A private school in Madrid, Spain, Colegio Santa Cristina, enthusiastically responded to Señora Mulrean’s request to form a partnership. In March, Señora Mulrean traveled to Madrid to spend a day meeting with the Head of Languages at Santa Cristina, Señora Mónica Ruiz Gárate, and visiting classes. The teachers exchanged information about their schools, and brainstormed ways in which they could encourage on-going communication between their respective students. (Like East Woods, Colegio Santa Cristina introduces its students to early foreign language study.) Señora Mulrean also interacted with the students at Santa Cristina, who were in the midst of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with an Irish Festival.

Upon her return to East Woods, Señora Mulrean shared her experience abroad with her students. She showed her students photos of the children she had met at Santa Cristina, and encouraged them to write letters of introduction. According to Señora Mulrean, “My students were excited to write their first letters to the children in Madrid, whose names they knew and whose photos they had seen. The Spanish language became more meaningful for them because they could communicate directly with Spanish children their own age.” Plans are underway for classroom to classroom visits through video conferencing.