Every year, Mission San Jose (MSJ) High School students, teachers and community members come together to host the annual Spring Expo, a school showcase displaying the work of various departments and clubs to incoming freshmen. On the evening of Thursday, March 27, the halls and grounds of the school came alive as students gathered around the food trucks, club booths, band performances and class project displays, chatting with friends and family and enjoying the lively atmosphere.
Nestled into the corner of the language department wing, the Spanish Department, along with MSJ Spanish Honors Society, hosted an extravaganza of activities, booths and presentations celebrating the Spanish language and Latino culture in the Bay Area. Spanish students showed off artwork they’d made in class, featuring everything from la naturalza muerta (still life paintings) to arte hispano reinterpretado (reinterpreted Hispanic art).
Alongside the vibrant display of artwork and paintings was the highlight of the event: the food. Students set up a tasting booth with more than 30 different salsas—everything from guacamole to pico de gallo to tomatillo salsa—all fresh and homemade by students. Visitors crowded around the booths to taste test the delicious assortment of dishes while students hosted salsa testing quizzes, where attendees tried to guess the ingredients of each salsa.
To accompany the salsa, students also cooked fresh tortillas in live demonstrations, teaching visitors how to use the tortilla presses and comal, a Mexican griddle, traditionally used to make tortillas.
As visitors enjoyed warm, fresh tortillas alongside the delectable assortment of salsas, they headed over to the display of posters curated by students, where AP Spanish students gave a series of presentations on the contributions of the Latino community to the US and spoke about their recent field trip to San Francisco, where students immersed themselves in Hispanic culture.
Students from AP Spanish shared what they had learned from the trip and in creating the gallery to present at their school.
Roland Lee said, “After my trip to the Mission District, I learned why San Francisco is often called a “sanctuary city.” Seeing murals in not only the famous Clarion Alley, but also in small local shops, I realized that they all contain the same theme: solidarity across groups in the face of adversity.”
Rohit Upama said, “After the trip, I learned that the assimilation of Hispanic and Latino culture has its benefits and harms. Before, I was not as interested in the destruction and fomentation of Hispanic culture; this trip made me realize that it is crucial to recognize that.”
Ashwika Jani was happy with how her group managed to convey the feeling of the trip to a wider audience via their display. “As a spectator, I was impressed by the gallery’s ability to capture so much of the art and atmosphere of Mission District in just a few carefully curated snapshots. The condensed version retained all of the charm and beauty of the original trip and location and presented it in a unique and thought-provoking homage.”
Roland Lee, a student at Mission San Jose High School, provided quotes for this article.
