Spanish Classes Take A Trip to Willimantic

The Spanish classes levels 1-honors took a trip to Willimantic earlier today to get a more in depth experience as to what Spanish culture is really like. The trip was organized by Senora Nochton and Senora Rametta. Accompanying the teachers were English teacher, Mrs. Anger and Assistant Principle, Mr Wilson who in fact is of Bolivian background. The group arrived at SAMA, an organization that was created in order for primarily Latino traders to attend in order to gain a better understand of the economy. They offer services to the homeless and also a community college such as QVCC. Students were introduced to Senor George Hernandez, from Puerto Rico,who works for SAMA and is associated with other businesses as well as Robert Fernandez, from Columbia. He is an Associate Director of the Willimantic Center. After asking a few questions, the students then visited "La alcaldia" meaning the mayor's office or town hall. There, students were informed of how the police force operates in the four districts and the types of crime that happen in Willimantic. From there, the group was then separated into four small ones which each ate at a different restaurants including Cinco De Mayo, and Don Taco. The last place the students went to visit was Eastern Connecticut State University and there they met a man from Columbia named Jaime. He explained all about the college and the many different classes it offers. The President of Eastern, from Puerto Rico, explained what life in Puerto Rico was like compared to the U.S and also becoming the president of the University. The third speaker was named Anthony and he spoke about his early life Puerto Rico before moving to the U.S and why his family decided to leave. Overall, the students got an excellent taste of the Spanish culture and were enthusiastic about meeting people outside of the classroom with whom they could apply their language skills with.