Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA

The Government Palace in Mexico City during the month of September in order to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day.

Hello everyone, Claudia Sadowski here. We are officially in the month of September, which means that Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA is fast approaching. This celebration started back in 1968 when Lyndon Johnson was the President of the US. At this point, the celebration only lasted one week long.  However, in 1988 President Ronald Reagan officially expanded this yearly celebration to cover an entire month, from September 15^th to October 15^th.

Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA is celebrated mainly, but not limited to, people from every place in the world that comes from Hispanic background.

As a matter of fact, during this month, some of the following counties celebrate their Independence: Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, etc. Additionally, Día de la Raza, also known as Columbus Day, is celebrated on October 12^th, thus, this date is already taken under account as part of the celebration.       

In the United States, every academic institution celebrates differently, and some institutions do not celebrate it at all. Some of institutions that decide to celebrate, do it by choosing a specific day where students and instructors gather and have a program in which they are presented with different facts explaining how Hispanic heritage is portrayed in the USA. Other institutions have various weekly or daily activities related to the topic.  For example, some of my students have an assignment to find out about Hispanic influential people in the USA. Other groups have presentations in the classroom dedicated to explain how each Hispanic country celebrates their independence. As part of their presentation, I assign them to come up with an art and/or craft from the country they are representing.  Some students make flags and explain what the colors of the flags mean, other students bring food that represents that country or that is typical to prepare around this time of the year to celebrate their patriotic events. Some students share videos that explain what this celebration is about and how people celebrate in specific geographical areas that are predominantly of Hispanic backgrounds. Festivals, shows, parades, etc., are just a few examples students share in the classroom due to their research on this topic. 

As you see, the ideas are unlimited on how to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA. How do you celebrate in your institution? Do you have any ideas to share with us? 

Should you like more information about this celebration you may also go to the following website: http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov/