Parent Partnerships Enrich GSB’s Hispanic Heritage Month 

Hispanic Heritage Month is always an exciting time on the Gill St. Bernard’s campus, with celebrations honoring the Hispanic culture and community taking place across all three divisions.  

This past week, some of those celebrations included a partnership with Lower School parents, who joined their student’s Spanish language classrooms, taught by Lower School Spanish Teacher Adriana Morales Silver, to share stories, music, facts, and food from their native countries.  

Carmen Assaad P ’33, 36 visited both the First and Fouth Graders, educating our enthusiastic learners about Peruvian traditions. She taught the students the elastic game, a common game played during recess in a lot of Hispanic countries, and she brought many traditional food and beverage items including a drink called “chicha,” made from purple corn and pineapple, a green pasta called “tallarín verde”, Inca Kola (the national soda), rice pudding, and traditional crackers—all that the students could try. 

Leila McSweeney P ’35 joined the Second Grade in the Discovery Teaching Kitchen and shared handouts with facts about Argentina—including information about the famous Iguazú Falls, the largest waterfall system in the world. The adventurous students then embarked on a culinary journey, learning how to make "chipás," which are like cheese breads with corn starch. They dove right into the hands-on process of making and mixing the dough for this traditional Northeastern Argentina delicacy, and after all their hard work, they most definitely enjoyed sampling the final product. 

Thank you to Carmen and Leila for spending time in our classrooms and kitchen! The partnership between parents and faculty is a hallmark of the GSB Community, and our students’ experience was enriched by your first-hand stories and by your generosity.  

Stayed tuned as we share more of the Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations occurring around campus!