M-A’s Intercultural Leadership class hosted its third annual Sabor Latino event on the Green last Friday. The night was a major success, filled with lively music, varieties of traditional Latin food, and interactive activities spread throughout.
“The main focus of this year’s event was building on our event from last year, which included a big shift to the Green,” sophomore and Intercultural Leadership student Elize Crowe said. “We have a lot of amazing food, including tacos from Leo Castellanos-Ruiz and his family business.” The event also featured lines of tables filled with besitos de coco cookies, tres leches, and strawberry cake, as well as agua fresca made by students and teachers.
The night started with an intense game of musical chairs. Attendees enjoyed dancing around a circle of chairs to traditional Latin music, creating tense competition between participants. Cheers and screams of laughter rang throughout the Green as students and staff started eliminating each other from the game.
Senior Genesis Gomez commented on the purpose of Sabor Latino. “It’s here for Hispanics to be seen, and it was made because every other dance at M-A had no Hispanic music playing until the very end of the event. Now, this is the time for our community to enjoy our music and our culture at a school dance,” she said.
As more people started arriving, piñatas full of sweet traditional candy were hung from the rooftop of the D-Wing for attendees to smash. Crowds of students, teachers, and families cheered them on. Caballo Dorado, a traditional line dance, also took place shortly after on the stage. In addition, attendees played soccer on the Green and chatted with friends while eating their food.
“It’s the third year we are hosting this event, and it was started by a collaborative effort between our LUMA groups, Intercambio, and Leadership. It’s very special to put and host an event together like this annually at M-A,” Karina Flores, head of Intercultural Leadership, said.
Junior Hailey Preuss, another planner of the event, enjoyed collaborating with other clubs to gather ideas and improve the event. “I loved reaching out to clubs and hearing their ideas. We got to talk to Mr. Nelson’s students to figure out how to change this event for the better,” she said. “We have a great selection of food here that all looks delicious. I think it’s a special event for everyone to come together, and it’s just really fun to be able to host every year.”
The night ended with karaoke with students gathering in a group on the Green’s stage to sing-along to “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” and “La Chona,” among many other songs.
“As a LUMA advisor, one of the things we always hear from our students is that they want more cultural events where the music that is played is the same music that they listen to at home or at family gatherings. To have something like that here at M-A that actually makes it happen is so special for not only students, but also for staff as well,” staff member Maribel Maldonado said.
