CROSS-CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

Since 2021, St. John’s College High School and Escuela Preparatoria de La Universidad La Salle have engaged in virtual student exchange activities to build, foster, and share the Lasallian mission.

Through the coordinated efforts of Spanish teacher and SJC Exchange Coordinator Dan Pier and English teacher and La Salle Mexico’s Exchange Coordinator Jesús Espinosa de La Luz, the students from each school enjoyed opportunities to share their cultures while practicing their respective languages. In the fall of 2021, SJC’s Spanish 3 students exchanged three short videos with their Mexican partners, and at the end of semester, they participated in a live, virtual exchange. Students were divided into breakout groups to share interests and stories in both Spanish and English. The schools also exchanged recipes to prepare during a virtual dinner event and spoke with one another in both languages while enjoying their meals.

IN SPRING 2022, La Salle Mexico’s Exchange Coordinator Jesús Espinosa de La Luz visited St. John’s to deliver a presentation to the school’s faculty and to visit SJC Spanish classes and meet the students. He shared a beautiful video featuring Mexico’s celebrated artists and writers, and the country’s renowned food, tourist sites, and historical places. He then answered questions about the La Salle Mexico and Mexico City and invited St. John’s to participate in another virtual exchange during the 2022–23 school year.

IN OCT. 2022, it was Mr. Pier’s turn to travel to Mexico City and visit with the faculty and high school students of La Escuela Preparatoria de La Universidad de La Salle. During his stay, he joined French and Danish exchange students and their Mexican hosts and teachers for a visit to Teotihuacan, a sprawling pre-Columbian city. He integrated SJC Spanish students in DC into his field trip by creating a video assignment for them featuring the site’s Pyramid of the Moon.

Students, faculty, and staff at La Escuela Preparatoria devote an entire day to the celebration of el Día de los Muertos. The dance team, chorus, and orchestra perform, and students create extensive decorations including a large ofrenda (altar) in honor of their deceased loved ones. They also create their own costumes and compete in two categories: catrines, representative of ancestors who returned to the land of the living to visit loved ones, and alebrijes, fantastical, brightly colored animals believed to serve as spirit guides. There is a competition of skeletons vs. spirit animals, a parade throughout the school, and a costume contest judged by students. Among the decorations are flores de cempesúchil, the orange marigold ubiquitous in Mexico during the season and calaveras, brightly decorated skulls sometimes made of sugar.

Determined not to miss out on St. John’s annual Waclawik 5K while in Mexico, Mr. Pier and Senior de La Luz ran their own 5K in Mexico city’s famous Chapultepec Park at the same time as the Cadets, making it the firstever Waclawik 5k “International.”

IN DEC. 2022, La Salle Mexico and SJC engaged in their second virtual exchange in Fitzpatrick Library. This time, Spanish 2 students had the opportunity to converse with their Mexican peers in both languages about their classes, driving habits, sports, and much more. They also led virtual tours of their schools.

Mr. Pier continues to promote multicultural exchange and student’s global exposure. He mentors the Lasallian Cultural Ambassadors Club, a group of student leaders developing friendships with students of La Salle Mexico through videos. He is confident the program will help develop students’ self-confidence and intercultural skills, improve their Spanish, and shape their lives in the future. Both schools look forward to continuing this relationship in the hope that one day, the students can meet in person. Both schools are enthusiastic about this association of shared mission.