Sending love through a story

Spanish final spreads love to Guatemala

More stories from Kiyah Moore

A STEM event
May 10, 2016
Amber Simberly (11) poses with her children's book for Spanish.

Kiyah Moore

Amber Simberly (11) poses with her children’s book for Spanish.

unnamed (52)Kiyah Moore
The end of the year. Teachers are gathering all of their materials into a cumulative final that will be distributed Monday and Tuesday.

But the Spanish department is doing something a little different this year.

A bustling crowd is centered in the middle of the commons around tables covered in colorful little homemade books.

Señor Correa and his class have decided to replace their final with the students making a children’s book. But this isn’t just a grade for them, it’s an act of kindness that’s spanning all the way to Guatemala.

Finished children’s books are getting shipped to orphans in Guatemala.

“This was all Correa’s idea,” said Amber Simberly, “it’s better to do this than a final because its not as much stress on the kids and you’re also getting to give a child [a book] somewhere across the world.”

Simberly liked the idea instead of the final and because its like the mission work she wants to pursue in her future.

Simberly wrote her book all a young girl from Mexico traveling to the Circle G Ranch in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

She used entirely digital means to design and illustrate her book. In the past, students have used different mediums for their books, i.e. crayon, marker, etc. But this year, students stuck to digital design.

Correa and the students loved the idea so much, that they plan on making this the final from now