Every year, right before winter break, the hallways and classrooms have been filled with the unique sounds of Spanish culture students caroling. For 10 years, the Advanced Topics in Spanish Language and Culture classes have gone from classroom to classroom during the last week of school, singing Spanish holiday songs and dressing up in holiday outfits. 

The tradition, called a parranda, is commonplace in many Spanish-speaking countries, primarily Puerto Rico. A parranda, which translates to a spree or excursion, consists of a group of people coming together and going door to door to sing carol-like songs.   

The classes are led by Señor Mercedes, who teaches students about many aspects of Latin American and Hispanic culture. By using his own experience growing up in the Dominican Republic, he decided to bring the tradition to the classroom. 

“Many countries, like Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico have this tradition of the Parranda. People go out in the street and celebrate and smile and feel joy, so I thought ‘why not bring this experience to Masters?’” Mercedes said.

Students in the Advanced Topics class are also looking forward to the Parrandas. One Advanced Topics Spanish Language and Culture student Vincent Von Jan ‘27 said “I’m excited to spread holiday joy and cheer and lift the spirit of students in a time when work can be overbearing.”

Another Advanced Topics student, Alex Cho, added that “It always looked like a lot of fun, especially when they would come into the classrooms, so that’s probably what I’m excited about most.”

Mercedes also believes that spreading traditions helps to preserve culture. “Sometimes traditions like this [the parranda] fade away, but if we have a little bit of it here at Masters, we are protecting it,” Mercedes said.