PAGE B2, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 15, 2019
Latino Club becomes ‘second family’ for students Pho Keizer
hosts
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The Latino Club at Mc-
Nary High School meets in
portable 58 on Thursday after-
noons from 2:30-3:30 p.m.
But what started as a small
after-school gathering has
turned into so much more.
“We started off as a small
group, but we grew so fast. We
consider this to be a second
family,” McNary sophomore
Jazmin Orta said.
The club was started by Ana
Solorio Diaz and Loreli Estra-
da, who both work in special
education at the school and
both were part of McNary’s
initial Latino club — Solorio
Diaz graduated in 2011 and
Estrada graduated in 2006.
When the club fi rst re-
formed in Fall of 2017, only
six students showed up. Now,
there are consistently more
than 30 kids that come each
and every week.
“It all came together natu-
rally,” Solorio Diaz said. “Kids
started coming back week af-
ter week. That was my biggest
motivation to keep this going.”
While Thursday afternoons
in portable 58 consists of
games, food, laughter and fun
conversation, this crew takes
great pride in being involved
in the Keizer community in a
number of different ways.
“Our main goal is to bring
them up as leaders so they
learn how to serve their com-
munity and do nice things for
our neighbors,” said club advi-
sor Mary Barfknecht.
Community service is a
big point-of-emphasis for
the Latino Club as they have
contributed to a number of
projects in Keizer throughout
the school year — including
cleaning mobile-home parks
as well as doing yard work and
helping put in a playground at
Country Glen Park.
“I feel like it’s my responsi-
bility to help the community,”
McNary student Brian Her-
nandez said. “I’m really pas-
sionate about helping cleaning
up the environment and mak-
ing it a better place so that ev-
eryone can enjoy it.”
However, what gained this
group the most notoriety was
what they organized at the
Keizer Chamber of Com-
merce Award Banquet back in
January.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
TOP: Members of the McNary High School Latino Club performed at the Keizer Chamber of
Commerce First Citizen Banquet in January. ABOVE: Most of the current members of the club.
Several members of the
club organized and performed
a series of traditional Latino
dances, which got a rousing
ovation from everyone in at-
tendance.
“I just wanted to get my-
self out there. It was challeng-
ing, but it was awesome when
people started clapping for us,”
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of upcoming performances
in May, including at a school
assembly and at Latino Parent
Night.
“We want to show people
that we still keep in touch
with our roots,” Orta said. “I
love being able to do the danc-
es that my parents and grand-
parents did.”
Earlier this month, the crew,
along with Barfknecht, has
even started a Latino Dance
Club at McNary, which meets
Mondays at 2:30 p.m. in the
aerobics room.
“Being able to show our
culture to the rest of the
school is really important to
us,” Orta said.
Estrada added: “We want
kids not to be afraid of having
a voice.”
But the involvement doesn’t
stop there.
The Latino Club is plan-
ning on making on fl oat for
the Iris Festival — which will
be Saturday, May 18 — and
has multiple other cleanup
projects on their calendar in
the Keizer community.
“It’s amazing to see them
keep coming back to do self-
less work,” Solorio Diaz said.
“Every volunteer sheet is fi lled
no matter what event we do.”
“You really feel the vibe
when you’re apart of this club.”
Tapia added: “My favorite
part of this club is serving in
the community.”
Night Off
After a long day, the
thought of cooking dinner
and cleaning up the kitchen
can be daunting. The Keiz-
er Chamber of Commerce is
hoping to restore some peace
of mind to home chefs.
A new initiative aims to
support both home cooks and
local restaurants. The cham-
ber calls it Cook’s Night Off.
By participating, you could
win a $100 restaurant gift card.
Cook’s Night Off this
month will be held at Keizer
Pho, 3400 River Road N., and
is scheduled for Wednesday,
March 20. Keizer cooks and
their families are invited to
dine at Keizer Pho and be en-
tered to win a $100 gift card.
You are encouraged to
post a picture of your dinner
at Keizer Pho tagging both
the restaurant and the Keiz-
er Chamber of Commerce
on Facebook. Additionally,
entries into the drawing can
made at the restaurant with
an entry form. Cooks use
both methods for double the
chance to win.
For more information
about Cook’s Night Off or
other Chamber programs, vis-
it keizerchamber.com or call
(503) 393-9111.
McNary student Jesse Tapia
said. “It got people excited.”
Because of the populari-
ty of their show, the Latino
Club has scheduled a number
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