The Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny brought a slice of his heritage to Levi's Stadium in the Bay Area, performing in one of the highest-watched Super Bowl halftime performances of all time. In the days following the performance, Westridge Upper School Spanish students reflected on how understanding the historical and social context of the Super Bowl performance—of a joyful homage to Puerto Rico performed nearly all in Spanish—as well as Bad Bunny's historic Grammy Album of the Year win (for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos") helped deepen their learning and their appreciation of Bad Bunny and his music and Latin American cultures.

THE WHY: "This is just another example of how our program seeks to connect language learning to current events and forge community connections. We aim to help students see Spanish as meaningful, relevant, and connected to real people and real stories—both inside and outside the classroom," explained Upper School World Languages & Cultures Department Chair Dr. Vicki Garrett. "When students examine how language, symbolism, and artistic choices work together in music and performance, they build real comprehension skills and learn to think critically about language beyond memorization."

THE HOW:

• In Dr. Garrett's Spanish III class, Bad Bunny's lyrics proved to be a useful tool in learning and understanding verb conjugations. "I have seen in my classes how his confident and unapologetic use of Spanish in increasingly visible spaces has helped students understand and relate to the grammatical structures they learn," she said. "It has increased engagement and deeper learning about communication, which has inspired me to continue using his music to integrate language and cultural learning for the rest of the year!"
   
• In El Mundo Hispanohablante, students engaged in a thoughtful and layered discussion connecting Bad Bunny's performance to themes they've been studying throughout the school year. They examined the symbolism of the sugar plantations—the show was set in what seemed to be a sugar cane field—and made connections to the history of colonialism and enslavement in Puerto Rico. They also analyzed the electric utility poles in the performance, connecting the set to Bad Bunny's song "El Apagón" and the song's music video/documentary.
  
  "Together, [students] explored how this imagery reflects the failures of infrastructure in Puerto Rico following Hurricane María in 2017, as well as ongoing concerns around displacement and gentrification on the island," explained Upper School Spanish Teacher Dr. Jessica Pérez del Toro. Students also recognized that the powerful expressions in the performance—messages of love, dignity, and perseverance—invite communities to move forward with strength, joy, and a deep sense of belonging, she added.
   
• Students in Advanced Spanish Literature requested that they analyze the halftime show, said Upper School Spanish Teacher Dr. Nalei Guzmán. Dr. Guzmán had each student select a scene from the show to highlight and analyze. Ammi O. A. '28, for example, discussed a scene in which Bad Bunny presents his Grammy music award to a young boy as the boy is watching him receive the award on TV. "It's like [Bad Bunny] giving his Grammy to Puerto Rico, representing what he fought for and showing his love toward Puerto Rico," she explained. "I also saw it as him giving esperanza (hope) to the younger generation."
   
• Advanced Cultural Studies in Spanish students compared scenes from daily life woven throughout the performance to media such as the Disney film "Encanto" and the novel "Como agua para chocolate" by Laura Esquivel. They evaluated the impact of specific representational strategies to communicate messages about the interconnectedness of the Americas, the diversity and resilience of Latin American peoples, and how colonial legacies from Puerto Rico's history parallel contemporary challenges.

STUDENT PERSPECTIVE:

Lucia F.-R. '26, currently taking the Advanced Spanish Literature class, pointed out that seeing the anecdotes of Latino culture on arguably the biggest stage in the world during Bad Bunny's performance and having that cultural connection was important.

"There is this rhetoric that the Super Bowl is a very Western event, but [Bad Bunny showed] the idea that Latinos are American and that we are all part of the Americas," said Esperanza O.-C. '26, partly in reference to the portion of the show when the artist named 25 nations across the Americas and Caribbean.

Students studied impactful phrases throughout the show, including the opening:

Mi nombre es Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, y si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl 60, es porque nunca, nunca dejé de creer en mí. Tú también deberías de creer en ti. Vales más de lo que piensas. Confía en mí.

My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and if I'm here today at Super Bowl 60, it's because I never, ever stopped believing in myself. You should believe in yourself too. You're worth more than you think. Trust me.