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Actively engaged in conversation, Maya Alas ’27 and Custodian Pedro Minan talk about dancing. As the evening progressed, Alas and Mr. Minan shared stories about their families and heritage in El Salvador and Peru. “One of my favorite conversations with him was when we started talking about dancing and that no matter what language you speak or what language the music is in, you’re still going to dance to it,” Alas said.
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Picking up a plate and a serving utensil, Custodians Deysi Vijil and Ana Trejo help themselves to the food the SHH members provided. After a long shift, the custodians happily made time to come and eat dinner with the students at the event. “The officers this year did see a need to spread the love and so they decided that they would enlist the help of the members to bring in food, help disseminate the information through little flyers that they handed personally to them, SHH sponsor Milybett Llanos-Gremillion said. “I handed out two of them and their faces just lit up because they hadn’t seen students do this in a long time.”
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Engaged in conversation, Custodian Marta Gunera listens to SHH President Yuegelica Yeong ’26. To start off the conversation, Yeong talked about Spanish literature classics she learned about lately. “[The custodians work so hard everyday for our school and they stay so late and we wanted to show how much they’re appreciated by bringing back this tradition,” Yeong said.
In a club that’s centered around supporting the community through Spanish-speaking skills and service, Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH) revived their annual Custodian Appreciation Event tradition — one that the society skipped hosting for a few years — on Friday, March 6, at 4:30 p.m. in room F1113. SHH members invited the custodians to an afternoon buffet to celebrate their hard work and unite with students through good food and the Spanish language.
In a fast-paced academic environment, it’s easy for students to overlook the work that the custodians put into keeping the school a clean and safe place to learn. With this in mind, SHH made it a goal to make them feel appreciated and celebrated.
“I think that [custodians] are overlooked sometimes, because we have things like teacher appreciation but a lot of students may not notice the essential custodians,” SHH President Yuegelica Yeong ‘26 said. “Especially since a lot of them are predominantly Hispanic and they speak Spanish, it’s hard for them to communicate with us. We wanted to have our students use their Spanish skills to have conversations with the custodians to not only show appreciation, but to also learn about them and their experiences.”
To promote the event, SHH members handed out invitational flyers to each custodian, encouraging them to eat dinner with the students, socialize, and listen to popular Spanish music. The members served salsa and guacamole dips, chips, barbecue, cookies, and refreshments for the event. The custodians’ attendance formed a now revived tradition they can look forward to in the future.
“Food is the way to unite a community, and not only that, but the fact that the members spoke Spanish to them was also really meaningful for them,” SHH sponsor Milybett Llanos-Gremillion said. “I’m sure that the members and custodians have built relationships, and when they see each other in the hallway, they can say hi.”
After the custodians served themselves food, SHH members sat and spoke in a foreign language with them. Although this was intimidating for some, SHH members effectively strengthened their Spanish-speaking skills while having meaningful discussions about music, culture, heritage, and family.
“I tried to focus the conversation on them, like where they were from, how long they’ve worked at Westwood, and some of their hobbies,” Jonah Katzowitz ‘28 said. “I thought it was pretty interesting, learning about where they’re from, how long they’ve lived in Austin for, and when they moved. Even though it’s a bit difficult to step out of my comfort zone to speak Spanish, I definitely feel like it’s very beneficial for me and for them. I hope to make them feel like they belong here and that they matter by speaking the language that’s most familiar with them.”
As they bonded over life experiences, SHH members gained a new understanding and appreciation for the social and cultural impact of the event. Appreciation was only the surface of the event’s intention: students began to realize that it was about forming connections, new relationships, and providing a comfortable space for an underappreciated group of staff.
“We started talking about where he’s from, Peru, and I was talking about how my family is from El Salvador,” Maya Alas ‘27 said. “He talked about what his experiences were there, and we then talked about ethics. We touched a little bit on rock music and how he thought it was funny how you can’t dance to it and all you can do is bob your head. I think it’s really important for SHH to celebrate the custodians because a majority of them are Hispanic. It helps us practice our Spanish, but most importantly, it brings them a whole new light to their day that they weren’t expecting to have dinner with a student.”
