On Tuesday, September 29, Upper School students gathered in the ACC, Goodwin Room, the RSG, and the FMC for a new Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month event. In a departure from past formats, students pre-selected their preferred assembly from multiple options: a speech and reading by the poet Amy Alvarez; a Masacote Dance workshop; a presentation from English teacher and Latinx Association faculty sponsor Melissa Figueroa; and a panel presentation from the Latinx co-heads Raphael Rufino ’27, Kamila Ruiz ’27, and Victoria Rivera ’27.

The new, multi-workshop format took inspiration from Culturefest, a biennial event that, for logistical reasons, will not occur again until 2029. Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Melissa Lawlor explained, “A lot of people really loved Culturefest. They loved the deeper learning, they loved the food aspect, the performance aspect, and a lot of students reached out and said, ‘Why do we have to wait until 2029?’” Lawlor believed that a switch to a new format for Upper School Programming (USP) could “be a really easy shift…[with] a mini Culturefest feel.”

The Department of Equity, Inclusion, and Justice and the Latinx co-heads worked together to plan the event. Lawlor described her role as a “thought partner and facilitator of the vision,” while Rufino described the Latinx Association co-heads’ role as one of “collaborat[ion]” to “[pick] out what the workshops would include.” Throughout the process, Rufino and his fellow co-heads prioritized the student body's interests and enthusiasm, viewing the multi-choice assembly as an ideal format for students to “choose what [they] want to learn about.”

Each of the four workshops had its own unique planning process. Lawlor had expressed interest in bringing the poet Amy Alvarez to Milton since Culturefest in the spring of 2025, both because of Alvarez’s work and because of her Milton connection (Alvarez is married to music teacher Jared Sims). While unable to do a reading at Culturefest, Alvarez agreed to speak for the Latinx and Hispanic Heritage event this fall. The Latinx Association co-heads and Lawlor selected the dance workshop by Masacote Entertainment to continue what Lawlor describes as the “longstanding tradition of bringing dancers to the assembly.”

In addition to outside presenters, the co-heads also prioritized programming that focused specifically on students and faculty. Since all three Latinx Association co-heads are first-generation Americans, they decided to spotlight their stories as Latino and first generation students at a school like Milton. Representing Milton faculty, Figueroa presented on her “transformative” sabbatical trip to Peru last spring as a Fulbright Scholar, where she aimed to “learn about their education system and work with teachers in both public and private schools.”

Executing the multi-workshop event presented distinct logistical challenges. Lawlor cited matching student group sizes to available spaces on campus as a major obstacle. Assigned spaces needed to accommodate not only the number of students assigned to each workshop but also the specific needs of the programming itself. Alvarez’s presentation location, for example, moved to the ACC because of seating changes, where Lawlor had to organize “the logistical piece of audio and tech.”

Upper School students appreciated the programming and the new format. Evelyn Louis Landis-Arnold ’30, who attended the Masacote Dance workshop, observed that “both [she] and friends who went to other activities had an amazing time…getting to experience [other] cultures.” AJ Coleman ’28, who attended the Amy Alvarez presentation, noted that “it was clear that [Alvarez] put so much thought and care into her answers and was so clearly engaged” with the students. The programming sparked new interests for some community members. After Adair Johnson ’27 attended Figueroa’s presentation on her trip to Peru, which focused on the Peruvian school system, decided to “look more into the Peruvian Ministry of Education.” Johnson hopes to better understand “how the Ministry devotes most of its resources to a small amount of elite schools” rather than spreading funding out evenly.

Lawlor hopes to continue the workshop format for future USPs, especially since the new format did not result in a significant budgetary difference. Lawlor noted that because some of the programming targeted Upper School audiences and not younger students, the Lower School would run a separate program “more meaningful for kids of that age.” Reflecting on the vision and priorities of the Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Assembly, Lawlor hopes the event “sparks conversation beyond [the USP itself],” and serves as a window or a mirror for students into each other’s experiences.