Every day for three weeks, 23 children who speak Spanish at home were able to reinforce the English language they use at school and to celebrate their LatinX culture on the campus of Washington and Lee University. The idea for Programa SOL (an acronym for speakers of other languages) came from Professor Ellen Mayock and community liaison Fio Lewis who had heard worrisome news from Spanish-speaking parents in Rockbridge County.
“Their kids were doing drugs, and they were 12, 13 years old," she explains. "The parents didn’t have the money to send them to clubs or camps, swimming lessons and soccer and things like that.”
So with donations from various community groups and help from college students, they created a program where older students could, for example, play bi-lingual Jeopardy.
Campers score points for knowing how to say platypus, whiskers and stickers in Spanish.
The younger kids draw pictures of their spirit animal – an amalgam of many different creatures and an important part of Mexican culture.
"I’ve got a tiger body with a dragon wing and
an eagle head," says one little boy who named his spirit animal Steve.
A local swim club found volunteers to provide lessons according to Jane Reino, a visiting professor of romance languages.
"The improvement has just been remarkable. We have students who were only going up to their ankles who are now jumping off into the deep end!" she says.
Programa SOL also aims to show kids what the future may hold if they study hard and aim high.
"The first day when they hopped off the bus, we said, ‘Okay everybody, do you know where you are?'Reino recalls. "They were like, ‘School?’ and I was like, ‘Yes, but this is Washington and Lee University,' and one of the students said, ‘Well what’s that?’ Some actually didn’t know the word university yet."
Counselor Jacqueline Tamez, who was born in Mexico, adds that it’s great for these bi-lingual day campers to have new role models.
"Seeing some of us who have already graduated is very encouraging for them. I know one time someone saw my graduation photo on the screen, and she said, “One day that’s going to be me, and I was like, ‘Yes it is!’[ We make sure to give them little pep talks about how they can end up here if they want to, and we are always here to support them."
And counselor Yoseph Wolde hopes Programa Sol is a more relaxing place to learn than school where students may feel out of place.
“We’ve kind of built a safe space for them to learn whereas in school they feel pressured to know things, because their classmates do. Here they feel more comfortable to share where they are struggling and what they need help with.”
The kids also spent time at the Boxerwood Nature Center, crafting habitats for their spirit animals.
