Uniondale Public Library hosts Hispanic Heritage Month Trivia

What’s the best way to teach children about a topic, help them memorize it, and keep them engaged at the same time? If you said a nice game of educational bingo, with tons of prizes of course, then the Uniondale Public Library is already one step ahead of you.

On Tuesday, the Library’s family department invited the Uniondale community into their home to participate in Hispanic Heritage Month Bingo. The library’s goal was to help educate children of all backgrounds on the accomplishments and contributions of Latino-Americans and celebrate their culture.

From Ellen Cohoa — the first Latina in space, to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, to Gabriel Iglesias, Selena Gomez, Jenna Ortega, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Isabel Allende and Frida Kahlo, the Uniondale Public Library made sure not to miss any avenues when exploring the im[acts and achievements of Latin figures throughout history.

We're going to look at everyone's cultures and where they came from, we should see those who came from other countries, and what they contributed to American society, culture and history,” said Lois Young, one of the teen librarians at the Uniondale Public Library who helped organize the event.

Young also explains the benefits of teaching children in a game-like environment with prizes. “It keeps them engaged. You're hoping they're paying attention, and then you say something that strikes something that is familiar to them and then they automatically put two and two together.”

Her hypothesis proved correct as the groups of children participating were fully engaged and had their eye on the prize — Takis.

The night consisted of three winners, Ekene Iwuoha, a 12 year-old from Uniondale and regular at the library, Christian Anderson, another 12 year old and library regular from the community who was so invested into the Hispanic Heritage Month bingo that he mistakenly called out “Uno!” as he won, and lastly, Catalina and Alyson Franco, sisters aged seven and 11.

If you missed out on this week’s Hispanic Heritage Month festivities, don’t worry, the Uniondale Public Library has more fun events celebrating Hispanic heritage coming all month long leading up to Oct. 15. To learn more and see what events are happening when, please visit the Uniondale Public Library’s website at uniondalelibrary.org and click on “events.”