The Spanish Club here at Hudson High School is a new addition to the list of clubs for students to join. The club specializes in teaching others about Hispanic culture and creating a group for people to share their love of the language.
Co-run by Gabriela Skomra and Sneha Upadhyayula, and advised by Señora Rollyson, the club meets mostly on Tuesdays during Explorer Period. Previously, the club has had involvement in many activities such as teaching students at Ellsworth Hill about Hispanic culture during Hispanic Heritage month. In addition, they have also celebrated Día de los Muertos with a party including music, food and activities.
Sophomore Sneha Upadhyayula describes the club as, “exciting, creative and collaborative.” She says she created the Spanish club along with Gabriela Skomra because she is, “super passionate about the language and the culture.”
In creating the club she says that, “My hope was that we would be able to create a club to celebrate all of those things and to foster a community of people that share that passion.” In the future she hopes that the Spanish club is able to reach a bigger audience and teach more students at HHS about Hispanic culture. She says, “I feel as though not enough people know about the intricacies of the culture, and I really hope that we can do more with the younger students in our district to teach others about the culture and inspire younger kids to take Spanish also.” Upadhyayula plans on being in the club next year and for the rest of her high school career.
Freshman Elizabeth Thompson is also planning on being in the club for the next few years and describes it as, “fun, exciting, and super cool.” Her favorite event that the Spanish Club has taken part in was the Día de los Muertos party, as it was a great way for her to learn more about the Mexican holiday. She joined the club in order to, “make new friends and because Gabriela encouraged me to do so.” Thompson claims that she does not regret joining as she has learned a lot more about Hispanic culture.
Gabriela Skomra, a sophomore here at HHS, is the co-president of the Spanish club, along with Sneha Upadhyayula. She decided to revive the once-running club after it died out a few years back. “When I had heard the club had died out, I decided to revive it and organize events this year to get people involved.”
Skomra is excited for the new things to come for the club and when asked if she will be involved with the club next year, she replies, “I definitely want to stay involved in the Spanish club next year. It has been so much fun leading the club and partaking in various activities and I am looking forward to more exciting events in the future.” Skomra says that her reason for creating the club is, “I grew up in a bilingual home as my parents are from Poland. I was exposed to the Polish language and culture ever since I was little. I was very excited to learn another language at school. I decided to take Spanish because I know that it will be very useful in the future as it is the second most spoken language here in the US. I believe that the ability to speak Spanish will be very beneficial.” Skomra says that everyone should join the club as it is a very open and welcoming environment. She says that being a member of the club means, “being able to collaborate and brainstorm with others, implement ideas, and most of all celebrate Hispanic culture.”
In the future, the Spanish club plans on doing various events such as organizing an event for people to get together and cook a traditional meal as food is, “a very important and delicious aspect of Spanish culture,” Skomra explains. The club plans on continuing to do various fun activities to involve their members in different things. Most importantly, the members and leaders of the club aspire to teach others, especially elementary school students, about Hispanic culture and encourage others to learn the Spanish language or join the club.
