Despite community fears, local students and teachers make sharing culture a priority.
In the Ferndale High School gym, students spin gracefully in elaborate, sparkling gowns, their silhouettes reflected on the polished floor. The dancers — part of the high school’s Latinos in Action program — are performing a traditional quinceñera waltz for a school assembly celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. When they finish, the packed stands erupt in applause.
Ferndale’s celebration was one of several local events that took place this Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from mid-September to mid-October, coinciding with the independence days of various Latin American nations.
Hispanic Heritage Month — also called Latino, Latinx or Latine Heritage Month — honors and celebrates the contributions of the Hispanic community in the United States. But since the reelection of Donald Trump last November, safety concerns surrounding the activity of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, have led organizers to cancel or postpone community events. Nationally, a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that immigrants’ fears surrounding detention and deportation rose sharply, including among those who are naturalized citizens or otherwise lawfully present.
In Washington, a number of events have been cancelled over the past year, including a day devoted to Spanish language music at the THING Festival in Carnation and Burien’s Pacific Northwest Folklórico Festival. But in Whatcom and Skagit counties, joyful celebrations abound — and students are leading them.
In Ferndale: a sense of belonging
Ferndale students planned their Sept. 26 assembly with cultural diversity in mind: they entered the gym carrying flags from numerous Spanish-speaking countries, and their quinceñera waltz was followed by a traditional Colombian dance.
The assembly was spearheaded by Ferndale’s Latinos in Action class, a leadership course connected to the national Latinos in Action program which has partnerships with schools in 16 states.
Latinos in Action was founded in 2001 with a mission to address the educational gap among Latino students. The program focuses on “leveraging cultural assets, excelling in education, serving the community and developing leadership skills.” LIA members in Ferndale plan cultural events, organize visits to colleges and travel to the local elementary school to tutor younger students. The class is structured so that students experience different leadership roles.
Ferndale High School Senior Nina Garcia moved to Washington from Los Angeles when she was in eighth grade. Relocating to a place where Latino culture was less visible — about a quarter of Ferndale students identify as Hispanic — Garcia decided to enroll in Latinos in Action to connect with her roots. She now serves as one of the high school’s LIA presidents and spoke at the recent assembly for Heritage Month.
“It’s like a big family to us,” she said of LIA. “We all feel connected. We all feel safe.”
Margarita Lopez, a first-year at Ferndale High School who also participated in the LIA program at Horizon Middle School, said that the class has grown her confidence.
“Before (joining LIA) I was really different … I would hide myself a lot and I wouldn’t talk,” she said. “(Now) my style has changed, my attitude has changed, and I’ve become a bit more social.”
Blanca Mendoza, who is in her second year of teaching LIA, says that she can recognize her own experience in some of her students.
Growing up in Sedro-Woolley, the oldest of three siblings, Mendoza was often tasked with translating for her mother, who didn’t speak English. As a kid, she recalls feeling “a little embarrassed” about speaking more than one language. Eventually, she became more comfortable with her identity. Mendoza has watched her students undergo that same transition.
“This program is amazing,” she said. “It helps students get out of their shells.”
Mendoza says the enrollment in the class has nearly doubled this year compared to last, growing from 57 students to 100.
Last January, Mendoza planned a senior night for Latino students and their families to learn about post-grad opportunities. She said there was talk of cancelling the event due to concern about ICE activity, but they decided to go ahead as planned, albeit with added security and a lower turnout.
“We felt like we did not want to give them the benefit of destroying what we built,” she said.
Despite fears, Mendoza thinks it’s important to continue holding community events and celebrations. Of the Hispanic Heritage Month assembly she said, “I think it really showcases how special we are as a community, how much we have to offer and that we’re not going anywhere. We belong.”
From Mount Vernon, to the Mariners
Ramon Rivera, director of the Mount Vernon High School’s Mariachi and Folklórico program, jokes that the Seattle Mariners owe this season’s success to his students.
