In celebration of the Hispanic community at La Salle, the Unidos Cub held its annual Posada in the cafeteria on Dec. 10, led by the club’s leaders and Director of Community and Student Leadership Ms. Adriana Noesi, who served “pan dulce,” or “sweet bread,” and hot chocolate to attendees.

Started around five years ago by former counselor Ms. Maritza Mendez and Registrar Ms. Liz Staggs, La Salle’s yearly Posada became a Unidos Club tradition, taking place before Christmas break each year and inviting the community to enjoy Mexican foods and culture.

“Everyone’s invited, it’s like a party,” Unidos Club leader Sammuel Carrillo said. “It’s meant to get people together, so it’s better when you invite more people.” 

La Posada is a religious festival that is celebrated in Mexico and different parts of the United States, usually beginning nine nights before Christmas, representing the nine months that Jesus was held in the womb.

Starting Dec. 16 and lasting until Dec. 24, Hispanic communities gather to commemorate The Virgin Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to birth Jesus.

Hosted at a different home each night, families go from door to door, while usually holding lighted candles and singing songs consisting of lyrics asking for a place to stay.

While each night’s host offers traditional foods to the gathered community to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the last night is often the biggest celebration of all, where celebrants are invited inside homes for a final time to enjoy food, games, and music. “And that’s really what a Posada is,” Carrillo said.

Despite being held and organized by the Unidos Club, Ms. Noesi hopes to further expand the Posada at La Salle, which she said will include making it more inviting to the La Salle community as a whole and getting more people outside the club, like the student council, involved in its planning.

“Next year, I think that the student council is just going to take on a bigger responsibility to throw a Posada where the entire student body feels welcome, too,” Ms. Noesi said. “So that it’s not just this small group that’s doing this thing, but it’s the community being invited to see this community of people and to see this culture.”

Carrillo shared a similar sentiment, saying that he hopes the Posada is able to expand beyond just the Unidos Club to more communities, “so maybe one day we can bring the Posada to people, rather than uniting here,” he said. “We’re slowly getting there, and hopefully one day we’ll be able to achieve that.”