¡feliz dia! Hispanic Heritage Month is in September, and what better way to celebrate than honoring students who have Latinx heritage? The Diversity Club, in honor of Hispanic heritage, has put up a board next to the school’s entrance showing these unique heritages. From Brazil to Spain, Seabury has a wide range of countries represented.

The idea for this board came from senior Gabriella Aubel, who is a member of the Diversity Club. She got this idea from Snapchat of all places. “I found out on Snapchat through a geotag that it was National Hispanic Heritage Month,” says Aubel, “so I sent out a text to the Diversity [Club] Groupme, and I was like, ‘We should do something with this,’ because I know at the meeting a few Fridays ago, we were talking about how we really wanted to include Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month and do something with those, and so I brought up the idea and Mrs. McCaffery came the next day with a really good plan to do the board, and from there, it was pretty much all her.” As with all projects, she learned a lot from the undertaking: “It was really interesting to me to hear about other people. I didn’t know [seventh Grader Raphael Queiroz] was Brazilian, and obviously, I’m also Brazilian . . . so it was nice to see that we have another Brazilian person at the school. Of the project in general, says Aubel, “I think it’s a good way to celebrate our cultures and put things in perspective because these are people we see here every day.”

Freshman Sofia Gonzalez, whose family hails from Spain and Venezuela, says, “I think that the Hispanic heritage board is an opportunity for Hispanic heritage to be highlighted and [the board] opens up doors for conversations about different cultures. By bringing attention to Hispanic heritage, it celebrates not only the diversity of different Spanish cultures but also celebrates diversity as a whole.”

On the same topic, freshman Pancho Metz, who has ancestors from Brazil, says, “I think this board is a nice addition to the school. It shows how much diversity there is in such a small community. Plus, you also get to see where all of the people are from. It would also be nice for touring students and families to see all the diversity at Seabury.”

Sixth-grader Xavier Cooper, however, who is Bolivian, has a different perspective: “I think that I should not be honored for not being white. I think people of other skin tones than white shouldn’t be honored for not being white but should be honored for being human. I get that you want to respect different cultures, but you’re doing it in a way of pointing them out from the rest of the school.”

In the future, the Diversity Club wants to continue to honor students with minority heritage. Soon, the board will switch over for American Indian Heritage Month, honoring even more students’ ancestry and celebrating Seabury’s diversity.