On May 27th we made a half day excursion to Woodburn to learn more about this enclave of Hispanic Oregonians.  We first visited AIS (Academy of International Studies) where our students had the opportunity to meet and talk, in Spanish, with a group of Woodburn high school students.  Our hosts spoke openly about what it's like to attend a school with a demographic of 99.5% Hispanic, what languages they use in school and at home, family life, tastes in music, what teens do in Woodburn, where's the best Mexican food in Woodburn and what Catlin life is like.  I had the great pleasur

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Plaque on wall of Luis´s documenting Obama´s visit

These signs were up in many store windows.

Yesterday 9 Spanish V Honors students and both Spanish VH teachers volunteered at Fiesta Cinco de Mayo 2010...our third consecutive year volunteering for the Portland Guadalajara Sister City Association.  We were the first group of volunteers to arrive and were very warmly received by Kathy Romero and members of the Board of Directors of the Portland Guadalajara Sister City Association.  Our crew was given the charge of welcoming 24 schools and help seat some 1,500 children, chaperones and teachers who came to attend the annual Children´s Assembly.  The Ballet

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Ballet Folklórico de Guadalajara

Fiesta Cinco de Mayo 2010

En la carpa de los niños

Samantha paints a beautiful butterfly on the most adorable little girl

Sam and Miguel at the temporary tatoo table

Miguel applys a Spider Man tatoo on this little one

Perla and Josh order some awesome quesadillas

Spring is in the air and the time has come to move out of the classroom, get involved in our community and put our Spanish to the test.  Since January the class has read about the history of the Hispanic presence in Oregon.  Students have listened to oral histories documenting the Hispanic experience here in the Portland Metro Area and beyond.  We researched and read about organizations and programs designed to improve the lives of our Hispanic nei

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Spanish VH students work on blogs and research

Scheduling an appointment at Teatro Milagro.

Students decide what they should share about the class at an upcoming assembly

Students busy reading the blog entries of their classmates.