Amigos de las Américas

Amigos de las Américas

On Sept. 19, a presentation of the the program Amigos de las Américas took place during seminar in the library. Spearheaded by Spanish teacher Erin Meyer and former North graduate Raquel Rodriguez, the presentation went on without a hitch to the 30 people who came to learn about the program. Spanish teacher Mike Flenthrope also spoke at the meeting.

“I think it really well,” Meyer said. “I think it was well attended. The students seemed to be interested in traveling and they were interested in Raquel’s anecdotes.”

The basis of the program is for people to go to Central or South America and volunteer around eight weeks of their time to helping people in Spanish speaking countries. Not only does the program allow for students to broaden their horizons, but it also forces them to pick up the language at a much quicker rate as Spanish is the main language in most of the countries offered.

“It gives a student a completely different perspective,” Meyer said. “When you actually go to a new environment where the Spanish language is only spoken, you learn really fast. There is no English to fall back on so it’s like a complete immersion experience.”