Diana Cuadros wanted to make sure that not another year at Newton High School went by without seeing to it that Hispanic Heritage Month was given the kind of treatment that she felt it deserves.
Not that it had been disrespected or disregarded during the three-and-a-half years Cuadros has attended the school. Whenever the September-to-October celebration comes around, the school always does something to commemorate it.
But this time, Cuadros, a 17-year-old senior and the middle daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, wanted more than the run-of-the-mill posters and Hispanic Heritage fact-of-the-day stuff that usually happens. She created the school’s first Latino Student Union which helped birth Newton’s first Hispanic Heritage Celebration event.
That desire was birthed from an ever-burgeoning feeling of pride in her own heritage — a pride that wasn’t always present.
“I know it sounds bad, but being proud of my culture and identity was not something that was easy for me growing up, because I do have Mexican immigrant parents, but I was born here,” Cuadros said.
In the late 1990s, Cuadros’ parents immigrated from a small town in Mexico known more for poverty and violence than upward mobility and academic opportunities. And the Cuadros parents decided early on in their union that they wanted more for their future children.
Diana’s older sister, Julia, graduated from Newton in 2016. She was the first in her family of first generation Americans to do so. Diana will be the second, and two younger sisters — one who’s currently a student at Liberty Middle School — will likely follow suit. As for their parents? Diana’s mother didn’t get past the fourth grade, while her father never finished high school.
Her mother’s a stay-at-home mom, while her father owns and operates a successful HVAC business that makes it possible for Diana to not have to work extra to make personal ends meet. It gives her time to focus on building a legacy for Latino students at her school that will last after she graduates in May.
Of Newton’s 2,454 total student population, just above 10% of that population are Hispanic students. Close to 80 of those are part of LSU.
Cuadros’ efforts culminated on Friday Sept. 23, when she organized the school’s inaugural Hispanic Heritage Celebration. It happened during the school day, drew over 700 Newton High students into the school’s auditorium and had them riveted by what they saw.
“When I tell you, 700 kids in an auditorium were absolutely quiet unless they were cheering,” Buff said. “That doesn’t happen often, but it happened there because they were on the edge of their seats. They were really paying attention.”
Beyond being a solid 3.5 GPA student, Cuadros is deeply involved in several other groups, clubs and organizations at Newton, including her place on the Student Government Association’s executive board.
She wants to attend either the University of Georgia or Columbia University to study either pre-law or political science with a minor in literature.
For now, everything she does at Newton revolves around her leading more Hispanic students in and out of the school’s four walls to a more robust appreciation of their heritage.
“Although I’m not going to be (at Newton) next year, I still want to be involved in this community,” she said. “Seeing my people be proud of who they are is so inspiring, and I want to do whatever I can to help that continue here.”
