UA News

On Saturday, the UA Poetry Center will host the Bilingual Corrido Contest for high school students during its Education Field Day.

About 125 high school students will convene at the University of Arizona on Saturday for the annual Corrido Contest and Corrido Field Day.

The UA Poetry Center is hosting the event, which is in its 10th year and was developed to celebrate the region's Hispanic heritage and to bolster pride in its artistic forms.

Teaching the corrido and recognizing young practitioners encourages historical and cultural awareness and provides students with a vehicle to express themselves. 

The field day will be held Oct. 3 at the UA Poetry Center, which is located at 1508 E. Helen St. Media representatives are invited to attend the event. Part of the program is to teach students in preparation of a corrido contest the center hosts.

During the day, students will break into groups where they work with writing coaches and peer mentors to learn about the history and different musical and poetic aspects of the corrido, which is a musical ballad form that was developed in Mexico during the 1800s. 

Corridos were originally sung throughout the country and, although still popular in Mexico, the form has since become associated as "border music." 

In their groups, the high school students will create visual representations of the facts they will later use to write their own corridos.

Groups will also work with professional writers who help them draft a corrido and strengthen the language and the rhythms so that their compositions will work both on the page and the stage.

The day culminates in a concert and open mic performance, which will be held 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Winners of the High School Corrido Contest will be recognized during an awards ceremony, featuring their original corrido lyrics set to music and performed by professional local musicians.

The deadline for students to enter the contest is Dec. 11 and winners will be announced sometime in February. The awards ceremomy will be held in April. Awards are $300 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third.

The day also includes a professional development session for teachers, who will attend with their students, meet to discuss ideas and issues in teaching the corrido in their classrooms, hear a presentation by a master teacher and also receive curricular materials and a professional development certificate.