Riverdale Heights students experience Latin culture at festival

By Janet Hill | Friday, June 01, 2007

The vibrant culture of Latin America sprang to life last week in one of Riverdale Heights’ classrooms.

Kindergarten parent Melissa Freidhof-Rodgers volunteered in Jennifer Krier’s class all school year. During the spring quarter, she taught the children some Spanish.  The idea came from the students’ interest in other countries, she said.

“I have studied abroad in Latin America and was happy to share my language skills and love of Latin culture with them,” she said.

The classes culminated in a fiesta that Freidhof-Rodgers organized. International students from Scott Community College’s Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships, or CASS, program shared music and dance from their cultures of Haiti, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

“(The children) also had the opportunity to learn about the countries and even practice the conversational Spanish they had learned this year,” Freidhof-Rodgers said.

The children ate food donated from Azteca 3 restaurant in Cumberland Square.

“It was so fun to see the children dancing the Merengue with the older students, who enjoyed it as much as the little ones,” she said.

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