Rei Viegas and Oscar Tobar recently organized a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration and also organized a group of 20 students to attend a Latino Youth Summit.
OREGON, Ohio — Two juniors at Cardinal Stritch High School are transforming their school’s culture by introducing classmates to Hispanic traditions while fostering an inclusive environment.
Rei Viegas and Oscar Tobar recently organized a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration that included mariachi singing and traditional Mexican pastries.
“We brought in pastries, which is a concha. It’s like a Mexican bread and we gave it out to the people in the assembly,” Tobar said.
For Viegas, whose mother is from Mexico and father from El Salvador, sharing his culture is about building bridges of understanding.
“I feel it’s really important to share my culture with my classmates because everybody has a different lifestyle,” Viegas said. “If we show how we live and the things we do on a normal basis, it will bring other people to also be interested in it.”
Sue Laytart, the school’s Admissions Manager, praised the students for their leadership beyond cultural events.
“They have literally changed the culture here,” Laytart said. “Not just being of Hispanic and Latino, just of doing and being positive and always helping and willing. They’re just great kids to be around.”
The pair also organized a group of 20 students to attend the Latino Youth Summit at the University of Toledo. Both are active in baseball and theater, and were selected as retreat leaders.
Looking ahead, they’re already planning next year’s Hispanic Heritage celebration and hope to establish a Spanish club.
“Like the lower class, like freshmen, sophomores, they can look up to us, and they could probably do the same thing,” Tobar said.
Laytart expressed confidence in the students’ future impact.
“Their future is so bright,” Laytart said. “They are true leaders, they’re doing things that they’ve never done. It’s out of their comfort zone, but they’re doing such a great job, they really are. I’m so proud of them.”