SSD families ate, danced, learned, and celebrated at our Fiesta Kermes held in November at Bishop Elementary.
Close to 150 students and family members attended the traditional Mexican festival, which featured performances by Mariachi Azteca and Los Laureles Danza Folklorica, delicious Mexican food catered by a Bishop Elementary parent, and an exhibition of posters created by SSD students. The Fiesta Kermes also included a resource fair in which community organizations offered information and resources.
The posters exhibited were created by students at the Student Equity Summit in September. Eduardo Valadez, a local artist, worked with the students to design original artwork to highlight their voices.
The Student Equity Summit and Fiesta Kermes are part of the District’s initiative to center Latinx/e and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) families with culturally responsive approaches that create joyful and family-centered engagement, and to use their input to inform future and current equity efforts.
The yearlong plan includes student focus groups and parent surveys and will culminate in the District’s Spring Equity Summit. The completion of this and all other events provides most of what the District will need to continue an equity initiative that is truly transformative, authentic, and responsive to the stated needs of the people it intends to serve.
