Students in a UVM Spanish class and students from Edmunds Elementary gathered today in the John Dewey Lounge to read books the UVM students created.

Professor Lourdes de Dios and Edmunds teacher Chase Rosenberg decided to bring their classes together and do a project to help improve the elementary students’ Spanish.

The project de Dios came up with was to have her students create children’s books in Spanish in order to help younger students with lower reading comprehension, first-year Spanish student Olivia Tedesco said.

“This is the first time we’ve collaborated and I’m really pleased with it, they’re all really enthusiastic and they’re working well,” de Dios said. “I hope to do it again.”

Tedesco said she thinks the idea was successful as a community outreach project.

“She took this project idea to our class and applied it to the Burlington community,” she said. “It’s a great way to reach out to the community.”

Junior Stephanie Lokenberg said enjoyed reading to the children over the usual classwork.

“I really like this event just because this is my first semester learning Spanish and I’m able to connect with the younger kids who are also learning Spanish,” she said. “To use the language at the same level, we wrote this book and we get the chance to read it to someone who can really appreciate it.”

De Dios said she has plans to collaborate more with Burlington public schools in the future.

“My next project is going to be with the Burlington high school,” she said.

De Dios said she thinks a project where Spanish students could visit the University and take a tour from her students could encourage more students to come to UVM.