Cerritos College Celebration of Hispanic Heritage month kicked off with a presentation on Tuesday on the history of independence of both Mexico and Chile.

The presentation was conducted by History Professor Walter Fernandez from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Teleconference Center.

Fernandez covered the dynamics behind the independence movements of many Hispanic cultures as well.

“The purpose of this presentation had to do with the fact that many countries celebrate their independences in September, ” Fernandez said.

Fernandez goes on to say that the purpose of this whole Hispanic heritage month celebration is to educate students.

“It is to increase student knowledge of the different cultures, the experiences, the different peoples within these cultures have gone through,” Fernandez said.

There is a total of 10 different events spread throughout Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, all correlating with Hispanic heritage month.

The events range from folkloric dances, music listening, a movie and a book presentation from former Cerritos College student Wendy Solorio.

As for this first event, students felt that it was educational.

“I thought it was very inspiring,” Jesus Chavez Sierra, mechanical engineering major, said. “It’s a nice way to be able to reach out to your culture and events that happened in the past.”

Sierra said that the main reason he came to the event was because his teacher told him about it, but he said he would have come either way.

“Even is he hadn’t, I think this is something that I definitely showed up to,” Sierra said.

Monyca Cedello, Journalism major, said, “It helps us to know the history about Mexico, so I think it was really good.”

She goes on to say that coming to this presentation helped her refresh her memory about Mexican independence.

The next event is scheduled for next Tuesday at the amphitheater and sidewalk at 11 a.m.

It will be a performance of Aztec and folkloric dances from Latin America.