By Iman Bakhit
Staff Writer
Costa’s Latino Scholars Union club hosted the first Hispanic Heritage assembly in the auditorium on Oct. 26 during second period.
The assembly featured an authentic mariachi band, retired National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut John Olivas, and traditional folkloric Mexican dancers. Latino Scholars Union Club President Senior Natalie Mejia organized the assembly.
“I’ve always enjoyed going to the Black History Month assemblies,” Mejia said. “I had always wished for a Latino assembly to celebrate our heritage, so when I became President of the Latino Scholars Union, I proposed the idea to Dr. Dale.”
The mariachi band that played during the opening of the assembly was led by Rodrigo Rodriguez and his Mariachi Romanza. This mariachi originates from Morelos, Mexico and travels through California and South America.
Rodrigo Rodriguez Music – Mariachi Romanza official website.
“Folklore is not written, it comes from an oral tradition,” Rodriguez said. “We make our music as authentic as possible, with a flexibility that let us improvise and arrange the bases established by a great culture.”
After the band performance, retired astronaut John Olivas spoke about his tips to achieving success as well as his life story working with NASA. He shared his story as a Hispanic-American astronaut and how his passion for space eventually took him there.
“I’m really happy to say that I had an opportunity to fly in space as a Hispanic-American,” Olivas said. “Actually, I was only one of seven at the time that flew that had Hispanic descent.”
In addition, four dancers in traditional Jalisco folklorico dresses danced to Baile folklorico, a folkloric dance that originates from Mexico and Central America. The dance was led by the owner of the non-profit organization Nuestra Raíces Areglia Andrade.
“I direct Nuestras Raíces which is a small cultural arts center in the city of Gardena,” Andrade said. “It’s where students learn Mexican dance, music, and where the community works collaboratively to advance access to higher education by providing performance, cultural, and educational opportunities for our students.”
Nuestra Raíces official website.
The Latino Scholars Union Club is planning a community service project in the future, with its benefits going into hearing aids that will be provided to deaf children in rural Mexican cities. They will also be forming their annual Relay For Life team, Team Adiós Cáncer.
“Overall, I think we had a very successful assembly,” Mejia said. “Everything had ran smoothly just as we had planned, and we had received so many compliments afterwards, altogether I’m just happy that we made this happen.”
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