In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, students at New Hyde Park-Garden City Park’s Hillside Grade School have been learning about instruments, songs and music-styles from a variety of Spanish-speaking countries with music teacher Joanna Malaszczyk.

Third graders recently learned about Plena, a genre of music and dance native to Puerto Rico, and the rhythms played on percussion instruments like “panderetas” (handheld drums) and “güiro” (scraped gourds). After being given a drum or gourd to play, the students practiced the rhythmic layering in Plena music by playing along with the song “Ola de la Mar.”