Seventh-grade Spanish students at Roosevelt Middle School in River Forest will take a field trip next week to the vibrant Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, to immerse themselves in the Hispanic culture and Spanish language they have been studying.
The Oct. 17 trip coincides with the end of National Hispanic Heritage Month and the celebration of Día de Los Muertos. Students will immerse themselves in the language, cultural practices and local artistry they have studied in class.
Students will also lunch at Los Comales, a taqueria, and explore local shops on 18th Street before visiting the National Museum of Mexican Art to learn more about the culture and history of Pilsen. Pilsen, located in Chicago’s Lower West Side, is renowned for its vibrant Mexican and Latino culture, featuring a rich array of restaurants, art, music, and nightlife.
The trip, a core part of the curriculum for over 20 years, will be led this year by two Spanish teachers: Tammy Highfill and Marjorie McInerney.
With Spanish language speakers representing an ever-increasing percentage of the American population, the teachers emphasized the importance of this kind of outing to help their students understand the Spanish culture.
“They can visit this neighborhood, see Spanish on the signs, hear Spanish on the street and speak to shop owners in Spanish,” Highfill said. “They can find traditional foods and sample different candies at the dulcería, as well as enjoy unique pastries at the panaderías. If they go to La Michoacana, they’ll experience a very different type of ice cream store, often referred to as a Mexican heladería.”
McInerney said that by the year 2050, Spanish is expected to become the predominant language in the country, with more Spanish speakers than English speakers. This shift will significantly impact the children growing up in that society.
As such, she said, “I think it’s extremely important that they understand the language that will surround them. For their own personal enjoyment, job opportunities, travel experiences and their ability to get along with people in their neighborhoods and workplaces, knowing the language is essential.”
According to Chicago.gov, Pilsen was originally settled in the 1840s by Irish and German works. It later became home to other groups including Bohemians, Lithuanians, Croats and Poles. Beginning in the 1950s, Pilson changed again with the arrival of recent Mexican immigrants.
The trip is planned to coincide with The National Museum of Mexican Art’s annual Festival del Arte Popular, which celebrates Mexico’s vibrant folk art, featuring artisans from across the country.
Highlights include Daniel Paredes and Maria Fernanda Rosales Ruiz’s clay Day of the Dead figures, Jacobo Ángeles Ojeda’s Oaxaca alebrijes, Audias and Mariana Roldan’s Papel Amate paintings, Pedro Montaño Lorenzo’s wool rugs, Pascuala Vázquez’s textiles, and Alejandra Nuñez Guevara’s talavera pottery.
McInerney and Highfill incorporate themes of Hispanic Heritage Month into the students’ experience by preparing them in the classroom. They teach students about traditional neighborhoods in Spanish-speaking countries, focusing on specialized family-run shops that end in “eria,” such as panaderías, pastelerías and zapaterías.
Through their lessons, students learn about Day of the Dead traditions, including preparations on Oct. 31, such as purchasing marigolds, Bread of the Dead and ingredients for hot chocolate, along with creating ofrendas with offerings like mole and candles to honor loved ones.
When asked how the experience shapes students’ perceptions of their cultural identities, Highfill emphasized that while the students are young, the trip sparks their curiosity and encourages them to think beyond their own experiences.
“I think this experience piques their interest and makes them think differently, realizing there’s more out there beyond their own experiences,” he said. “They might think, ‘Oh, my experience is different from this rich Mexican culture –I didn’t know about that.’ It opens their eyes to the richness of culture and its possibilities.”
McInerney said that visiting an area like Pilsen certainly impacts the students at Roosevelt, who are predominantly from privileged backgrounds. She said that alters the students’ perceptions of how people in other parts of the city live.
“I just think it’s important to remind them how lucky they are in the particular cultural environment in which they live. I’m not sure how much exposure they’ve had outside of that environment prior to a trip like this,” McInerney said.
Roosevelt Middle School Principal Tina Steketee said of the field trip, “Rich experiences like this trip enhance classroom learning by sparking curiosity and helping students make connections to the wider world.” She praised the teachers for making it happen.
Clarification, Oct. 9, 3:15 p.m.: This article has been updated to clarify what the students were studying. We apologize for the error that occurred amid production.
