Spanish teacher Shirin Ansari is in her fourteenth year of teaching at South. She’s the staff sponsor for Amigos, South’s Spanish club, and is enthusiastic to share Spanish culture with students and teachers in the community.

September 15th marked the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts through October 15th and is celebrated throughout the four weeks with public events and awards ceremonies. In an effort to spread the word, Ansari’s second period Spanish six class is planning to decorate the language hallway on the first floor. Shattering cultural stereotypes and introducing lesser known aspects of Spanish speaking countries is the goal of the project.

“Hispanic culture is such an important component of our society and our culture as a whole…the US is made up of so many ethnicities…within the Spanish culture we have a lot of diversity,” Ansari said. Her fourth period class is currently listening to Spanish audio scenarios, which prepares them to have their own conversations in the language.

To Ansari, the best part of watching students develop as Spanish speakers as an educator is “seeing students excited was most exciting” she said.

“When I see students see that they are actually capable of communicating with native Spanish speakers, it’s so exciting for me to see their enthusiasm…what I’m thinking is that they’re on the way to opening up a whole new culture. They’ll be able to absorb and understand a different perspective on life.”

South students and families are invited to join in on the Fiesta de Otoño (Fall Festival) celebration on Saturday, September 24th from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Farmer’s Market and Showers Building. For more community events taking place during Hispanic Heritage Month, students can check the City of Bloomington’s website.