Lawrence Township school district serves students from a rich diversity of backgrounds, including many different Hispanic cultures.

To celebrate those students and educate the community, the district and the Lawrence Township School Foundation are hosting their annual Dia Latino de Lawrence festival, set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Fort Ben Cultural Campus, 8920 Otis Ave.

Georgina Mayorga-Schneider is MSDLT’s assistant director of language programs. She noted that the festival is in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. But that’s not how the festival started.

“Dia Latino de Lawrence, years and years and years ago — before I was even in this role — started off as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and it was held in the parking lot of the (district central office),” she said. “It was a really great festival. Schools made ofrendas, which is really traditional for Dia de los Muertos.”

Ofrendas are memorials to honor ancestors and relatives who have died. Making them is one of the many traditions of Day of the Dead, which generally falls on or around Nov. 1.

Mayorga-Schneider said the district celebrated Dia de los Muertos for a few years, with the event taking place close to the end of October. They received feedback from the public, she said, noting that although the event was meaningful, it wasn’t a broad celebration of Latin culture.

“I started really reflecting on that,” she said. “As a Latina myself, I’m like, ‘OK, yeah, I don’t celebrate Dia Los Muertos.’ So, we changed the name … to Dia Latino de Lawrence and then we moved it up so that it fell in Hispanic Heritage Month.”

The first year of the “rebrand” was 2022, Mayorga-Schneider said, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

‘Everyone’s like, ‘I can’t believe how many people are here. This is huge. This is amazing,’” she said. “And then the next year, we had 100 percent school participation — so every single school was either performing or singing or had a table.”

Mayorga-Schneider noted that the celebration is not of any one culture. It includes any Latino culture represented by students in the school district — Mexican, Honduran, El Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, Puerto Rico, Guatemalan, Spanish, etc. — and many of the teachers who help organize the festival also have a Hispanic heritage.

The festival will include performances, games, crafts, vendors and food trucks offering traditional foods like tacos and pupusas, along with some food that’s appropriate for any culture — like ice cream doughnuts.

Misty Wick Johnston is president and CEO of the Lawrence Township School Foundation, which supports district initiatives. She said the festival’s many sponsors help fund the festival each year as well as Hispanic cultural programming throughout the district.

“All of the proceeds go to continue to promote Latino culture in Lawrence Township,” she said, adding that when a community celebrates cultures, it helps people from those cultures feel included.

“I think that’s what’s so exciting and so amazing about our Lawrence (Township) schools, is that our kids get to be part of something that’s really rich and diverse and they don’t just celebrate it, they are involved and they build community around it,” she said. “It’s wonderful if we can have friends teach each other … about their own heritage and their own cultures. Kids learn best that way and they learn best by doing. Having an event like this, where they can come and experience and see and do and listen to the music and enjoy the crafts or eat the food. It’s all about the experiential, hands-on component of living in a diverse community.”

MSDLT Communications Director Dana Altemeyer added that Lawrence Township schools is a microcosm of the world.

“We serve students who represent all of these cultures, so we honor them and validate their culture, its importance,” she said. “We seek to learn more. We learn from each other every single day. And celebrating that individuality, that uniqueness, really fosters a sense of self. It fosters a sense of pride.”

Mayorga-Schneider said the district celebrates cultural diversity throughout the year.

“It’s not just isolated to a one-day community event,” she said. “It’s constant. It’s year round. And I think that’s really what makes it all special, is that you see that when you walk the schools too. If you go to Belzer Middle School — the principal there has ordered every single flag in the cafeteria that represents where his students are from.”

Schedule of events

The annual Dia Latino de Lawrence festival is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at Fort Ben Cultural Campus, 8920 Otis Ave., Lawrence.

Scheduled events for the day include:

10:15 am: Crestview Elementary: Selena!
10:30 am: Latin Dances by Forest Glen Elementary
10:45 am: D’Classics Rock Bilingual Latino Rock Band
11:45 am: Fall Creek Valley Advanced Choir: Latino songs
Noon: Ballet Mosaicos and Mosaicos Kids
12:40 pm: Mary Castle Elementary performances
1:15 pm: Skiles Test Elementary: Fiesta en America!
1:30 pm: Bilingual songs and Folklorico from MSDLT Elementary Choir
1:45 pm: Lawrence Central Latinos: Mexican Tribute