Quince Orchard High School Celebrates Diversity
People Around the World
Bimonthly Faculty Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 1
October 2007
Got Latino Pride? Oh Yeah!
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, our students and staff share unique aspects
of their identity and culture.
Guatemala
Did you know that about 17% of the students at QO identify as Hispanic?
Yet most of the students we interviewed identified first as Latino/ Latina. As of September 2007, the following represents the number of Hispanic students by native country:
Honduras
35 El Salvador, 19 Peru, 14 Honduras, 11 Columbia, 9 Bolivia, 8 Guatemala, 5 Ecuador, 5 Dominican Republic, 3 Mexico, 3 Uruguay, 2 Brazil, 2 Costa Rica, 2 Venezuela, 1 Chile
Guatemaltecan, “Chapin”:
One student says, “Latino to me means
that I am of the Latin race because I was
born in Central America.”
“In my country we speak Spanish and
K'iche (a Mayan language). The indigenous people are the Mayan Indians.”
“My country is special because of the
Ms. Cardona, Spanish symbol on our flag, the
culture, and the cultivation of tomatoes and
Teacher at QO
chilies.”
Ms. Cardona explains, “Hispanic to me means
I am not white or black or any other race. Also
it implies I speak Spanish. (My mother and husband are from Guatemala.)”
“Guatemala has a large population of Maya
Indians which makes our country unique. They
still dress distinctly. There
are many open air markets where you
can bargain. One of the largest Mayan
ruins, Tikal, is located in Peten, Guatemala.”
Dominicano:
“I am Latino, that means the people
Dominican girls at
carnival in Taíno garwho speak Spanish,” writes a student.
ments (Source:
“In Dominican Republic we have TaiWikipedia.org)
nos Indian people.” (According to the
CIA World Fact Book the population is 73% of Mixed race,
16% White and 11% Black.)
Dominican Republic
“Our country is special because of our music like merengue and bachata.” (Did you
know these two types of dancing originated
in the DR? For merengue dance lessons in
English:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=on4V1KN_Iuw)
Hondureño, “Catracho”:
“Latino to us means that we are of the Latin race; we are
from a Latin country,” report several students.
“We speak Spanish and Garifuna. The indigenous people
are the Mayan Indians.”
“Our country is special because of
our dialect of Spanish, the national
song, the flag, our colors, our typical
food, our dances including folk dances
like El Sueñito.” To watch a Honduran
folk dance go to this website: http://
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YgQy6wwijn4
Central American Students:
S a l v a d o r e ñ o ,
“Salvatrucho”:
Carlos Lainez, Jose Diaz, Erika Sanchez,
Misael Perez
“Latino means to me...my whole
life, who I am. It means we understand each
other.”
“Spanish is our official language and Nahuat is the indigenous language of the
Pipiles.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Pipil_language
pupusas
“What makes us different are the people,
our traditions, our food, especially pupusas (pictured on
the right) and tamales. Also our clothes and the folk
dances like El Comolito are different.” To read about regional folkdances of El Salvador in Spanish go here: http://
www.folklordeelsalvador.com/
DANZAS.htm
One female student writes:
“Soy de rasa latina y soy orgullosa
de serlo!”
I am of the Latin race and I am
proud to be this!
PAW links are LIVE when you view this online at http://esol.qohs.org/PAW/PAW.htm.
El Salvador
Columbia
Peruano:
“Hispanic, Latino and South
American are how I identify
myself. This means where I
come from, my customs and who I am!” says one
student.
“The languages of Peru are Spanish, Quechua
and other dialects. The native people are Incas.”
“What makes our country special are the food
like ceviche, arroz con pollo and lomo saltado.
Also there are the customs, the people, and the
places like Machu Piccu (one of the seven wonders of the world) and Nazca Lines.” Go here to
read about the Nazca Lines: http://www.lostcivilizations.net/inca-nazca-lines.html
Peru
Boliviano:
My identity is something
special. It’s like a gift
given by God. I’m proud Colombiano:
to be Latino. I’m proud ”I identify as Hispanic, Latino, and
to be Peruvian.
South American,” says a student.
The ethnic groups are Mestizos (Spanish +
Indian) about 60%, Mulattoes (Spanish+African)
12%, Zambos (Indian+African) 3%,
European unmixed -mostly Spaniard
20%, African unmixed 4% , and Indian unmixed 1%. The indigenous
people are the Carib, the Taironas,
located in the Caribbean lowlands,
Peruvian students the Tolimas, and Quimbayas. The
Evelin Soto and
Chibchas or Muiscas, known for
Evelin Cruz
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
their gold craftsmanship, are in
Columbian writer
the center of Colombia, and the Agustinian civilization is in the south . The Yukpa, who speak
Yukpa, are in northern Columbia ( http://www.nativelanguages.org/yukpa.htm). In response to
the question “What makes your country
special?” one student offers: “The people
in my country think that the family is the
most important thing. Also my country has
many places to go and each one is different
and beautiful. The people are so friendly.”
Chile
Quechua girl
(Source:
etribes.com)
“I identify as South American and it
means I am from there,” says a student.
“We speak Spanish, Quechua, Aymara and Guaraní.”
Actually there are more than 30 languages spoken in
Bolivia. There are many tribes of indigenous people. To
name a few, there are the Aymara. They inhabit the
basin area of Lake Titicaca basin in Peru
and Bolivia. For more information visit:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/
A0805519.html The Guarani
Bolivia
are also one of the largest
groups of native peoples.
“What makes our country different is the good food,
Salteñas-typical food
I mean the different
food.”
Chileano:
Another students explains, “I identify as Hispanic, Spanish
and Chilean. This means that I speak the second most spoken language and I’m bilingual. Some words we use are in
English or French.”
“The indigenous people are the Mapuches (below in the
picture).” To read more about the lifestyle of the Mapuche
go to this site:
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/
mapuche_chile.htm.
“My country is different and special because of our culture and our accent, and
also the personality of the people.”
Ecuadorian:
“I am Latino. This means I’m from South
America. I speak Spanish and I am proud of it!”
“We speak Spanish and Quechua. The people native to
Colombiano:
our country are the Incas.” For a good site about the Incas,
Ms. Weiss tells us about Columbians, “I
go here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/
identify myself as Colombiana. If I'm in
CIVAMRCA/INCAS.HTM
Europe I may say that I'm Iberoameri“What makes our country unique are the
cana and in the USA I could say
Galapagos Islands.” (To see a clip of the
Beatrice Weiss
Hispanoamericana...This identity ESOL Instructional Specialist, Imax film or to check out the Galapagos edumeans that I come from the most Parent Outreach Program cational site visit: http://www.imax.com/
(working with QO’s Spanish
beautiful country in the world!”
speaking students 8 years) galapagos/
Ecuador
For contributions, ideas and feedback, please contact Elizabeth Fuhrman (ESOL).
PAW issues are now available online at http://esol.qohs.org/PAW/PAW.htm.
A Quince Orchard High School ESOL Department Publication