Lane Tech students explore Hispanic culture with piñata crafting

CHICAGO — Students at Chicago’s largest public high school spent time crafting a classic Hispanic cultural tradition on Wednesday.

Lane Tech students spent time in the school’s historic library crafting piñatas.

Students covered balloons with papier-mâché strips made from newspaper, waited for them to harden, and then decorated the shells using glue and colorful tissue paper.

Junior Filomena Hernandez Rodriguez taught her fellow students the tradition as a way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with her classmates.

"The piñata in Hispanic culture is used to celebrate and bring family together at parties and events – religious occasions," she said. “You create it, and that’s the fun part, because you create it however you want. It’s fun to break it open because you get candy out of it