On Friday, October 10th, San Rafael High School hosted its third annual Noche de Cultura event. Its premise is to celebrate and unite the many facets of Latin American culture and identity found within San Rafael’s population. The night offers music, booths, food, and entertainment.
It all started in 2022 with three girls in the Associated Student Body of San Rafael High School, who were inspired by neighboring school Terra Linda High’s own Noche de Cultura. “I would see that other schools, like Terra Linda, would always have an event to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and I realized that SR had never done such an event for our large Latino community,” said Yesleny Alvarez, former Latinos Unidos Club President.
The organization of the first event brought about many struggles, scrambling to organize a small event with no coordinated plan to follow. A lack of funding and organizers created a small budget that forced the organizers to rely on donations and workarounds, often making last minute sacrifices on decorations and activities.
“Our first year planning Noche de Cultura only involved me, along with two other girls in addition to Mrs. De Leon [a counselor who helped organize the event],” explained Yesleny. “I feel like that’s what made it even harder to plan the event, our budget was also only (around) $150 or $200, so we really couldn’t do much with that money, especially when we only had about a month to prepare.”
Because the staff was so small, the few main organizers were overworked, having to handle tasks from spreading awareness via social media to coordinating with potential vendors willing to donate, all while racing against a one-month deadline. In the end, the first event was a success thanks to the team’s hard work and determination.
The panicked organizers were surprised by how large of a success the night was. The event was well attended, with people from all different backgrounds. The group of girls had accomplished their goals of highlighting San Rafael High School’s vibrant Latino population. “I think it’s really nice to have your school recognize your culture, especially since there’s a lot of like Hispanic students within SR, and I feel like this is a new tradition that should continue throughout the years,” said SRHS Senior Valentina Pablo.
Later on, after the first group’s arrival, Terra Linda families began to pour in. Due to the unexpected presence of people coming to support, resources quickly ran out. “We ran out of everything that night; we even ran out of water. Luckily, one of the students’ parents ran to Costco and bought us waters and drinks so that way we could still have some.” Despite the limited resources, the event was a success. “We were able to make it happen with what we gathered, but I don’t think we wanted it to be as big as it came out to be,” said Ms. De Leon.
The planning of any big event is hard to get right the first time. Many of the challenges that occurred the first year were a major starting point when addressing the following years’ Noche de Cultura. For example, one challenge that had to be addressed was the lack of representation of SRHS students at the event, as they were not properly informed. Amy Serrano, SRHS Senior who attended the event, said, “They weren’t that active on social media the first year, at least not that much until last minute.”
A major change was made towards the future of planning Noche de Cultura, specifically in who was organizing it. The effort transitioned from a three-person team to a club full of organizers. The change was essential, as it helped lift some of the burden from the original group. Under the club name Latinos Unidos, it started its first steps into planning the second event by implementing small local Latino-owned businesses to sell their food, drinks, and other goods that became essential to the events’ continued success.
Yesleny Alvarez said, “It was time to bring the community into the planning, which made the planning more manageable since we wouldn’t be as stressed out as we were the first year.”
As the group progressed, many of its members mainly were formed from Yesleny’s friends, and as the group grew in numbers, the need to incorporate more perspectives in decision-making also grew. “It wasn’t that we weren’t allowed to contribute; it just felt that the decisions were sometimes already made before we had a chance,” said SRHS senior Daisy De Leon, current Vice President of the Latinos Unidos Club.
Despite some disagreement over planning, all parties feel that the group nonetheless has come together to create an event that truly celebrates and represents the Latino majority at SR. “We all had different ideas on how to run things, but in the end we all realized we had the same goal. Although our communication could have been better, I’m proud of what we accomplished,” said Daisy De Leon.
As for the direction that Noche De Cultura is heading in this year, new President Yaneidi Ordonez plans on expanding the vision that is Noche de Cultura. Her plans include hosting a major multicultural festival, which involves bringing in other clubs such as the Black Student Union and the Asian Association Club.
“I hope to one day bring in people from all backgrounds, to celebrate every part of SR, not just Latinos,” Ordonez said. “Hopefully this is something we could move towards within these next few months.”
