One of the underlying goals of the Spanish Department at RHSM is to help students to have the necessary tools to go beyond the classroom and use Spanish in natural and authentic settings. In other words, conjugating verbs is important, but the ultimate aim is to communicate. Through the Community Service program at RHSM, students are given many opportunities to work with Spanish speakers one on one and to help others in the Salt Lake community at the same time. As they have for the past five years, Spanish IV and AP students helped out at the Salvation Army last trimester, signing up families for the very popular Angel Tree program. Christie Moulton, Volunteer Coordinator at the Salvation Army, had this to say about our students, "The students from RHSM that came to volunteer for the Angel Tree Program were absolute life-savers. The majority of the people applying for the program spoke only Spanish, or very broken English, and as none of the staff at this Salvation Army location speak Spanish, this posed some difficulties! The students of RHSM were incredibly helpful and very pleasant to work with. I was impressed with their confidence and their willingness to converse with people who were native speakers. The students put both our clients and our staff at ease knowing that there were people who could help overcome the language barrier. While most of the time the students worked one on one with clients, they were always willing to help our staff with translating. I don't know what we would have done without the students from RHSM, and I hope that they will continue to volunteer in the years to come."

 

In addition, Students from levels III, IV and AP participated in what has become a holiday tradition for Spanish students at RHSM: the Crossroads Urban Center Thanksgiving and Christmas Food Giveaways. For eleven years Spanish students have been an integral part of the giveaway, helping in the intake section of the event. Having students who can speak Spanish is a great relief for native Spanish-speakers. According to Liz Paige, RHSM's Director of Community Service "RHSM's Spanish students enable us not only to better serve clients, but it brings comfort to those being served. It is hard to come to an unfamiliar place and to be in need of food, having someone who speaks your language lowers your stress. The Spanish-speaking clients light up when they are welcomed and asked questions in Spanish. They are always impressed and thankful for the students' efforts."