Branch Bears celebrated the Hispanic culture of many students and employees during the first ever Hispanic Heritage Kermés event during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Kindergarten bilingual teacher Leslie Inami, who is from Peru and wore a traditional Peruvian outfit to the celebration, told The Eagle newspaper that she organized the event to celebrate the school's bilingual community. Amy Bruner, principal at Branch, said at least one-third of the school's 615 students are in bilingual classes and programs.
"We were kind of a bit shy about it, but now I think our community deserves to have this kind of exposure," she told The Eagle. "Our families and our students really enjoy these kinds of events and we really want to connect the fun with school and pride. ... We want everyone to be aware and feel proud of where they are coming from and share our culture together."
Countries represented at the celebration included Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Puerto Rico, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
"We have a large Hispanic population," Bruner said. "The cool thing about our Hispanic population is that it is very diverse as we have students from all over. We wanted to do this because we wanted to showcase a lot of the different things in our community that our families are a part of, our students are involved in, so it has been really fun to see them all come out to be a part of this.”
The event included performances by Ballet Folklórico and Salsa Fusion, games and activities and vendors with Hispanic goods and foods to purchase. Proceeds will go back to the school and help fund the second annual Hispanic Heritage Kermés next year.
For more photos, go to the Branch Facebook page.