Clearview Elementary has welcomed seven new Amity interns for the 2016/2017 school year.

 

This is the seventh year the school has participated in the Amity intern program, which brings native speakers from foreign countries into the classrooms for students to experience different cultures first hand.

 

The interns spend the school year working with students who are learning to speak their native language, which in Clearview’s case is Spanish. They’re similar to student teachers in that they both assist and learn how to be teachers themselves.

 

This year’s Amity interns are Romina Muñoz from Chile, Viviana Sánchez from Colombia, Rocío Núñez from Spain, Diana Rodríguez from El Salvador, Yubeth Medina Olaya from Colombia, Montserrat Clop from Spain, and María Arribas, also from Spain.

 

There are a number of reason the new interns decided to participate in the Amity program, and they each have goals they hope to obtain.

 

“It’s a good opportunity to learn, experience American culture and improve my English,” said Muñoz. Her goal is for more job opportunities when she returns home to Chile. 

Sánchez came to learn new methodologies in order to become a better teacher and to travel around the United States. She’s still studying back in Colombia, and is thinking about doing her research project on what she learns here at Clearview. 

 

“We can learn a lot from the language and customs of different cultures,” said Núñez. “And we can teach our culture, too.” The Amity program gives her more professional opportunities back home in Spain.

 

Rodríguez’ college in El Salvador participated in the Amity program for the first time last year, and she recognized the opportunities it would afford her. She tried to get in right away, but there are so many steps for her to undertake in order to do so she wasn’t able to until this year. She’s excited for the opportunity to learn and gain experience, and has a lot of goals she wants to achieve through the program.

 

“Being here was a dream for me one year ago,” she said. “My grandpa was one of the first people in my village to be an interpreter and I want to be like him. This is a good experience and you don’t have a really good job without good experience.”

 

“This is an opportunity to learn to understand the differences between cultures in education,” shared Olaya. “In Colombia I teaches English as a foreign language at a primary school, so teaching Spanish as a foreign language will give me the opportunity to grow professionally.”

 

Clop said the program gives her the opportunity for new work experience, learn the education system, improve her English and grow personally and professionally.

 

“I want my country to understand all the things you have here we can have there,” she said. “I want to share what I learned here.”

 

“I decided to become an Amity one year ago,” said Arribas. “It’s a really good experience because I can learn a different educational system and share my Spanish knowledge with the students and staff.”

 

She shared that she will have more opportunities for employment once she returns home to Spain from participating in the Amity program.

 

The Amity intern program isn’t district funded, instead relying solely on fundraisers and donations, and is always looking for host families. To learn more, visit www.amity.org.