Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy and La Voz Latina Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

On Thursday, October 10, 2019, students, families, and educators at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (HMTCA) celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month. Joining HMTCA families were students from Trinity College’s La Voz Latina and Compass Youth Collaborative, which helped organized the event.

With nearly half of HMTCA students identifying as Latinx/Hispanic, the celebration offered a variety of activities to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month. A major highlight of show was a dance performance by HMTCA students (pictured to right). Directed by Ms. Carmen Rivera, the group of young ladies danced a Dominican merengue and a classic Puerto Rican plena entitled, “Cortaron a Elena.”

Reflecting on the performance, Ms. Rivera stated, “For me it was a great opportunity to teach this group, because even though they are Hispanics (most of them), they didn’t have a chance to do this before.  They were so excited to dance in front of the crowd…I am very proud of them.” Also, Ms. Rivera hopes that the students will get other chances to perform.

In addition to the dance performance, students read poems, a parent shared a brief salsa dance lesson, and organizers shared a variety of Puerto Rican and Peruvian dishes.

Adding to the celebration, Trinity College students from the group La Voz Latina offered a “papel picado” demonstration, which is a form of Mexican folk art that uses tissue paper and repetitive designs to create wall hangings (pictured to left).

Leading the Trinity College group was the President of La Voz Latina and senior, Neve Rivera T ’20 (pictured above first on left). Neve stated that it was an honor to participate in the event and that it was important that HMTCA’s Latinx “students and staff are provided support and resources to learn about and celebrate their culture.”

Neve also shared that, “La Voz Latina’s mission is to increase the awareness of Latinx/Hispanic heritage, politics, and social issues by providing educational programming to students and residents of the greater Hartford. As a student-led Latinx organization so close to HMTCA, La Voz Latina strives to be an asset to the school by inspiring and encouraging young students to also engage in various topics of their culture. We hope to serve as a support system for HMTCA students to take pride in who they are and explore the beauty of their cultural heritage.” 

This small collaboration complemented the focus on multiculturalism and multilingualism in the renewed partnership agreement between HMTCA and Trinity College. Read about the partnership here.