AMHERST — Showcasing Puerto Rican culture and celebrating the island and its people is what Puerto Rico Day is all about, says Amherst Regional Middle School eighth grader Jaden Caraballo.
“We’re trying to represent our culture and to show support to the island we came from,” Caraballo said. “Our culture means so much to us.”
For the first time, on Monday, the event coincided with the anniversary of Grito de Lares, the revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico that began on the same date 151 years earlier.
As the celebration got underway in front of Town Hall, a banner displayed the words “Bienvenidos/Welcome,” and spectators waved small Puerto Rican flags. The spectacle concluded with the raising of the Puerto Rican flag to fly below the United Nations flag for the next week.
Joining fellow eighth grader Marcielo Aquino in reading a poem to other students, school and town officials and residents, Caraballo said he is happy to talk about his heritage any chance he gets.
Aquino said he is proud of Puerto Rico’s vibrant culture.
“We’re so much more than the hurricane, so much more than the protests against the governor,” said Aquino, who identifies as both Puerto Rican and Dominican. “We’re our own people, we’re all unique.”
Marta Guevara, director of student and family engagement at Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools, helped to organize the event and said that her father was among those who founded Puerto Rico Day in Amherst. It is meant to show the strength, resilience and hard-working nature of people from the island, she said: “We want to celebrate how strong we are when we come together.”
During the event, Pelham first graders in Giselle Gonzalez’s class sang “Pollito/Chicken,” while kindergarten students from Fort River School sang “Que bonita bandera.” Guevara and Gonzalez were among Grupo Tradiciones dancers who performed a bomba dance.
Jayliedelh Caraballo, a high school freshman, talked about the food, music and culture of Puerto Rico, and noted the island’s diversity, which she said makes it a welcoming place.
“With the hard time Puerto Rico is going through, we have to stand together,” she said.
Superintendent Michael Morris asked the children to wave their small flags, some of which the students had made in advance. “Diversity is one of the hallmarks, it’s what we do in Amherst,” Morris said.
School Committee Chairwoman Anastasia Ordonez said that the day is about possibility and the power of hope.
Eight members of the Town Council took turns reading the proclamation issued in support of Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans who make their home in Amherst.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
