Hispanic celebrations continue at Maude Laird Middle School

News Herald Photo by Lester Murray The Bachata, a traditional Hispanic dance was performed by Kilgore High School dancers, including (photo) Ariadna Contreras, a sophomore and Crescencio Castro, a senior at KHS. The group has been dancing together for a while. Maude Laird Middle School welcomed parents, guests, faculty, friends and of course the student body to a National Hispanic Heritage Month celebration this morning. Manny Almanza, coordinator of marketing operations and outreach for Kilgore College spoke to the audience as well as introduced guests throughout the program. Two of the guests, a former Kilgore High School graduate, now attending KC, Luis Perez and a KC graduate, now a lawyer in Longview, Jose Sanchez who spoke to the students about the importance of getting a good education, the growing Hispanic population of Americans in this country and Luis read President Bush's proclamation for National Hispanic Heritage Month. Entertainment was provided by the Maude Laird Middle School dancers and the Kilgore High School dancers, Even the teachers got in on the action with a dance lesson. Jody Sanders, principal at MLMS opened the program by greeting parents of the students who were in attendance.