In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month more than 5,000 Florida elementary school students recently participated in a first-of-its-kind lesson plan that was not only educationa, but downright flavorful.
To provide a more experiential way for students to learn about cultural heritage during Hispanic Heritage Month, Pollo Tropical created a Hispanic Heritage Month lesson plan for Florida elementary school teachers.
The lesson plan included a group of four cards which provided the Spanish translation of featured menu items, along with a brief description of each item. Students then took these cards to their local Pollo Tropical restaurant and exchanged the cards for a free sample of the food item on the card. Pollo Tropical cashiers signed and dated the backs of the cards to confirm the restaurant visit. Back at school, the students took a short quiz on the tropical, Latin-influenced food items they tasted. All materials were provided by Pollo Tropical free of charge.
As an added bonus, the classroom that redeemed the most sample cards received a free catered Hispanic Heritage Feast by Pollo Tropical, in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
“Pollo Tropical values its Hispanic roots and wanted to work with local schools to help kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with a fun, free way to educate them on the origins of some of our traditional ‘Hispanic’ signature dishes,” says Kim Miller, Pollo Tropical’s senior marketing director. “We knew the lesson plan was creative but were amazed to see how many students benefited by it. Teachers embraced it as much as the students, so this is definitely something we want to continue in the school systems for years to come.”
National Hispanic Heritage Month concluded October 15. The observation was initiated in 1968 as National Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, it was expanded to one month (31 days).
