Hispanic Heritage Celebration at Alpine Lakes Elementary

Alpine Lakes Elementary is joining in on celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a celebration of both the Hispanic culture and a focus on some Alpine Lakes students this upcoming Friday from 5 to 7.

"One of the reasons I wanted to showcase Hispanic culture for our community is because we don't have a super high percentage Hispanic students, but about 29% of our kids are Hispanic. So I thought Hispanic Heritage Month was a great time to make sure that students who are from Hispanic or Latino origin have an opportunity to be proud of who they are and show our community a little bit of our culture," said Flor West, Alpine Lakes Elementary EL Teacher.

This is the second year for the event, but this year the event is also doubling as celebrating the students that exited the Transitional Bilingual Instructional Program (TBIP).

TBIP is for students that are learning a second language and English isn't their primary language, not restricted to Spanish speaking students. Particularly in the case of Alpine Lakes all of the students primary language is Spanish and they are in the process of mastering English in the program.

"They take a test to exit the program and students who pass the test are showing proficiency in English," said West. "They can read, they can write English, they can listen to a video or a conversation in the classroom, or the teacher can teach something in English and they understand that and they can communicate the language. So it's a big accomplishment for students to do that."

Wenatchee Maraiachi Band provide the background music as guests can indulge in food and fun during the two hour event - while celebrating the students who made that big leap out of the program.