Spanish Students Welcome Pen Pals to GHS

Last Friday during third and fourth hour, students in Honors Spanish 4 and AP Spanish 5 had the opportunity to meet the third and fourth graders from Riley Elementary, a bilingual school in Milwaukee, who they will be pen pals with with all year.  They participated in several fun activities in the gym.

The lower gym was set up with different stations, including a big parachute, conversation bingo, and red light green light.  In the cheer gym, students could play soccer with their pen pals, and in a Spanish room, students helped their pen pals make snowmen out of tea lights and ate a snack of churros and milk.

Before the event, students were filled with excitement about everything it would bring, but they were also nervous.

“I am most excited to meet my pen pal and just have a bunch of fun. I love kids and I hope to have tons of fun playing games, doing crafts, eating snacks, and obviously talking to get to know more about each other,” junior Maddy Dalton said.  “I am also a little nervous about the visit because they are probably more fluent in Spanish than I am, and I am nervous that they will say something but I won’t know what it means or how to say what I want to say back.”

Students in the Spanish National Honor Society helped plan the event, so they knew beforehand what would happen and had ideas as to which activities would be big hits.

“I think the students will enjoy the parachute games most because I remember always looking forward to that in elementary school,” junior member Carley Rudd said.

In past years, Greendale students have visited Riley in May, but this year, Spanish teacher Theresa Kruschke-Alfonso believes having the younger kids come to Greendale will be beneficial.

“They are coming to see Greendale because it is a good experience for both Greendale and Riley students.  Both students will get to meet the person that they have and will be writing to during the school year.  It makes the audience of the writing even more real,” she said.  “Also, Greendale students get to speak Spanish and meet someone who speaks Spanish outside of Spanish class helping them to gain confidence, motivation and a bit of cultural experience.   For Riley students, it is important to have a role model and see what another school looks like and interact with older students.”

Kruschke-Alfonso also believes the experience is beneficial outside of the classroom.

“I think it helps to build relationships and learn about other people in a neighboring community and see what they are like.  Also, I hope that students see that they are able to speak Spanish with actual people, not just with their Spanish teachers or in the classroom,” she said.

Since Rudd is in AP Spanish 5, she visited a pen pal last year as well and always enjoys the experience.

“I like visiting with my pen pal because it’s a fun way to practice my Spanish speaking skills and I love working with kids,” she said.

Greendale and Riley students alike enjoyed the experience.

“It was a great experience because I learned new stuff about my pen pal and it was great practice for me,” sophomore Roy Soliz said.