TEXARKANA, Texas - Texarkana College will celebrate Hispanic Heritage throughout the month with interactive events highlighting the stories of Hispanic Americans at the college, as well as Hispanic culture and cuisine.
Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, and TC is planning on doing a spotlight each week of the month.
Madeleine Russell, coordinator of communication and engagement, said the first week, starting Sept. 20, will include a map display in the library.
"It's where students can go, and they put a pin on a country on the map and then write a story about that country," she said.
"It could be about whatever connection they have whatsoever to that country. And it's going to be kind of a huge inter-webbed story of Hispanic heritage. We just wanted to have a visual for people to kind of share and learn about other people's experiences with Hispanic countries."
The next week will be filled with interviews conducted by TC of Hispanic students at the college. The students will be asked about what Hispanic heritage means to them, why they chose TC and what they want people at TC to know about Hispanic Heritage Month.
Russell said TC has several students who have immigrated from Colombia, Mexico and South America, including Catalina Cordero, who moved to Texarkana from Bucaramanga, Colombia, about a month ago.
"The interviews have been really cool so far," Russell said. "The students we've reached out to about the video interviews have been so excited. It's been beautiful to see and watch, and I just want everybody to hear what they have to say about their heritage."
On the week of Oct. 4, Hispanic chef Juan Bustamante is going to do a cooking demonstration with tamales, soup and tacos. The last week will be a faculty spotlight week, as instructors look to infuse Hispanic heritage into their curriculums.
"We have an abundance of Hispanic students on our campus, and a lot of them have these amazing stories and this heritage that people who are born and raised in America have just never heard before," Russell said.
"And so we want to make sure that A, they feel represented and appreciated on the TC campus and B, we give them the opportunity to share their story and their heritage with their friends and teachers. We at TC want to make sure that every student feels valued, appreciated and represented, and we want to do our part to highlight them in any way we can."
TC will be posting spotlights and videos on Facebook throughout the month.
(Visit TC's Facebook page or texarkanacollege.edu to learn more.)