The front parking lot of Fairfield Middle School was transformed into the first Fall Family Fiesta complete with Latin-American food, music and cultural sharing.
The school’s nine percent Hispanic student population — about 1,560 students — roughly mirrors the district-wide population of such students in the Butler County school system.
The festival was the idea of Jennifer Linn, an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at the school and she was pleased it was met with enthusiasm.
“We thought Hispanic heritage month (Sept. 15 through Oct. 15) was a good opportunity to bring all of our families in together to build our community and really enjoy being together,” said Linn, speaking over the salsa music from the event’s out door speakers.
Nearby a dozen women and girls were learning to Salsa dance from a professional instructor. Others lined up at food trucks featuring Mexican and Cuba food.
Student-created poster boards were hung on the front side of the school depicting various Hispanic and Latin America nations and their cultures.
Eighth-grader Dayanara Feliz Trinidad, who moved to Fairfield two years ago, was one of the proud creators of the Dominican Republic poster representing her native country.
“What I like about this festival … we can learn about each other’s culture and I get to learn about different countries,” she said.
Fairfield City Schools spokeswoman Gina Gentry-Fletcher said the new school festival is the latest of a series of efforts by the district to showcase its diversity.
“The diverse population in our school district is one of our strengths,” said Gentry-Fletcher of the school system that enrolls 10,000 students from Fairfield and Fairfield Twp.
“This fiesta is one of several happening throughout the district as a component of our Diversity Plan. Six years ago, the Fairfield Board of Education adopted its first Equity Action Plan, aimed at also targeting the achievement gap among African American students,” she said.
The plan, she said, is guided by four goals: Recruiting and retaining minority staff; increasing cultural awareness and understanding among staff; increasing parent and community participation in district events and increasing minority student participation in school life – including extracurricular activities, athletics, clubs and other activities.
As part of that effort, later this month Fairfield’s Intermediate School will hold a “Share Your Heritage Night” to “celebrate the many cultures of our school and community,” said Fairfield officials.
The event will be on Oct. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the school at 255 Donald Drive.
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