Howard Hawks and Hispanic Heritage

As the nation is in the middle of celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, many members from our Hawk Athletics teams have taken the celebration a step further and have actively reached out and gotten to know many elementary school students around Big Spring, where Hispanic Heritage Month, might resonate a little greater to those students more than to their classmates.  

The celebratory month goes from September 15 to October 15 and is a recognition and appreciation of the Hispanic culture and its influences on society today. Perhaps one of the most common impacts is the language itself. At some point in one's daily life, some semblance of Spanish will enter the daily lexicon whether you are aware of it or not. But for some students, the Spanish language is nearly all they know. This month, both the Men's Basketball team and The Hawk Cheerleaders were able to take time out of their busy schedules and go to Moss and Marcy Elementary schools where they read to the kids and spent some time with them sharing their experiences and teaching the kids what it takes to grow-up and be a collegiate athlete. However, one group of students was not able to engage our athletes as freely as they would want. Some of the classrooms visited were English as a Second Language, or ESL classes where for many of the students, Spanish is their first language. With such close proximity to South America, Texas has seen an enormous spike in what's classified as "English learners" or "Emergent Bilingual" and its estimated that there are approximately 1.1 million of these learners in the state, with more and more schools having to adopt such classes and staff. This presented no barrier for either the athletes or the students as the athletes embraced the unique learning environment and were still able to read to the kids and hang out with them with no issue. Howard Athletics is also uniquely equipped in that many of the athletes are fluently bilingual or know enough to be able to communicate with these emergent bilingual kids. Howard mascot Juan Lopez is one of these athletes. In every classroom Juan helped in, he was a major driving force in getting the kids excited (as the cheer team is known to do) and reading to them, but none more evident than the ESL classes. The students, who still knew enough English, were tickled when Juan and the other cheerleaders were able to read and communicate with them in both English and Spanish. Furthermore, Juan did not just simply translate, he was able to teach the kids unfamiliar words, diction, and syntax in both languages as the students were still learning their normal school curriculum in addition to English. Juan, having already experienced a similar path, was quick and eager to engage the kids and help and teach them whenever the situation called for it. Lopez, while born in the United States, was raised mostly in Acuna Coahuila, Mexico and both his parents are from Mexico and knew only Spanish. Many of the students had similar if not identical situations to Juan in that they also were first-generation Americans with immediate family born outside the US and are the primary English speakers in the household at such an early age. However, as Hispanic Heritage Month was in full swing at the time of the Cheerleaders' arrival, the language barrier was embraced and Lopez made sure the children were proud of where they came from and embraced their unique situations which is what this month is all about. This was an all too familiar scene for Lopez as he himself learned English and about the culture primarily at school and he used his experiences to help guide the kids along and answer their questions. One point of emphasis though was Juan's journey to becoming a college athlete despite the language difference. The biggest challenge for him was some of the terminology and lingo associated with sports and athletics that are not in the common English lexicon. One could see how the term "homerun" could confuse a non-native speaker.

When asked what advice Lopez would give to these bilingual emergent students Lopez shared, "Don't lose your Spanish! I would be self-conscious about my accent and the struggle, but it all takes practice. I'm always thankful that my parents are fluent speakers and made sure we were too. It is the most beautiful gift of all… being able to speak in different languages. As Hispanics, we might face adversity in many ways, but we can't give up. We should always be proud of our roots and use them for good." 

Perfect advice to give not just during the holiday month, but in general to any children trying to acclimate, learn and grow. When asked about his experience at Marcy with the kids and his unique perspective as a bilingual athlete, Lopez would go on to say, 

"I love being able to meet different cultures and being able to relate to some. When I went into some of the classrooms I would see myself when I was at that age. That kid who thought didn't fit in, that kid who couldn't speak the language yet, the kid who thought wouldn't make it, but I always had great supporters behind me. My parents are my biggest supporters and everything I do. I do it for them. " 

All the teams and athletes who have been able to attend the elementary schools over the past month have been able to inspire and help teach the kids a little, and certainly share their stories about being a student-athlete and what it took to get there, but for the students in the ESL classes, it had to mean a little more knowing that someone like Juan was able to spin a barrier into an advantage and thrive because of it. Howard Athletics has been jumping at the chance to be able to engage with the elementary school students over the past month and is grateful to the teachers and staff who have helped put all the meet-and-greets together. The athletes got just as much out of the experience as the students and it continues to be important that both Howard and the community support each other.