MY HEROES: Puerto Rico le dedica estampas Caribeñas a la Independencia de la Republica Dominicana en el mes de la Herencia Negra


Springfield, MA: Dentro de los convenios estipulados para el año 2009, están los contratos y los viajes. Viajes que no pararán hasta agosto. Las residencias en diferentes puntos de Nueva Inglaterra me tienen del tingo al tango, pero ahí la llevo. Tal parece que el 2009 sera fuego a la lata. Yo, por supuesto mas optimista no puedo estar. Me encanta mi trabajo y cuando se trata de hacerlo en un contexto educativo y curricular, es mas mi motivación para viajar.

Mi experiencia en "Chestnut Middle School", MA con jóvenes de séptimo y octavos grados ha sido una de las mas maravillosas. Esto se debe a que por primera vez he tenido que dar un taller completamente en el idioma español. Mis estudiantes la mayoría Puertorriqueños y de la República Dominicana,jóvenes que se están batallando en aprender el idioma ingles y cuando su maestra habla español prefieren hablar su idioma. Pude observar que sus profesores le hablaban en Ingles pero ellos contestaban muy acertado en español. Cuando comencé con mi taller lo hice en el idioma Ingles y esta fue la respuesta de un estudiante: "Missi, missi, hablemos en español, no es Caribe lo que viene a enseñarnos. Tuve que cambiar el canal, para mi nada difícil. Así fue que comencé mis clases de Música Afro-Carribeña con estudiante de la "Chestnut".

Para que ustedes tenga una visión de que nuestros niños están sedientos de nuestro acervo cultural de raíces caribeña, Les digo que:

1. Nunca me faltaron a las clases
2. Todos esperaban ansioso cuando yo llegaba
3. Aplaudían y gritaban cuando me veían llegar
4. Tambores,Cua,maracas y otros instrumentos se encontraban en su sitio
5. El auto-estima era increíble, preguntaban y preguntaban y cada vez mas interesados en aprender de los ritmos.

El 27 de febrero de 2009, día del espectáculo la administración de la escuela había decidido unir lo Afro-Caribeño con los Afro-Americanos para celebrar el "Black Heritage Month". Cuando nos tocó a nosotros pudimos desplegar con color, música en vivo, pasión, y amor a la patria, una gama de estampas caribeñas, recordando así la independencia de la República Dominicana con sabor a Bomba Puertorriqueña en el mes de la Herencia Negra. Esto es Palo pa' el que no quiera. Que QUE VIVA NUESTRO CARIBE, Que viva la trinidad por siempre y que viva la hermandad.

Explorations the Puerto Rican Culture is an educational program, for grade 3-8 teachers in Springfield, MA, that aims to incorporate aspects of Puerto Rican culture into the classroom. Explorations means: engaging students with their community. It's a great collaborative project of Springfield Public Schools and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The program is funded by an Arts Model Development and Dissemination Grant from U.S. Department of Education.

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