This week, my Spanish 3 students are putting on a sale for the Pulsera Project. I have done this a few times in the past but this is the first time doing it at this school. My students have been really enthusiastic about it!
If you haven’t heard of it before, the Pulsera Project is a non-profit organization that sells bracelets made by Central American artists. All the proceeds go to support their various programs related to housing, education, healthcare, etc. And all the artists make a fair, living wage.
I used the program as an opportunity to teach my students about the some of the economic problems that people face in Central America. We talked about poverty and the minimum wage and compared it to what we know about poverty in the United States. Seeing the comparisons between the two regions really helped my students see the bigger picture.
I am also using this sale as a chance to reach out to students in the high school as a whole. While we do have many students who take Spanish, there are many more who do not plan to take it at all. I see this as a chance for my Spanish 3 students to help share what they are learning and for the rest of the school to have a small encounter with culture.
Color the World 2016 from Pulsera Project on Vimeo.
I would love to incorporate more encounters with culture for my students using community resources. Central Ohio has plenty of opportunities for my students to use the skills they learn in class and to have new cultural experiences. One of my goals for the next school year is to bring in more Heritage speakers from the community!
La sala de Profe Zaye 