Latin artists of all time and is credited for introducing Tejano music into themainstreammarket. She was murdered in 1995 at age 23, and remains an icon in Latin music.
"Wedidn't know that she even died," Crumleysaid. "We'd never heard her songs, and then we read a whole book. We got so enveloped in her story that we were just like devoted to watching when the TV show came out on Netflix. We weren't assigned to watch it, but we were all addicted."
Baxter said her students walk away from her classes with more than just an expanded view of the world.Some learn how to study because her class isn't like other subjects students have taken in the past, which then helps prepare them for life in college.They learn soft skills like empathy and how to communicate with others.
Rowton said her time in Spanish class made her more open minded. It has also helped her think more about her own heritage, being one-quarter Hispanic, living in Northeast Louisiana.
Baxter teaches about 120 students across six different classes for Spanish 1 and 2. She previously taught dual enrollment classes through the University of Louisiana Monroe, but due to dwindling numbers, Baxter said there is not a dual enrollment class this year. Since both Crumleyand Rowton already took both levels of Spanish, they hope to take more Spanish classes when they get to college.
"I have so many memories in this class," Crumleysaid. "Imiss it."
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