Hispanic Heritage Month 'kicks off' with soccer jamboree

To kick off National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Uniondale school district held its fourth annual Latinx Heritage Soccer Jamboree last weekend.

“My biggest goal always is that (students) feel that they are welcomed, that they are loved, that their culture is celebrated and that this is their home,” Estrella Olivares-Orellana, the district’s director of multilingual learners, said.

Bright and early on a sunny Saturday morning, Uniondale kids of all ages ran around the lawn of the Cornelius Court School, warming up with lunges and jumping jacks, and plenty of stretching, led by volunteers from the Uniondale Police Activity League, as music blared from speakers.

The students took turns at a variety of soccer drills, some running between poles and cones to shoot at a goal and others hopping in and out of horizontal ladder squares before kicking the ball.

The kids who weren’t playing soccer flocked to a craft table to make their own sombreros out of paper plates, plastic cups and pom-poms, and colored the flags of Latin American countries with markers.

District Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil said she had the idea for the event four years ago, at the beginning of her tenure. “It was really important that we do something to acknowledge and celebrate the rich culture and contribution of people of the Americas that are here in our community and in our country,” she said.

Attendees were treated to a variety of performances during the event, including a salsa-dancing lesson. Booths were set up by local organizations, like the Uniondale Public Library, and Nassau County Legislator Siela Bynoe handed out backpacks with school supplies donated by the Bethpage Federal Credit Union and the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association.

Volunteers prepared food including pupusas, empanadas and rice dishes from La Fuente Restaurante in Hempstead, as well as cookies.

“This is really what unites us as a district,” Adelina Blanco-Harvey, a Uniondale Board of Education trustee, said. “What unites us as a community is where we come together and enjoy our food, our music, our culture, and we learn from one another.”

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated across the country from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and it is meant to highlight the history, cultures and contributions of Americans with Hispanic backgrounds. It began as Hispanic Heritage Week, enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, and was expanded to a month-long celebration in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan, according to HispanicHeritageMonth.gov.

Many important dates fall within the month, including independence day for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua on Sept. 15, Mexican independence day on Sept. 16, Chile’s independence day on Sept. 18, and Dia de la Raza, or Columbus Day, on Oct. 12.

The event in Uniondale was a way for the school district to honor the community’s Latin heritage and culture, according to Darrisaw-Akil. Soccer looms large in that culture, a sport that is played throughout Latin America and is a social bond, bringing communities together, according to Oxford Bibliographies.

“We have a vibrant Latino community here, and fútbol, as we call it, is super important for us,” Olivares-Orellana said.

Blanco-Harvey told the crowd of her love for her culture and her gratitude for the Uniondale community.

“I am very happy of my Salvadoran heritage,” she said, jumping between Spanish and English, “and when I came here at 8 years old, I said no one would know that I didn’t speak English, and it’s all because it started here in Uniondale. So I’m very blessed. We are moving forward and upward, and great things are happening for us in Uniondale.”