Members of the Matanzas High School AMIGOS Hispanic Cultural Club and Matanzas ESOL students (English for Speakers of Other Languages) partnered with Rymfire Elementary School to develop a literature initiative with the ESOL elementary students in grades K-5.
On April 15, the high school students visited Rymfire, reading stories in English and Spanish to the elementary students about gaining “superpowers” of honesty, patience, acceptance, love and gratefulness. After the students completed an activity related to the book, they received a superhero cape.
The project is led by Matanzas Spanish teacher Christina Gilliam, who developed the idea to give high school students mentoring opportunities that build emotional intelligence while enhancing reading skills in English and Spanish to develop bilingual skills.
Gilliam partnered with Dawn Emling, Matanzas ESOL reading teacher, and Jessica Gonzalez, elementary ESOL reading teacher.
“We are proud of the students at Matanzas who participated in this reading initiative,” Gilliam said.
