16 de Septiembre Assembly

Raiders celebrate Mexican Independence Day

By Elma Gonzalez and Martin Zazueta

On September 16, 1810 a priest named Miguel Hidalgo called together a mass in the town of Dolores for the purpose of fighting a war against the oppressive Spanish Vice-Royalty. This call to action had set off a planned uprising that had been organized months before, but was forced to start early. In short it was on this day that the War for Independence [from Spain] began.

For those who may not know or are unsure between the different Mexican holidays let me clarify; September 16 is Independence day, the U.S. equivalent would be the Fourth of July. Also do not get confused between the Independence war and the Revolutionary war which was 100 years later in the 1910's and 20's, (the struggle in which folk heroes like Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata took part in) that struggle was basically a civil war against a tyrant.

But most importantly, probably the greatest source of confusion is the Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) celebration. This has nothing to do with either the Independence or Revolutionary Wars, in was a battle against the French in the 1862 in the town of Puebla.

And every year Mexicans from all over gather and celebrate with pride their Independence Day and SOH we had a special way of celebrating it.

On Wednesday September 16, SOH MEChistas arrived to school at 6am to prepare for the '16 de septiembre' assembly. After weeks of planning, everything was ready to deliver a great assembly.

With a huge turnout, the assembly took place during second period. Although it was difficult to control the crowd the first few minutes, overall the student body showed their respect for the Mexican celebration. It began with the pledge of allegiance to both the American and Mexican flags; then it move

d on to a short video on the historic significance of September 16th. For the rest of the assembly, the crowd engaged in several fun activities consisting of: trivia, jumping rope, and dancing. The Mariachi gave the first performance with Mr. Rodriguez, who dedicated the song to Marcos Ramirez, as the leading vocalist. Then they performed with the Folklorico. Julio Barajas, a former Raider, made a surprise performance that was extremely well received by the student body. When the Nutrition Bell rang, the students left the gym wanting more.

In the end, most students agree this assembly was one of the best MEChA assemblies. "It just had much more activities than past years," explains Enrique Gonzalez (Junior), "The only thing I didn't like was the sound, it seemed like the mic wasn't working very well." Fortunately, this minor problem did not degrade the quality of the assembly as a whole. Overall, the assembly reflected the numerous hours of hard work put in by MEChA students and advisers.