Driven by a desire to uncover his cultural roots, senior Sam Bahena jumped at the opportunity to join the newly formed Latin American Student Association (LASA) his freshman year, securing the role of representative.
After four years, Bahena is not only Co-President of the club but is also one of its last original members. Alongside him is senior Brian Lopez who joined the club his freshman year as a secretary and now holds the position of Co-President. Both Lopez and Bahena have seen LASA develop and grow over the years.
In its early stages the club would mainly host meetings, some focused on academics and others on cultural activities.
“Our first year, my sophomore year, there were still a lot of things we did do a lot of community events, like learning how to dance specific dances, Movie Night,” Bahena said. “We did some college fairs and scholarship fairs, we gave informationals, all that stuff. And even though there was a dwindling number it was still very important to us. And as that year ended, we then were more ambitious. And because of that ambition, we were able to grow.”
Lopez shared a similar thought.
“I thought it was very challenging at the start, especially because there was no background since we were the first people to start it,” Lopez said. “I remember there were some meetings where we had, like, one person show up, and it’s very discouraging where you’re trying to do something big and you don’t have an audience. But we kept going. And then as year two started, we started picking up an audience.”
As the club has continued to grow not only do they host meetings after school but they’ve also been able to host events on a bigger scale. This past summer LASA organized Lane’s first Quickstart for Hispanic Parents, an idea started by the previous officers and approved by Principal Edwina Thompson.
“It was the fact that [Thompson] said yes,” Bahena said. “OK, we gotta steamroll this. We gotta prepare right now. We started after finals or near the end of the year, we had to lock in for a month — we were just pure planning.”
The event itself had the goal of welcoming parents and incoming students into the Lane community and assisting them in familiarizing themselves with the layout. The event included tours given in Spanish as well as food and a performance from Mariachi Campeones in the Memorial Garden, according to LASA Co-Vice President Lupita Delgado.
Sponsor and Spanish teacher Juanita Mendoza has been with the club ever since it started when a fellow Lane teacher saw the need for Latino representation which included hosting events such as the Quickstart for Hispanic Parents.
“We needed a big voice,” Mendoza said. “So part of that was having a big event over the summer to welcome all of the incoming freshman Latino families. Because a lot of the problems when students get here is that they don’t feel connected to the school community because of the language barrier, the culture. Some of the students have been traveling from far away, like the south side, west side, depending on what community they are a part of and their elementary school, they have had a big influence on their Latino community. And once they come here, it’s very diverse, and they might feel alone.”
Bahena mentioned his own experience and how this opportunity could have benefited him but will now provide that assistance for other families.
“As a Latino I would’ve loved to have that opportunity during my Quickstart. My mom only speaks Spanish and I sometimes struggle with translating,” Bahena said. “That took that worry off those kids and off those parents. It was beautiful, even though it seemed very simple. Language connects us and that day everyone felt very connected.”
Besides hosting a Quickstart, LASA has also started the first Latino peer mentorship program, connecting Latino students for tutoring, life advice, and any questions ranging from college and careers to something simple such as study hacks or even places to eat around Lane, according to Lopez.
Students would be partnered with those who shared similar interests and similar future/career interests to be able to receive the most adequate support, meeting on a weekly basis.
“You get to ask your mentor whatever you want. It can be academic, just advice maybe, like how to make a friend, anything you want… Making your friends outside of your culture is like fishing in a lake you’ve never fished in,” Bahena said. “You don’t really know, like, the aspects of it, and what’s OK to say, what’s not OK to say, and what’s OK to talk about… Overall, we’re just making an inclusive community and an inclusive space for all Latinos.”
Delgado also mentioned the importance of creating a community for Latino students.
“We have a lot of underclassmen, which is good, because underclassmen don’t really know what’s going on in the school when they first enter,” Delgado said. “So it’s really nice to have that support system. I mean, I didn’t have that support system when I was first coming into Lane, and I wish I had it. And now there’s these newer generations that are having that support and it’s really important because we are in a predominantly white institution, so it’s really hard to find people that you can relate to and that you feel comfortable going to for help.”
LASA hopes to continue both Quickstart for Hispanic parents as well as their peer mentorship program in the following years, according to Lopez.
LASA has voted underclassmen for officer positions as it hopes to pass the club on under the same sponsor.
“Now, we have elected new officers who are motivated to help continue the LASA vision to the future,” Lopez said. “Handing down a club I have helped nurture since the start is difficult. I know I’m handing it down to people who will do amazing things with it and hopefully even accomplish things I could only dream of for the club. Whatever the future after I’m gone, I know LASA will continue to make a difference with the new generation of members and officers, and whatever the future it just having a future I helped start makes me proud.”
Sponsors for most clubs are typically hands-off as club officers run it. In LASA, Mendoza said she is more directly involved.
“But for me, because I am the sponsor and I am the liaison for things in the whole building, it’s not just doing things at the student level, it’s also doing it at a school level,” Mendoza said. “So it takes way more of my input, so I have to be present and be part of the meeting every single time.”
Mendoza said she will continue to sponsor the club because she sees how students enjoy the club and the impact that it has.
“I see the difference in how comfortable the students feel once they start here by having LASA,” Mendoza said. “So because it helps them, I just picture myself being them in this school. I would also want LASA to be a part of it. Yeah, I just picture myself in all of your shoes. And you need it. You need it.”
