Indigenous Roots for Carnaval-A Student Project

Hello, my name is Inez Vara. I am a 1st grade teacher at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 (BVHM) in San Francisco. I am part of the Carnaval Design Committee for our school.

Carnaval San Francisco (CSF), is a multicultural celebration of music, dance, and artistry that since 1979 has showcased Latin American culture and the talents of Mission District residents in an atmosphere of harmony and revelry. Come celebrate with us at the 40th annual Carnaval San Francisco, a FREE 2–day family festival in San Francisco’s Mission District over Memorial Day weekend — on Harrison Street between 16th and 24th Streets — and experience global cuisine, international music, dance, arts & crafts, and other fun activities and entertainment on every street corner for the entire family to enjoy. Carnaval San Francisco is the largest multi–cultural celebration on the West Coast.

BVHM is participating in San Francisco's famed Carnaval Festival & Parade (May 25-26, 2024- Memorial Day weekend). This is our 38th year taking part in this great event, and our theme this year is Celebrating our Indigenous Natural World. Our school will design a float, design special costumes for our children, and then will dance and play music as we travel through the Mission District in the Carnaval parade. We intend to honor the natural world of plants, animals and the environment of SF and the Bay Area in every aspect of our effort. Students and the school community will research indigenous plants and animals of the San Francisco Bay Area for inspiration for an original design to decorate our school's Carnaval float and costumes

We will use the money fundraised from Go Fund Me in order to purchase items for creating the float and the costumes needed for us to participate in Carnaval. We need to purchase plywood, 2x4's to build the skeleton of the float. We will need additional plywood and 2x4’s to be used in constructing the float itself and the side panels for the flatbed that the float will be sitting on. We will use funds to rent a flatbed that will be pulled by a truck during the parade. Furthermore, we must acquire buckets of bright colored paint that will be used to make a colorful float “skin” on the wood framework. Lastly, we will use the money to purchase fabric, thread, and other adornment to sew costumes that capture the eye!

Thanks to your donation, the students at our school will gain knowledge and express their expertise in a variety of ways. The student learning outcomes are: discovering the species that are imperative to the SF Bay Area Ecosystem, make design references to the bright colors of those species, display their artistry by helping design and sketching the imagery onto the float, plus they will learn how to collaborate with their peers and the school community as they work together from start-to-finish. In the end, the students will gain pride of being an integral part of the float creation while walking with fellow San Franciscans in the San Francisco Carnaval parade, the Mission district's best community event!

Thank you on behalf of BVHM for allowing our students to share their ideas and designs with our San Francisco Bay Area Community.