Our middle school students raised more than $2,000 in raffle ticket purchases in their fundraising effort to support our friends in Durango, Mexico, Fundacion Semilla (https://www.facebook.com/fundacionsemilla.dgo/).

Fundacion Semilla provides a number of services to the indigenous populations of Northern Mexico, including an orphanage with over 100 children and a marketplace to help artisans sell their products. In class, we learned about Fundacion Semilla from interviews with native Spanish speakers and we also explored the art and culture of the Huichol people of Durango.

The fundraiser we supported was the annual raffle for Fundacion Semilla. To date, middle schoolers have purchased over 200 raffle tickets, contributing over $2,000 to the cause! The raffle will take place February 9 at 10:45. On top of the prizes offered by Fundacion Semilla (1st prize is a motorcycle!), the school will have a separate raffle where one lucky student will win a handmade Darth Vader mask created in the Huichol tradition. Raffle ticket purchases can be made up until Tuesday, February 8.

Lastly, because we had near 100% participation from our 72 middle schoolers buying raffle tickets, we had a celebration on Tuesday by preparing a traditional Mexican lunch typical of the Durango region. Each grade helped prepare the meal during their normal Spanish class time and a lunch for the entire middle school and LTS staff followed. A few menu items included arroz, frijoles, ensalada de nopales (cactus salad), mole con pollo, handmade tortillas, salsa típica, aqua fresca, and arroz con leche. ¡Que rico!

As always, thank you for your support.