Maggie Sgaramella ’26
Photo courtesy of Pam Rudolph
The language program plays a crucial role in celebrating culture at Episcopal. Outside of the classroom, however, these cultures take on a new light through clubs. This month’s Club Connect highlights the Hispanic/Latinx Student Union Club, which embraces, celebrates, and shares Hispanic culture with the EA community. Club leader Ava Munoz ’26 says that the main goal of the club is to “create a welcoming space where students can connect, learn, and take pride in the diversity and importance of Hispanic/Latinx heritage.”
In a community as tight-knit as EA’s, it is of the utmost importance to respect and learn about each other’s cultures, backgrounds, and communities. HLSU aims to bring awareness and education to students who aren’t Hispanic or Latinx as well. Club Faculty Advisor and Spanish Teacher Señora Pam Rudolph emphasizes the importance of Language and Culture clubs at EA, “It creates an opportunity for cultural exposure while promoting an inclusive education.”
The club prioritizes hands-on activities that impart meaningful information to all attendees. Munoz says, “We hold educational meetings that introduce students to foods, candies, drinks, music, dance, and vocabulary from different Hispanic and Latinx Countries.” Meetings highlight significant holidays and traditions such as Día de los Muertos, Three Kings’ Day, and different fall and winter celebrations. In meetings, members often learn traditional skills, such as making empanadas, preparing maté, or making small dolls. Club leader Adam Rossin ’26 emphasizes the importance of these meetings to all EA students, saying, “The HLSU is important to the EA community as it is an affinity group where all people with Hispanic backgrounds feel welcome, and those who are not can come and learn too.”
Larger events hosted by the club help involve the whole EA community. Munoz reflects on the success of last year’s El Festival de Gastronomía, which involved more of the community beyond just the upper school club members. This festival celebrated Hispanic and Latinx cuisine, and Munoz says, “many teachers and middle school students came to bring and try a variety of Hispanic and Latinx dishes and drinks.” Other larger community events last year included the wildly successful candy-tasting and yerba-mate-making events, where the HLSU was able to bring together many students from outside the club. “The visual components, the social significance of foods and drinks, and conversations create cultural awareness,” says Rudolph. Munoz remarks that the events “bring the community together in a fun and interactive way.”
Photo courtesy of Pam Rudolph
A recent meeting this fall highlighted Día de los Muertos. Rudolph says that Dia de los Muertos is an important holiday that “honors deceased loved ones by celebrating their lives and remembering them with joy.” Following a short educational video and discussion session, the HLSU held a friendly competition about what they had learned about the holiday traditions. Not only does this make the club meeting fun, but as Rossin shares, “the prize to the winning team was a little incentive to foster growth and to get new kids to come try the club.”
This year, the club aims to meet more often and include more events alongside the middle school HLSU. Rossin also stresses the importance of increasing participation, aiming to grow the club to include students from all four grades in the upper school.
