Buenos días tigres,

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day and the last week of our Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations! Today I would like to recognize the impressive curriculum renewal project that the 6th grade humanities team (Ms. Aguilar and Ms. Suárez) has started. In this unit of History and Literature of the Americas, they are focusing on the following essential questions:

• How are the identities of the Americas shaped by the initial encounters between European empires and the Indigenous peoples of the Americas?

• Historically, how have Indigenous peoples resisted and maintained their identity?

Students will read an impressive collection of texts from the Valladolid debates in 1551, one of the first precursors to the establishment of universal human rights, to contemporary works by Marisol Ceh Moo, the author of the first novel written in the Maya language. In English class, they will read “A History of the Indigenous Peoples of the United States” and “Mascot” by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell. The unit focuses on understanding the history of the Americas from various viewpoints, particularly the voices of Indigenous peoples. Thanks to Ms. Aguilar and Ms. Suárez for the labor of love and intellect that is going into creating this curriculum! I am honored and excited that my children will learn from you someday.

Symbol of the UN International Year of Indigenous Languages, 2019

Don't forget that next week is our last before the month closes and we will celebrate the following countries:

• Monday, October 13 - No classes
• Tuesday, October 14 - Paraguay
• Wednesday, October 15 - Dominican Republic
• Thursday, October 16 - Brazil and Equatorial Guinea
• Friday, October 17 - Represent your country or wear a Hispanic Heritage t-shirt!

Un abrazo fuerte,

Carolina Brito, Principal