Published On: November 2nd, 2015By Leticia Fehling

MacArthur Ninth Grade Students Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

[dropcap color=”#888″ type=”square”]M[/dropcap]acArthur Ninth Grade School dance students showed their multicultural pride. The dancers performed at [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]The United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas.

Kenneth Magidson

The group performed in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The performance held October 14 took place downtown at Wells Fargo Plaza.

The audience included many federal government employees. Kenneth Magidson applauded the students for their presentation. Magidson is the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

The students’ debuted new choreography. The performance reflected this year’s theme which was “Hispanic Americans: Energizing Our Nation’s Diversity.”

[icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]By the Numbers

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]The U.S. Hispanic population now stands at more than 54.1 million. This makes Hispanics the nation’s second-largest racial or ethnic group. Today, Hispanics make up 17% of the U.S. population. This is up from 5% in 1970.[/li] [li]People of Mexican origin account for two-thirds of the nation’s Latinos. This translates to 34 million. Those of Puerto Rican origin are the next largest group at 4.9 million (with another 3.5 million of the island of Puerto Rico). There are five other Hispanic origin groups with more than 1 million people each: Cubans, Salvadorans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, and Colombians.[/li][/ul]

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]The Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area has the largest Hispanic population percentage. The Houston-Brazoria metro area is second.[/li][/ul]

The students presented a variety of Latin dance styles. These included Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia, and Ballet Folklórico. The students also fused Latin dance with contemporary dance.

The students received an official Certificate of Appreciation from the Department of Justice.

The MacArthur Ninth Grade JROTC led the presentation of colors.

The MacArthur Ninth Grade dance program is under the direction of Elisa de la Rosa. The JROTC program is under the direction of Sergeant Major Martín Rodríguez.

Both are proud of the students.