Students Study Hispanic Heritage

Barefoot with black pants pulled up above his calves, loose fitting white shirt, bandana and straw hat, Sebring High junior Marcos Oliva was ready to dance.

Wearing a flowing floor-length white cotton dress, senior Astrid Herrera paired up with Oliva to demonstrate a traditional Columbian dance on Thursday in Sebring High's Smith Center.

This year's recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month at Sebring High is more educational, Spanish teacher Sonia Rivera said. More studies of the culture and history of the Spanish-speaking countries and more ceramics and crafts are on display.

"Also, we have a lot of the student projects made by them, that's a plus," she said. "They did a very good job."

Colorful large-scale reproductions of art works of famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera (1886-1957) provide an eye-catching focal point in the Smith Center.

Rivera's talent for historical murals and his tributes to earthy folk traditions made him one of the most influential artists in the Americas and one of Mexico's most beloved painters, according to the Rivera Web museum.

Sonia Rivera pointed out that she is not related to the famous muralist.

Sophomore Karen Martin created a poster board display about Peru.

She said she learned about South American country's stone forest at Markawasi, which has carved figures as big as 90 feet.

Martin's studies about the country's different monuments included Machu Picchu, a pre-Columbian Inca site, which is a popular tourist attraction in Peru's Urubamba Valley.