On Saturday June 18, 2022, we held our Areito Ceremony and Prom.
For those of you who don’t know, the Areito is a ceremony in which ASPIRA club members are initiated every year. Through this ceremony, student leaders of the ASPIRA movement take an oath of commitment to work for the achievement of ASPIRA’s goals no matter what hard work and sacrifices it will require of them. The oath is taken by candlelight paired with a single white carnation flower (symbolizing the excellence students have demonstrated through out the year).
The idea of incorporating the Areito ceremony was taken from the Taino Indian ceremony, in which leaders celebrated and commemorated the members of their community. The ideology behind the use of Taino symbols and rituals is to provide our youth with a sense of belonging to something ancestral and understand our cultural and historical roots from which they will develop their own direction.
This year, there was much to celebrate!
Approximately 350 students involved in our Leadership College Access Programs.
103 seniors all going to college
100% graduation rate with 100% college bound seniors
42 were awarded with COA scholarships