Lane Tech students explore Hispanic culture with piñata crafting

CHICAGO — Students at Chicago’s largest public high school spent time crafting a classic Hispanic cultural tradition on Wednesday.

Lane Tech students spent time in the school’s historic library crafting piñatas.

Students covered balloons with papier-mâché strips made from newspaper, waited for them to harden, and then decorated the shells using glue and colorful tissue paper.

Junior Filomena Hernandez Rodriguez taught her fellow students the tradition as a way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with her classmates.

“The piñata in Hispanic culture is used to celebrate and bring family together at parties and events – religious occasions,” she said. “You create it, and that’s the fun part, because you create it however you want. It’s fun to break it open because you get candy out of it.”

Gabriela Escobar is Lane Tech’s Director of Culture and Climate.

“My job is to uplift their voice, to make sure they feel seen, represented, and heard,” she said.

The lesson in celebrating other people and their cultures mirrors the piñata project: It’s what’s inside that counts.

“It shows the beauty of community that people can come together to celebrate each other’s cultures and traditions,” Filomena said.