Mount Kisco ES Celebrates the End of Hispanic Heritage Month

Mount Kisco Elementary School’s multipurpose room was filled with Colombian music and pure joy recently. Students and staff celebrated the end of Hispanic Heritage Month with an assembly with Cumbia for Kids by Folklore Urbano.

“They are so excited to share the music, rhythms and stories of Colombia with you,” said Multicultural Committee co-chair and bilingual Speech and Language Specialist Wendyliza Gonzalez during her introduction of the group.

Students were attentive and excited as flutist and Folklore Urbano co-founder Anna Povich de Mayor asked “Todo hablamos español, ¿verdad?”

“¡Si!” the students shouted back in Spanish, excited to demonstrate that they all spoke the language.

“To understand where the music of Colombia comes from, we want to tell you a musical story,” Povich de Mayor said.

For the next forty-five minutes, students were treated to an interactive history and tour of Colombia. First, they learned about the country’s indigenous people and their variety of flutes, followed by the arrival of Spanish colonists, who brought the Spanish language and guitar. Lastly, enslaved Africans brought drums and rhythm. Eventually, the cultures began influencing one another and blending into the rich culture that is found in Colombia today.

Once the history of the country was established, the group took students on a musical tour through Colombia, where they shared the influence particular groups had on a region’s music. They started with indigenous and then African influences before moving to the music and dance of the Andes mountains. The musicians played a beautiful song while their dancer performed a story about picking coffee beans. The group also took students through the plains and the jungles of the Pacific coast, encouraging everyone to sing, dance and clap throughout the whole performance, which ended with cumbia.

“Cumbia brings all of the beautiful cultures of Colombia together as one,” Povich de Mayor said.

Students were thrilled, actively taking part in the entire performance, whether it was shimmying their shoulders to the beat from their seats or participating in a dance. They even joined hands and danced their way back to their classes at the end of the performance.

Thank you to MKESA for making this experience possible.