League of Latinx Educators celebrate heritage month
National Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15-Oct. 15, recognizes the contributions and influence of Latinx Americans to the history, culture and achievements of the United States.
Minnesota’s League of Latinx Educators kicked off the month with a video celebrating Latinx educators and the need for more representation.
“This 15th of September, we celebrate the month of Latinx heritage culture,” said Sabrina Tapia Contreras, a teacher in Prior Lake-Savage who sits on the LLE executive board. “As Latinx teachers, we would like to celebrate the rich and vast diversity that involve our Latinx roots and feel proud of being Latino or Latina.”
The League of Latinx Educators is a community built to support and retain Latinx educators, celebrate Latinx cultural identity and advocate for racial equity in our Minnesota schools in order to liberate Latinx peoples from inherited colonialism and systems of oppression.
Membership is free and open to educators and high school students interested in studying to be educators, living within Minnesota who self-identify as Latinx.
“My favorite part of being an educator is being the link and communication between my Latino students and families to our district,” said Eden Prairie teacher María José Villavicencio. “As we know, representation matters.”
“I am so proud to be Latina and share my culture,” said Karen Coronel, a Prior Lake-Savage teacher. “I work with children that are very young and from an early age they grow to appreciate our culture, and their own culture and traditions and break all those negative schemes that they might have had in respect to Latinx origins.”
Roberto Pratts, a teacher in South Washington County, said that having Latinx adults as educators is important for all students, especially Latinx students.
“I think Latinx students should become educators because future generations need to see adults that look like them in front of the classroom, teaching for the culture and uplifting and continuing to move our culture forward for future generations to come,” he said.
Connect with the League of Latinx Educators
- https://sites.google.com/view/leagueoflatinxeducators
- www.twitter.com/latino_league
- www.facebook.com/latinxeducators
- www.instagram.com/leagueoflatinxeducators
Classroom resources for celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
