posted September 19, 2012
Jose Fuentes, Public Relations and Communications Coordinator
References:
The Interamericano community was swept up last week in the Independence Day spirit as students, staff and parents worked tirelessly to give our Guatemala’s birthday a much deserved celebration. The entire Interamericano community came together for a series of celebrations and festivities from September 9-13.
(Photo by: Maria Jimena Alemán)
Middle School hosted a unique competition in which students were encouraged to decorate their homeroom doors with Guatemalan culture motifs. The challenge was well met, as alumni worked around the clock to get their doors looking great. Some Middle School grade level moms happily helped out with the decorations as others participated as judges.
The winners of this competition (Section C, grade 6; Section C, grade 7, and Section B, grade 8) won a pizza party during their lunch break on Thursday, September 19. Congratulations to all Middle School students on their beautiful homeroom doors!
Our main Independence Day events started early Friday morning, with our annual “Mercadito.” On September 13, a parent-managed marketplace was installed on our plazoleta. The theme kept with Guatemalan culture, offering several traditional food options for all our student body.
Some of our most distinguished athletes and staff volunteered to carry the customary torch from el Obelisco, in zone 10, and back to our school. This tradition is a remembrance from a time when Central America was united under one government and torches were light at a designated country and carried back to each town. Our representatives ran through the city early in the morning and arrived to the cheering crowds of our entire alumni already waiting for them at Interamericano’s new synthetic soccer field.
Once there, a designated representative of our athletes lit the school’s independence pillar. The High School Student Council then preceded a series of activities, dedicated to honoring this important date. Their lead gave way to each of the day’s events.
(Photo by: Maria Jimena Alemán)
The national anthem was sung in unison by the whole student body and staff, in what was an intense and intimate moment with our great country. Grade 11 students reenacted the signing of the Guatemalan Independence through a short theatrical performance. The act merited a long round of applause, especially when the forefathers signed the act of independence and proclaimed it to the towns’ people.
Once these activities were done, alumni and staff were free to drift into the Mercadito, where several of our students played marimba for all our visitors.
The last of the day’s events was a civic assembly for the Elementary School. Here, our younger students had a chance to get in closer contact with Guatemalan traditions, learning about our history, customary marketplaces and local dance ceremonies.
Several Guatemalan teachers dressed up in regional clothing and helped out in the assembly’s diverse cultural activities. Students were even given a chance to interview visitors on what independence meant to them, via a fake Interamericano television channel performance. To conclude the day’s activities, a traditional Torito was light in the covered-court and was cheered on by all the students and staff present.
This was a great week for celebrating Guatemala’s birthday. Not only did students have a chance to dive into the school’s civic activities, but they took to it with pride and pleasure. Our staff gave their best, reinforcing the importance of the implicit values of this relevant date. And, parents collaborated in making this one of the most successful and fun Independence Day celebrations we’ve ever had.
