Gracias.

This afternoon, two young ladies from the local high school came down to begin some basic Spanish lessons with our class. I’ve had students from the high school come before and usually with mixed results. To be fair, my expectations weren’t super high. Boy was I wrong.

These two seniors came in and took over… and I mean that in the best way possible. They had the class make a circle and then proceeded to lead them in a short lesson in saying ‘hello,’ ‘What is your name?’ and ‘My name is…’ By the time they left we were all speaking Spanish better then when they arrived.

What struck me most was how well they managed the group without any direction from Mrs. D. or myself. They kept them engaged and on task for almost thirty minutes, no small feat in kindergarten. These young women praised the children constantly and reminded them to listen and keep their hands and feet to themselves. Mrs. D. and I were amazed.

Our new amigos will be back every week to help us improve our Spanish. They have our entire class (including me) excited about learning… as each child left today, I got a big ‘Adios amigo!’ A few mangled it (my favorite was “Ami-mos mos-migo”), but the exhilaration about learning was there… and for that all I can say is… gracias.