ORANGE PARK — A group of Orange Park High School students brought some cultural fun to kindergarten classes on Monday.

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, 20 students from various levels of the school's Spanish program made a special delivery of 54 handmade piñatas to young students at Montclair Elementary School. 

Foreign Language teacher July Zachary said the complete project involved over 100 students: all within Spanish 2, Pre-AICE Spanish 2, Spanish 3 Honors, AP Spanish Language and Culture and Spanish Honor Society. 

She said throughout one week, the students worked together to design, decorate and fill the piñatas with candy — a way to celebrate Mexico’s cultural impact and spread joy to young children in the community.

“We are a country that is built with the contribution of other cultures. And our neighbor is Mexico,” she said. “So, [we] have a day that we celebrate all the amazing things that we have from Mexican culture. It’s not only about food.”

Each kindergartner received their own piñata, while Zachary said additional ones were also distributed to children within Orange Park High's Early Childhood Program.

At Montclair, the students also practiced speaking Spanish with the children and shared a brief presentation on the anniversary and its importance. 

May 5 marks the day that Mexico won the Battle of Puebla in 1862, gaining victory over the Second French Empire. The day symbolizes national pride and success, themes that Zachary said she enjoys teaching her students.

“We are all one. [That’s] our message,” she said. 

When reflecting on what the day meant to them, the students emphasized the impact they hoped to have made on the children

“It just spreads positivity,” said senior Jayden Rodriguez. “They don’t know about it, but they're going to think about it whenever they see a piñata. They’re going to think about Cinco de Mayo. 

Freshman Elijah Homminga and senior Ana Pena said they think it’s important to keep the history alive and remember all that happened at the Battle of Puebla all those years ago, while senior Jardiel Echevarria said the experience reminded him of the significance of sharing culture. 

“It helps us reunite and become stronger as a world,” he said, “and get together and spread love.”