Famous Latinx Birthdays

Happy May 3rd! El tres de mayo, 1808 (below) is one of Goya's most famous paintings. Read about why it's one of my favorites HERE . ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Joey Montana (Edgardo Antonio Miranda Beiro)! (1987-      ) Photo from The Gazette Review, 2018. Click HERE .  A musician from Panama, Joey Montana is known for songs such as La Melodia, Tus Ojos No Me Ven, Hola, and Picky . He has released four albums, the most recent one being Picky Back To The Roots in 2016. He was originally a member of the group La Factoria and contributed to many of their albums before going solo in the early 2000s. He currently lives in his hometown of Boquete, Panama. See the video for his song Picky , which has more than a billion views, HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Carlos Ruiz! (Carlos Joaquín "Chooch" Ruiz) (1979-          ) As a lifelong Phillies fan who was teaching in a Philadelphia school when the Phillies won the 2008 World Series with Chooch, I have to say, this one's personal! We all love Chooch (an he loves us back! See this billboard he bought to tell us so in 2016).  Photo from philly.com. Click  HERE .  Carlos Ruiz is a professional baseball player from Panama who played with the Phillies for 11 seasons (he also played for the L.A. Dodgers and Seattle Mariners). A catcher called the "heart and the soul" of the team when they won the World Series in 2008 (see his Game Three game-winning hit in this fan video,  HERE ), Ruiz won teammates and fans over with his humility and humor -- not to mention hard work. His nickname, Chooch, is actually a variation of the F-bomb in Panama that Ruiz used to mutter under his breath when unhappy with his performance. This was ...