Q: What is your name?

Maria Reyes

Natalia Molina

Isabella Ayala

Hector Ayerdiz

Jessica Raborg

Q: What grade are you in or how long have you been teaching at Urbana?

Reyes: I am in 10th grade.

Molina: I am in 12th grade.

Ayala: I am in 10th grade.

Ayerdiz: This is my fourth year teaching at Urbana.

Raborg: This is my second year.

Q: What is your heritage?

Reyes: I was born in Bolivia and my family is from Bolivia. I moved to the states when I was four to Montgomery County for employment for my dad. From there I moved to Frederick.

Molina: My ethnicity is Latino, specifically from El Salvador. My mom were both born in El Salvador. I was born in Montgomery county. I moved to Frederick County when I was seven because we needed a bigger house for our growing family.

Ayala: I am Puerto Rican but I was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland. My dad’s mother moved from Puerto Rico and my mom is white. We moved to Frederick when I was two because crime rates were increasing.

Ayerdiz: I was born in Nicaragua. In 1991, when I was eight years old, I moved to Northern Virginia to be reunited with my family. From Northern Virginia I moved here, Maryland.

Raborg: I am Guatemalan American. I was born in D.C. I’ve lived in Maryland pretty much my whole life. I’ve lived in the area my whole life and I am currently living in Damascus.

Q: What are some family traditions?

Reyes:  Every Christmas Eve, the Three Kings come to our house and visit us and fill up our stockings instead of Santa. Our Christmas dinner tradition is this soup called Picana. We also celebrate El Dia Del Nino. This tradition has been americanized by the way we celebrate by going out to eat fast food. Usually, presents would be bought for kids to celebrate their day. We don’t have any traditions for Spanish Heritage Month.

Molina: My family loves Christmas. We put up the Christmas tree together and decorate it as a family. On Christmas Eve, as a family we will watch Christmas movies and spend time together. For Thanksgiving,

Ayala: Every year we go down to Puerto Rico because my family there is older so we visit them and help them. We stay for about a week to two weeks, usually during spring break or summer time. It’s important for us to see and help our family. We don’t have any specific traditions for Spanish Heritage Month.

Ayerdiz: We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, we stay up celebrating until midnight. When it’s finally midnight, we open our presents. I personally don’t have any specific celebrations for Spanish Heritage Month. “I feel like I just walk around and I am hispanic. I celebrate who I am everyday.” I also don’t like the fact that we have a half of one month and a half of another. At least give us all of September.

Raborg: One is church on Sundays. Another is food. We eat Tamales for Christmas. We always have weekly family dinners that include extended family and whoever is around. A lot of my traditions have to do with sitting around the table and eating and conversing with un pandulce and coffee. A lot of my traditions are very Americanized.I don’t do anything specific for Spanish Heritage Month, unfortunately. To read the rest of this story, pick up a copy of The Hawkeye from the newsstand near the front office or the media center.