Spanish 300 students celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by topping off research with artistic flair. “We are working to be more thoughtful in our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month,” said Kelly Weidenmiller, Upper School World Languages Teacher. “The 300 level classes learned about the history of the celebration and then worked in groups to research a Spanish-speaking country, including its flag, capital, cultural products/iconic parts of their culture.”
Ethan Waymire ’25 enjoyed learning more about the Dominican Republic. “I thought that the project helped me learn a lot about a country I thought I already knew quite a bit about,” he said. “I was able to learn more about the types of food, dancing, and activities there.”
The students were then challenged to work in pairs or small groups to design a sidewalk square in preparation for a chalk art activity. Each square portrayed one country and some of its cultural attributes.
“We wanted our students to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month visually with our community because images transcend the language barriers,” explained Robin Begley, Upper School World Languages Teacher.
“My country was Bolivia and it was really cool seeing another culture and reading about their different foods, flowers, and animals,” said Lily Pickett ’26.
Finally, the time to create was at hand. Students in both classes had gorgeous weather to translate their designs to the sidewalks behind May Hall and near Founders Court. They selected days during Spirit Week, leading up to the weekend’s events. “We chose to do it during Homecoming week both as a fun way to celebrate MICDS and because so many people would be on campus for the festivities and see their artwork,” said Weidenmiller. “We wanted to educate others and help them not only know that it is Hispanic Heritage Month, but also maybe walk away with learning a little something in the process.”
“The project itself was super fun as it let us be creative and allowed us to work together to produce a final product,” said Waymire.
Pickett collaborated thoughtfully. “Designing the square took a little bit of time because we wanted to embrace the culture, using different colors and design elements,” she said.
Maha Alyasiry ’26 agreed. “Creating art about Bolivia during Hispanic Heritage Month was a fun and enlightening experience, allowing me to showcase the vibrant culture and traditions of the country while learning about its rich heritage.”
“Riley [Crawford ’26] and I talked about how much fun it was to work in groups to explore a different topic than what we have been diving into during class,” said Cooper Myers ’26. “It was intriguing to learn about a different Spanish-speaking country’s culture and was overall a very fun, creative experience.”
If you weren’t on campus for Homecoming, you can check out our Spanish student artists’ work here!
Great job, Rams!