Nine Colombian students made their first trip to the United States in February, and one of their stops was the Middle School on February 3.

The trip was coordinated by a woman named Marta Palació, a friend of mine since sixth or seventh grade,” said Ms. Diana Rios, one of the middle school Spanish language teachers who organized the visit.

This was Palació’s fifth “mission,” which is like a field study to help students from various Colombian schools travel to different countries and learn about other cultures.

“My D period class prepared a bilingual tour so that the Colombian students could get familiar with the facilities [here at TBS],” said Rios. “They wrote a script of what to show the students in both Spanish and English. The Colombians also gave a background of themselves in English during individual presentations.”

The student tour guides talked about their experiences with the Colombian students, too. “It was a
really good experience to be around a different culture,” said seventh grader Matthew Postman. “We got to play soccer with them and that was really fun.”

The students also visited some historic sites in Florida and spent one of their days at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. For Rios, who coordinated several Skyping sessions with Spanish- speaking individuals this year, it was another opportunity to expose her students to the Latin culture and language.

“I think it was a very good experience for our students and the Colombian students,” she said.