In Conversation: A Spotlight on Hispanic Heritage Month
Pictured above: Spanish Teacher, Robbie Harrison with seventh- and eighth-grade students on Mackworth Island, joined by guest speaker, Lucia Rico.
by Robbie Harrison, Spanish Teacher, and Brooke Burkett, Development Director
In Spanish class, students are learning about and from cultural leaders as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
Lucia Rico, a Peruvian-American who lives in Portland, spoke with seventh- and eighth-grade students in her native Spanish, shared some of her experiences, and answered their questions in Spanish. Students practiced introducing themselves in Spanish. The conversation centered around Lucia’s experience of being a Peruvian-American Mainer for 26 years, as well as her run for a seat on the Portland Public School board. Students asked questions like:
“What’s your favorite Peruvian food?”
“Where do you go in Portland to feel most at home?”
“What is different about living on the coast in Maine versus the coast in Peru?”
The following week, Peruvian-American filmmaker Victoria Chicón visited fifth- and sixth-grade students. Jarana Peruana, a documentary film about the Uruguay-Perú soccer game that brought Perú to the World Cup in Spain in 1982, was shown in class. It was now a treat to meet the filmmaker. Victoria’s career has included several short films about Peruvian art and culture.
Pictured above: Spanish Teacher, Robbie Harrison with fifth and sixth-grade students joined by guest speaker, Victoria Chicón.
While Lucia is from Lima (on the southern coast of Perú), Victoria is from the north of the country and identifies as a Chinese-Peruvian Tallán woman who now lives in Westbrook, Maine! (“Tallán” is an indigenous group from the northeastern plains of Perú.)
Victoria shared about the Peruvian cities of Cusco and Lima, about fútbol, about the different regions of Perú more generally (coast, mountains, jungle), and the more than 60 indigenous languages spoken in the country. Students' questions (in Spanish) focused on the logistics for filming the professional soccer game:
How big is the national stadium?
Where were you seated?
Who won the game?
Did you ever get hit by the ball?
¡Muchas gracias, Lucia y Victoria!