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By YOLANDA Come Monday, students studying Spanish at Northview High School in north Fulton County will have in their classrooms, eat Mexican food, do some research and maybe play some games. At Dunwoody Springs Elementary School, children in kindergarten will make mini- while older students will make miniature serapes. The parents have been invited to a lunch that includes chicken enchiladas, rice and corn. Similar scenes will likely play out in other schools throughout metro Atlanta. Coupled with classroom lessons, the activities are designed to teach children a piece of Mexican history.

Monday is Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of the May 5, 1862, Battle of Puebla, when troops of an outgunned and outmanned Mexican army defeated a mighty French force. Although it is considered a minor federal holiday in Mexico, in the United States, Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, has taken on a life of its own. Beer and alcohol companies sponsor major entertainment events in areas with large Mexican or Mexican- American populations. Schools in the metro area have added the day to cultural calendars that include Black History Month, International Day and American Heritage Month, which is also in May. They use the periods to teach slices of American life or world history.

want them to understand what all about that not Mexican Independence said Susan Johnson, a Spanish teacher at Northview High School. want them to understand what is behind the But educators are concerned that too much emphasis on the food-flags-fiesta aspects of history trivializes those very Area schools teach lessons of Cinco de Mayo Presidency of the Republic of Mexico The Battle of Puebla, depicted by painter Patricio Ramos Ortega, gave Mexicans a stunning victory on May 5, 1862, over invading troops trying to extend the French empire to North America. Known in Mexico as Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary is a minor federal holiday there. BATTLE OF PUEBLA Please see HOLIDAY, E6 events were pivotal events. They are not ASA HILLIARD Georgia State Fuller E.

Callaway professor of urban education By YOLANDA The face of a Mayan priest emerged slowly from Luis Alberto brush. He mixed black and white paint for the gray to outline the body and added red to his feathered headdress. mother is Luis said as he painted one little corner of a community mural. He was born in Guatemala and is a junior at Dalton High School. Although the mural was inspired by Mexico, Luis, 18, said he wanted to participate because the painting would tell the story of Aztecs, the Mayas and the On Monday, dozens of his fellow high school students added their parts to the mural: the red paw prints of a catamount, the Dalton school mascot; clocks showing different times, symbols of the passages of life; the torch of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City; tiny figures they looked like the children on the animated series holding protest signs to represent the Mexican university students killed days before those Games began.

The project was a joint effort of after-school International Club and other students learning Spanish, history and art. Teenagers from International Inclusion Center, where many newly arrived immigrant students take their first classes, also participated. A Mexican flag and a U.S. flag served as the background for the collection of symbols, culled from the study of Mexico over the last few months. They were painting the back wall of an auto mechanics shop in Latino side of town.

The town, long known as the capital of the could one day be known as the international capital of murals created by the community, said Waldo Vinces, the Atlanta artist who guided the students through the process. is their said Vinces, pointing to the two huge flags and a smaller flag that blended elements of both. The project brought together teenagers who always mix at the school, said Mimi Zou, a 16-year-old junior. A lot of people in America always understand Mexican immigrants, said Mimi, who was born in China and is in her fourth year of studying Spanish. have gone through so many she said.

worked so hard. risked their lives to come here and so did my parents just to give their children a better future. So I feel like we are The mural project began last school year when Vinces and his wife, Victoria Martin-Gilly, conducted a career workshop with about 200 Hispanic students at the high school. They taught the students how to use various art media. found out it was not said Vinces, who moved from Venezuela to Atlanta in 1995.

He felt like he was telling the students, to college. Your life will turn out better see you So Vinces made another trip to Dalton, this time to help the students, all members of the International Club, with their first mural project on a patio wall of a Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant. Most of the members of the after-school club Photos by KIMBERLY SMITH Staff Dalton High School junior Luis Alberto Velasquez adds a Mayan priest to a mural on Mexican history that he and his classmates are painting on a wall in downtown Dalton. Luis, a native of Guatemala, says the mural will help explain his Mayan past. Dalton murals depict history of Americas Heather Neal, a member of Dalton Spanish club, works on the mural Monday.

The project was undertaken by the International Club and students of Spanish, art and history. Please see MURAL, E6 INSIDE TODAY CONTACT US: Raman Narayanan, Editor 404-526-5926 Driving in Iraq: Metro drivers have nothing on Iraqis. Nerve-racking spins on twisting mountain roads are often a test of masculinity. Keep up with updates on international news, and access lists of community resources regarding metro immigrant communities. ajc.com/atlantaworld.

ON AJC.COM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2003 ajc The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Atlanta E4 the World IN THE PAPER THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION CHECK FOR BREAKING NEWS UPDATES AT AJC.COM World Bazaar: Our columnist chances upon a store whose Mexican-born owner dreams of developing a Latino Wal-Mart. Plus, check out the offerings from metro immigrant communities in our international calendar. E5 crackdown strains budding ties By MONI BASU While the gaze was affixed on the war in Iraq, Fidel Castro rounded up 75 political dissidents and independent journalists and sent them to jail for 28 years. The Cuban dictator then ordered the execution of three men accused of terrorism in an unsuccessful hijacking of a passenger ferry headed to the United States. The three went before a firing squad April 11.

fierce crackdown on dissidents and human rights activists prompted many nations to rethink their relations with the Communist island. Even those organizations that worked for years to bring an end to the decades-old U.S. embargo have thrown up their arms in frustration and despair. The sharp reversal of a trend toward normalization has been especially unsettling to Jimmy Carter. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former U.S.

president had hoped to mark the first anniversary of his historic trip to Cuba with hopeful news. to say, I have been very disappointed by what has occurred in Carter said. dissident movement has been severely crippled, and I would presume Draconian measures adopted by Castro will be A year ago, Carter addressed the Cuban people directly in an uncensored speech broadcast live on radio and television across the island. The unprecedented speech and key meetings on six-day visit last May had boosted the potential for opening the doors to change in Cuba. Dissidents expressed hope, saying Please see CASTRO, E3 Dunwoody family wins judgment against Cuba, E3 INSIDE DAVID TULIS Staff The promise of better U.S.-Cuba ties seemed possible after Fidel Castro (left) warmly received former U.S.

President Jimmy Carter last May on a historic trip to the Communist island. RWORL0430OE1FWORL0430OE1 MID RUN 1E 1E RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack Blue RedYellowBlack.