To celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of individuals throughout the year, 23 LTHS National Hispanic Institute (NHI) club members traveled to Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 13-16 to attend the 12^th annual NHI Celebración.

“My favorite part of the trip was getting to see all of the people from across the country and from other countries such as Mexico and Puerto Rico,” NHI member Oliver Martinez ‘15 said. “It’s kind of cliché, but going to Cele is like a family reunion.”

Six hundred of the top Latino high school students in the country participated in the conference, alongside 200 college students, professional alumni, community members and college representatives. There were also participants from Panama, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, Associate Director of the Midwest for the National Hispanic Institute Karla Martinez said.

“We take Celebración as an opportunity to involve our participants and alumni in the process of carrying out the community social entrepreneurship mission of NHI,” Karla said. “[At Celebración] students are given the chance to put the skills they acquired at their summer programs to work and engage in inner workings of the organization.”

Students participated in leadership workshops and training, debates, attended a college fair and met with political and social advocates, NHI’s head sponsor Leilani Lopez said.

“My favorite part of the trip was watching and listening to my students present their ideas on how they would create and build a sustainable community service project,” Lopez said. “They spoke before 600 students, parents and alumni. This was a proud moment for Mr. [Leonel] Reyes [NHI sponsor] and I.”

LTHS won six individual awards at the conference this year; there was also an LT student on every winning team. Three first place awards were received by Christopher Fonseca ‘15, Xavier Ontiveros ‘15 and Camila Alvarez ‘17 and two third place awards to Nynena Gaye ‘17 and Francisco Arreaga-Rivera ‘16, as well as the “most prominent female” award won by Teresa Alvardo ‘15, according to Lopez.

“[All these awards] are very impressive and just goes to show how NHI at LT is already a very strong program and is continuing to improve all the time,” Oliver said.

NHI members hope to take what they learned about leadership from this conference and apply these skills to the community, Lopez said.

“The impact that NHI leaves on participants is what makes change in school, communities and people,” NHI head coach Sofia Acevedo ‘15 said. “NHI gives me the drive to create and imagine what I want to see my community as.”

After Celebración, those that attend are more motivated and excited about NHI after learning more about the organization. When they come back, this motivation helps recruit more members, Oliver said.

“At the end of the day, whether we realize it or not, just being a true NHIer, we have already impacted out community,” Acevedo said. “NHIers have and will continue to impact the world we live in today.”