BSM’s current largest service project is the creation of over 150 books for children at the Risen Christ Catholic School. Throughout the months of February and March, students in Spanish lll and Honors Spanish lll made a bilingual children’s book, featuring their assigned buddy at Risen Christ as the main character. Students brought their books to their buddies at Risen Christ on Friday, April 21st.

This field trip is one of the most looked forward to and well received among all students. Many Spanish students enjoy meeting their buddy that they have been writing about for two months. The kindergarten through 2nd graders at Risen Christ were given two copies of each book, and after the BSM students left, one was given to the school to keep, and the other was given to the child to bring home to read again. This way, there was an everlasting effect on the children and the school. “I thought it was a really fun experience meeting my buddy for the first time after writing a book about her and knowing different things about her. It was fun to put all that information and actually see what she looked like in person,” sophomore Lucia Hoyt said.

Because Risen Christ is a bilingual school, some students spoke little to no English, which was an eye opening experience for many. Majority of BSM students felt excited and important using their Spanish skills to communicate with the children. Despite BSM students’ Spanish not being perfect, the children at Risen Christ were usually forgiving and appreciative whenever their buddies made an effort to communicate with them. “It was really fun getting to meet them after all the work that we had done, and getting to see their reactions… It was just fun to spend some time with them. I tried to use [my Spanish skills] whenever I had to communicate with her, and it was very successful,” Hoyt said.

Not only did students read together, but there was recess time towards the end of the field trip where students were given the chance to join in recess activities with their buddies. Hide and seek, football, soccer, and lots of tag were very popular activities on the playground. This created a lasting bond between the Risen Christ students and the BSM students. “I think this was really good because the kids are really cute, and I felt like it was good for the community,” freshman Harper Wohlrabe said.

Overall, this field trip has been one of BSM’s most successful, according to multiple students. When the question of coming back again next year was brought up, immediately students said yes. Creating bonds with children and using skills taught in the classroom to make a lasting impression resonates with students, which is part of the reason why this trip is remembered “It’s not just about learning the material for the sake of learning, but also because we’re doing something good. We’re helping Risen Christ. We’re helping the teachers. We are helping the students…you spend weeks writing this book for them, and then to actually hand deliver it to them and get to meet them in person is pretty special,” Spanish teacher Alison Terrell said.