Club/Varsity Soccer
One-Act and Musical
El Foro Hispano Club, president
Student Diversity Leadership Corps
International Thespian Society

“I wanted a change from ‘What am I going to do for myself this summer?’ to ‘What can I give to others this summer?’” Laura '21 recalls. "As a former student at Collinswood Language Academy, whose extended family lives in Colombia, Laura decided to put her stellar bilingual skills into action and create a one-week camp experience for underserved rising first graders.

Laura presented her proposal to offer a camp at Country Day called Aprende Jugando (Learn Through Play) where Hispanic children would be exposed to English and math in a fun and active environment. "Summer learning loss is real, especially bilingual learning loss, so it’s really crucial to help kids get the structure that they need in the summertime because reinforcement does not always happen at home,” says Laura.

After camp directors approved her proposal, Laura worked with  Collinswood’s magnet program coordinator to create a camp application and to brainstorm potential campers. “Country Day was wonderful because they offered us a bus so that the Aprende Jugando campers could be transported from Collinswood to Country Day. The Lower School also donated lots of books so that each of our nine campers could take home 10 books each.”

Laura formulated lesson plans that would help improve her campers’ English skills, and bought the snacks and the supplies that they would need. She also scoured YouTube to research activities to do with kids at camp. By the end of the week, parents and campers alike were presenting Laura with flowers, cards, and text messages conveying their deep appreciation for a job well done. 

Being Latina, I want to help this community because I have a voice. I feel like being bilingual is a gift that allows me to interact on a different level with so many different kinds of people, and I want others in our community to have that experience too.