Spanish Classes bring Holiday Cheer to All Children’s
Source/Author: Rachel Martin, Director of Marketing and Communications
December 18, 2015
Third and fourth graders in Señora Jaime-Allwood’s Spanish class closed out the week before Winter Break with a special trip to All Children’s Hospital. The students delivered stacks of handmade books and cards they made - in both English and Spanish - for the patients at All Children’s.
Dr. Prem Fort, a Shorecrest parent, All Children’s physician and native Spanish speaker, helped connect the classes with the hospital. Dr. Fort and staff from the All Children’s Hospital Foundation were there to greet the Shorecrest students and accept the gifts on behalf of the patients. “Many of our patients speak Spanish, so it’s important for them to have a card or book written in their native tongue,” said Dr. Fort. “You’ve helped make their holidays happy while they are here in the hospital.”
The visit was a culmination of a long-term project that involved Spanish vocabulary and writing, art, and community service.
Sra. Jaime-Allwood said, “For the first step of our community project I asked them, ‘How would you feel if you were sick in a hospital?’ I asked them in Spanish and they answered in Spanish with my guidance in the sentence structure.”
Brainstorming together, the third graders decided to create vocabulary books around topics like animals, holidays and food. Fourth graders made inspiring and beautifully decorated cards. Each step of the project added a bulk of new words to the students’ Spanish language vocabulary including words describing feelings and emotions, holidays and traditions, and more.
They put their speaking skills into practice when delivering the cards, as Dr. Fort chatted with them in Spanish.
“When can we do that again?!” asked a fourth grader as the group loaded the bus to leave All Children’s. “That was fun!”
