Community service can consist of picking up trash or helping the elderly, but we often forget that it can also mean helping younger people grow and learn and that is what the AHS Spanish Club is doing.
At the beginning of the 2011- 2012 year Mrs. Beth Anderson, AHS Spanish teacher and director of the Spanish Club, was approached by Valarie Vander Schaaf, the director of the English Language Learners (ELL) program, and Ruth Escamilla, Paraprofessional-ELL, with the proposal to have her Spanish Club members tutor the migrant students of the Middle School. Mrs. Escamilla and Mrs. Vander Schaaf thought it would be fun and beneficial for the Middle School English ELL students to interact with the high school Spanish Club students. In a sort of language exchange, the interaction, they said, would also give Spanish Club members the opportunity to practice their Spanish language skills while performing a valuable community service Mrs. Anderson acquired and the idea was set in motion.
The tutoring takes place after school in Mrs. Escamilla’s room in the Middle School each Tuesday. There are up to 15 ELL kids, but numbers and attendees of the tutoring program fluctuate week-to-week. The kids are mostly 5th and 6th graders, but all ELL students, up through grade 8, are welcome. The program is for everyone, but mainly migrant students.
Seniors Broc Anderson, Micaela Adam, Trey Neely, Jonathan Weishire, and Elane Tostedt are the Spanish Club students doing the tutoring. Micaela Adam said, “I like getting to know these kids and interacting with them. We have fun and I like being there for them.” Gabby Montes, one of the students being tutored said, “I really like that they help with homework and they are nice.” The students interact with one another by doing icebreakers, eating snacks, and working on homework. While I was there I could see the children’s enthusiasm while the Spanish Club members were helping them with their homework.
Mrs. Vander Schaaf said, “It is great to encourage the younger kids to come and work. We really appreciate it.” Mrs. Escamilla said, “These kids really depend on the high school students to come here and they look forward to them being here on Tuesday’s. If the kids have a lot of homework they will save the work because they know the older kids will help. They look up to them so much.”
The idea Mrs. Anderson wants the high school kids to take away from the program, “…is that through community service, you can touch peoples’ lives through helping them. [Also,] it is important to speak Spanish because there are so many things you can do with the language.” She added that she would like, “…the migrant children to take from this program [both] better grades and an understanding that being bilingual is a gift. I also want them to know that there are high school students who care about them.”
The program got underway at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year and will continue throughout the rest of the year.