My name is Liza Rosas Bustos and I am a Spanish Teacher at Mountainside High School. The picture above features an Argentinean girl from the town of Paraná. She had just received a letter from a student from Mountainside High School in Beaverton Oregon.

Last year I teamed up with English Teacher Cynthia Richards from Paraná, Entre Ríos Argentina to connect our students through letters.  Soon 150 of my students received a box full of letters and brochures from Paraná. The envelopes contained letters, pictures, drawings, keepsakes that my students touched and cherished. They responded to these letters and were soon mailing a box of responses to Argentina. Our students connected through Instagram and Facebook. Throughout the year some of them continue to share cultures, dreams, and hopes. 

Many Spanish textbooks require that students write a letter to an imaginary pen pal friend. These activities are removed from reality. When experiential learning happens, in this case, letter-writing to a high schooler from a different country it calls for students to engage in a revelation of their real selves. Letter-writing, so common in the past, becomes a special ritual where creativity sparks. They create a unique artifact that represents their identity and their culture. The letter was an act of self-discovery and culture-sharing, but also a form of connection. In a world where e-mail is the norm, a letter becomes a cultural form of expression, comparison, and reflection.

When polled about what was the best activity most of my students responded that the best activity of the year was "Letters to Paraná".

Last year's letter writing was a pilot program and we teachers covered expenses. The postage charges for one box of 150 letters were around $250 each (Argentinean side and American side). This year, our hope is to repeat the experience and add several follow-up guided intercultural activities. A total of $500 is needed to support postage rate.

Thank you!