A summer of storytelling gives Hola Cultura interns a head start on what comes next

By hola | Published September 2, 2026 | No Comments

We visited GreenRoots’s teaching kitchen to learn and make Mexican Street Corn Salad, a delicious variation on the famous Mexican street food. Jojo Emerson, GreenRoots teaching kitchen coordinator, shared a recipe, along with cooking advice and stories during a memorable day. Before saying goodbye, we toured one of the local community gardens that GreenRoots manages using organic methods.
We teamed up with Eastie Farm’s summer youth to cook a traditional Costa Rican rice and beans dish using fresh produce grown by the organization of the farms participating in its Community Supported Agriculture program that works with dozens of local farms to bring fresh produce to residents each year. This recipe is coming soon to our food column, ¡A comer!

For Alejandra Conte-Contreras, working with Hola Cultura over the summer was like kickstarting her college career early.

The East Boston native starts Suffolk University this month to study marketing, media and film and said she enjoyed having a chance to continue building video editing skills over the summer.

“I’m especially interested in the creative side of media and marketing,” Conte said. “Hola Cultura has given me a chance to explore those interests, while gaining real experience that I can carry with me into college and my future career.”

Alejandra and I were on the five member team of high school and college students who participated in Hola Cultura’s hybrid summer internship based in East Boston this year. Starting in late June, we produced stories, interviewed local residents and bonded over new experiences and communal cooking sessions. We even hosted a couple of events, teaming up with other East Boston nonprofits.

In terms of the remote work, we took our interview transcripts home with us. From there, we researched and wrote about local topics such as local arts and cultural events, climate change and a new gambling bill. I wrote this story about the current proposal in Washington that would make permanent daylight savings.

Hola Cultura’s Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning (SPEL) helps build skills that translate into a variety of fields. Interns learn how to brainstorm ideas, conduct interviews, organize their research and share it effectively with an audience. We carried out a variety of interviews over the summer. From on the street discussions about current events to formal, scheduled discussions, we learned how to develop questions and prepare for interviews.

The summer is soon coming to an end. As Hola Cultura’s summer interns are now preparing to go back to school, we will carry these skills into the semester.

“I enjoyed working with Hola Cultura because it has helped me improve skills I need desperately for college,” said summer intern Carlos Mata Rodriguez, who will be attending the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the fall to study industrial engineering.

“For a good interview, confidence is a very important factor,” he added. “So doing it legitimately, like real journalists, gives me that sort of confidence.”

Through these stories, we learned more about East Boston’s community, local perspectives and the world. Most of our stories, including Carlos’ interviews about the new gambling bill, are now in the editing process and will be published soon!

— Story by Layne Martinez

— Copy edited by Valerie Izquierdo