On Sept. 12, Mount Vernon Mariachi students gathered on the field at T-Mobile Park to perform the national anthem in front of thousands of fans — and the Mariners themselves — for the team’s Hispanic Heritage Night game. Less than two months into the school year, their event with the Mariners is just one of several high profile shows the mariachi group has performed. They played at the Skagit County Fair, opened for George Lopez at the Tulalip Casino, and, on Oct. 11, opened for the famous group Mariachi Vargas at the Federal Way Performing Arts Center.
“It’s crazy,” said Erik Estrada, a senior at Mount Vernon who plays the accordion in the mariachi group and grew up listening to Mariachi Vargas with his family. “It’s an outstanding feeling.”
Mount Vernon has Washington’s largest high school mariachi program west of the Cascades, thanks in large part to the efforts of Rivera, who came to the district five years ago after 15 years teaching mariachi in Wenatchee.
This year, students in the mariachi and folklórico program also performed at a local event for Hispanic Heritage Month, organized by Mount Vernon High School’s Latinos in Action class.
Annalia Garcia Muñoz, a junior who is in charge of media for the mariachi class, says that she sees this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month as a kind of reprieve from current events.
“Whenever I open a newspaper I see negativity surrounding the Hispanic community,” she said. “Hispanic Heritage month to me is like a beacon of light in that darkness. It’s something that is there to honor our culture, our heritage, our music, our food … We’re more than just all the bad stuff in the media.”
In Mount Vernon, like in Ferndale, concern over ICE activity has prompted discussion around cancelling events. Rivera recalled the suggestion to cancel last year’s Cinco de Mayo parade in which his mariachi and folklórico students performed. While he understands families’ fear, Rivera maintains that the celebration was important.
“We’re going to keep on celebrating,” he said. “There’s no law that says we can’t dance. There’s no law that says we can’t sing. There’s no law that says we can’t eat wonderful Mexican food. My goal as a teacher is to make sure our communities still have those things.”
Continued challenges, building connections
While the Latinos in Action class has garnered national praise — in 2015, the program was recognized with the White House Bright Spot for Hispanic Education Award — it has also faced criticism from the Trump administration.
In late September, the federal Department of Education sent a letter to multiple school districts in central Florida instructing them to cancel LIA classes and end their partnerships with the national LIA program. In the letter, the Department of Education accused the program of racial discrimination for its focus on empowering Latino students. The move from the Department of Education is part of a broader trend of targeting school districts with programs aimed at supporting historically marginalized groups.
The recent letter specifically cited a requirement listed on the LIA website that LIA classes must be composed of 80% Latino students. As of this writing, the website does not list that requirement.
As for local chapters of LIA, teachers emphasize that students of any racial background are welcome to join. In Ferndale, Mendoza says that she has a number of non-Latino students in her class.
“If you love the Latino culture and you want to make yourself part of it, you are welcome,” she said. “My students have been very welcoming to everybody. And the students that I have that are non-Latino have been able to incorporate themselves easily.”
In Mount Vernon, a number of non-Latino students have also found meaning and connection through the mariachi and folklórico program.
Junior Jonah Longmire first started learning mariachi music in middle school and has since fallen in love with the Mexican instrument, guitarrón.
“I think it’s important, as a non-Hispanic person, in the shadow of current events, to be able to celebrate the cultures of this country,” he said. “It gives people knowledge. The cure for hatred is knowledge.”
Garcia Muñoz says she hopes her classmates feel comfortable participating in the mariachi and folklórico program, regardless of race.
“When I see (non-Latino peers) in a folklórico dress, or picking up a guitarrón, I don’t see cultural appropriation. I see sharing culture,” she said.
For Rivera, celebrations of Hispanic Heritage Month are an opportunity to build community.
“The best way to bring people together is food, art and music,” he said. “So we need this, especially right now.”
— By Christy Carley
Also read in Salish Current:
• “Shining light, giving voice: media and message,” Oct. 1, 2025
• “Impacts of immigration realities, policy weighed by panel,” Oct. 23, 2024
• “School districts push back against threats to cut federal funding,” March 4, 2024