USC Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

USC Spanish Club Hosts Bingo, Trivia, and More

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Julia Roeschenthaler, Editor in Chief

On October 11th, the Upper St. Clair Spanish Club hosted an after-school event in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, a celebration of the Hispanic community that lasts from September 15th to October 15th. The month of commemoration, which begins on September 15th in order to acknowledge countries like Mexico and El Salvador’s independence days, celebrated on and around said date, was designated a national time of celebration by President George H.W. Bush in 1989. The celebration was created to highlight the accomplishments of the Hispanic community (in the U.S. specifically, as it is an American holiday) as well as the various cultures that compose said group.

USC Spanish Club celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by sharing an informative video that highlighted the difference between the term “Hispanic” and “Latin@/Latinx” as well as a Kahoot that provided facts about Hispanic Heritage Month’s origins, the United States’ Hispanic community, and how students of all backgrounds and communities can celebrate. Students then participated in traditional Mexican bingo, known as La Lotería, which includes a variety of Spanish terms ranging from el pino, meaning pine tree, to la sirena, meaning siren. Instead of bingo chips, players use dried beans to cover their respective squares.

Ileana Berkoski, an officer of USC Spanish Club, shared that she thought the event went incredibly well, stating that “we had a lot of people show up, which is great.” She also recounted her view of the importance of hosting such events: “I think it’s a great way to teach people about Hispanic Heritage Month, and I hope we can have similar events in the future.”

Andrew Rosello, an Upper St. Clair senior who attended the event, expressed that it taught him a great deal about Hispanic Heritage Month as well as the American-Hispanic community in general. He shared that participating in La Lotería was also a very interesting way to experience fun cultural practices, and that he was “excited for future Spanish Club events.”

Luckily, the Upper St. Clair Spanish Club is already in the process of planning their next event, with hopes to organize an activity for the Day of the Dead, which takes place on November 1st and 2nd. With the large turnout for Spanish Club’s Hispanic Heritage Month event, and the positive feedback that came in only days after the event’s occurrence, it is more than likely that students across all grade levels will be in attendance of future club activities and continue to expand their knowledge of the Spanish language, cultures of Hispanic nations and regions, and aforementioned topics’ important roles in the daily life of Upper St. Clair students.