Retraction: we recently had an article in our October print edition (Volume XXIX, Issue 1) about Hispanic Culture Club. The article contained a number of factual errors. We formally apologize to any groups that this misinformation may have harmed, including but not limited to the members and advisers of Hispanic Culture Club as well as those erroneously named and/or misquoted in the article. The Chronicle staff strives for accuracy and ethicality in all our writing, and this does not reflect our standards. We will work to make sure this will not happen in the future. The following is a replacement article correcting the original story about the club.
There are several clubs at HR dedicated to the Spanish language, but there is a new club dedicated specifically to the culture of Spanish-speaking countries: Hispanic Culture Club. Paula Pulido and Alex Vargas are the students responsible for forming the club.
Hispanic Culture Club is open to students of all backgrounds. “The club started as a way to celebrate the vibrant and beautiful Latin culture. Me and Alex are from Colombia and are so proud of our country that we wanted to build a community like that. I’ve realized it is something more though- we have so many non-Hispanic members, it just proves to me that the beauty of diversity is appealing to everyone,” said Pulido, senior.
“I wanted to learn more about Hispanic culture with my friends! It’s important because of diversity,” said Alex Vargas, senior.
The rich culture of Hispanic countries also inspired Steve Clair, Spanish teacher, to be the adviser of this club. “Paula and Alex were in my AP class last year. They are both from Colombia and talked about the culture of the country; there are also other students from places like El Salvador and Mexico, and I wanted students to have an opportunity to learn more about these cultures, like their food, art, literature, plays, and music,” said Clair.
The club has already garnished a lot of interest from students. “We started with six members our first meeting, but we have thirty now! And about twenty of them have no Hispanic background; of those, ten have never taken a Spanish class,” said Pulido.
“The most important thing about the club is the amount of exposure we’re giving the school to the culture,” said Clair. .
Although Hispanic Culture Club is fairly new, it is already involved in a variety of events and activities, focusing on events with cultural significance. The club went to the Colorado Symphony to watch El Latir De Mexico. “At the Colorado Symphony someone said to me, ‘I’ve never travelled internationally, but this feels like I’m in a different country.’ Someone else said, ‘I had no idea how beautiful this culture was!’” said Pulido.
The club also goes to restaurants, school events, museums, movie nights, and has group dinners where everyone brings something. They also plan to have a salsa instructor come, and plan festivals for different countries they are going to.
“I’m proud of the club members- how mature they are, how responsible, how intelligent and how creative to come up with some of these ideas,” said Clair.
Mikayla Rust, Editor in Chief
