Upper School students in Spanish III and El Mundo Hispanohablante virtually met with members of Project Olas, a relationship-centered language and cultural immersion nonprofit program that connects Spanish-language students with Guatemalan women ("Olas moms"). This special program allows students to meet with their designated "mom" for 30 minutes each week, practice and build confidence in their Spanish conversation, and learn more about Guatemalan culture. 

(Fun fact: Westridge has been working with Project Olas since 2021! In 2024, we hosted Project Olas founder Rebecca Cox as part of a Global Scholars speaker series—read more about the visit here.)

Sienna W. '28, who participated in the program over the last two years, said the experience helped reinforce the concepts she was learning in class. At the start, she had small-talk conversations which—as she progressed in Spanish—eventually evolved into having deeper conversations about societal issues and other topical points.

"Don't be afraid during those meetings," Sienna advised, adding: "I think it's a really helpful program because it forces you to talk in Spanish outside of class ... It pushes you outside of your comfort zone at first, but [in my experience], I ended up learning more than I expected to."