As the Coffee House date approached, students began seeing posters with Spanish symbols promoting the event. The theme for the fall Coffee House was Coffee Casa and was officially bilingual, as the MC’s, or hosts, of the night were speaking in both English and Spanish. Coffee House took place on Sept. 10 beginning at 6:30 p.m.

“We usually do a catchy theme that we decorate with, and then it’s done,” theatre teacher Barbara Whitlock said. “But this theme has definitely taken on a bigger life, and I’m so excited.”  

Whitlock was the official director of Coffee Casa, but it was largely ran by the students in her theater production and technical theater classes.  Between the two courses, these students were in charge of making decorations, coming up with ideas, serving the food and representing different hispanic countries to make the theme feel authentic and diverse.

One of these students is senior Oscar Amantecatl. He has helped with sound for Coffee House since last fall and hoped that this years theme would bring a more diverse crowd. However, he doesn’t think the students that performed saw a huge difference. No matter what theme, Amantecatl thinks that Coffee House is all about the students and whatever their involvement in the show may be.

“It really has no effect in what the students perform,” Amantecatl said.

Sophomore Regina Castellanos was also involved with sound for the Coffee House. She worked with onstage microphones and she even helped pick the theme. She says the new theme is an improvement than previous years’ themes because the Coffee House crew can incorporate more decorations, foods and donations from various locations in the community, but she agrees with Amantecatl that the performances remain the same.

“We’re hoping to get more people and make it more diverse,” Castellanos said.

Coffee Casa introduced a few new things to go along with the theme. One of these things was a bilingual menu and traditional hispanic foods donated from various restaurants in the community such as McAlister’s Deli.

There were also four MC’s at Coffee House. Seniors Chad Smith and Dylan Wire spoke in English throughout the night, while Seniors John Aguilar and Mildred Delgado translated into Spanish.

Delgado thinks that Coffee Casa was a nice change. She was also excited about different foods and drinks. Her dad even made a traditional drink for Coffee Casa.

“It gives the school a little taste of a different culture,” Delgado said.

Coffee Casa incorporated many different learning experiences into the theme. Not only was it presenting modern cultures and traditions, it was also diving into the history of various countries. From the ancient Aztecs in Mexico to the different hispanic flags, the audience was able to enjoy the different performers while being able to learn about countries all over the world. Freshman Justin Tidd believes that the learning experience is one of the most important aspects of the night.

Tidd performed in his first ever Coffee House on Saturday. He has attended performances in previous years and thinks that having a bilingual theme is a great way to show diversity at our school.

“It is something that is interesting, that could be educational and fun at the same time,” Tidd said.

SHS is home to many ethnic groups and backgrounds. Whitlock hopes to let Coffee Casa shine some light on the many different cultures we have in our school. By having a bilingual theme, Coffee Casa brings SHS together.

“I want to make Coffee House speak to everyone at some point,” Whitlock said. “A focus next would be in our Asian population, and maybe we’ll just keep growing from there.”