Held as a virtual event on Sept. 30, 2021, the Latino Awards is an annual fundraising event for Centro Hispano in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Centro Hispano serves the Latino immigrant community in the Knoxville area, providing English lessons, children’s activities and much more through a partnership with Pellissippi State Community College. Centro Hispano is focused on always investing in the community by reaching out to Latino families who need a place that feels like home in East Tennessee.
The 2021 event showcased sponsors of the event, videos from Centro Hispano and traditional Latino music; a silent auction was also held to raise funds to continue the work Centro is doing in the community.
One anonymous woman in the broadcast spoke of the impact Centro has made on her life by stating, “Centro gave me the chance to make Knoxville my home. It also helped me to feel fulfilled and continue growing in different areas. Centro gave me a chance, and it’s something many people don’t have.”
Many awards were given out during the broadcast, including the Latino Ally Award. This award was given to Veronica Calderon-Speed, an English Language Learner teacher at Hardin-Valley Academy who has been an ELL teacher since 2017. She was also awarded the 2021 Teacher of the Year award and has a passion for Latino immigrant students. She is an advocate for Centro Hispano and commented on her work with her students.
She said, “I saw my students not standing out, not being noticed, instead of feeling pride in their culture and first language, and I needed to change that.”
She continues to work with the Latino students at Hardin-Valley so that they can feel accomplished graduating and knowing two languages and be proud of where they come from. The Latino Awards encourages everyone to continue to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month all year round and to engage in the immigrant community in East Tennessee and the Knoxville area.
