At the Jan. 20 meeting of the Spanish club, teacher Hanna Anderson taught members of the club how to dance. After junior Cece Jensen learned Latin dances from the Salsa, to the Bachata, she said she loved the freedom brought by the dances. 

“Dancing is such an expressive thing to do and it’s really unique — you can make it your own,” Jensen said. “You have so much creative liberty with it and it is very fun.”

In past meetings, Anderson has also provided the club with authentic latin foods to help them learn the cultures. Some of the foods that have been provided at the meetings include Pan de Muerto, a sweet bread for Day of the Dead, Panettone, a fruit cake eaten on Christmas and Rosca de Reyes, a an orange sweet bread traditionally eaten to celebrate Jan. 6 in Mexico.

“It’s so important to provide students with the opportunity to enrich their learning experience outside of the classroom and to understand that there’s more than one way to see the world and to live life,” Anderson said.“(The students) get to immerse in the culture and whenever possible, we try to bring some of the tradition of food as well.” 

According to junior Norah Vogt, one advantage of the club is having the opportunity to broaden cultural knowledge. 

“It’s great to be able to learn more, and also experience more of the traditions that they do,” Vogt said. “I also like meeting other Spanish teachers and Spanish students who are trying to do the same thing.”

Ultimately, Jensen said she feels that students should give the club a try because it allows them to be more open-minded and knowledgeable about other cultures.

 “It’s important for people to be versed in different cultures of the world so as to not be self-centered and selfish and to learn about the people around you,” Jensen said. 

Spanish club meets every third Thursday of the month in room B235 from 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.