Spanish club shops for gifts for underprivileged kids and families

January 20, 2011

Junior Ann Marie Schoenbeck (center) spent a December morning shopping with underpriviliged kids and their families for the holidays.

By Emmy Lindfors
Executive In-Depth Editor
Junior Ann Marie Schoenbeck and a few of her friends walked into Wal-Mart. It was 7 a.m. on Dec. 4, and her shoes were covered in fresh, white snow.
As one of the many Spanish Club activities, Schoenbeck, other Prospect students and schools like Elk Grove High School, came to help underprivileged kids shop for their families for the holidays. Not only did Spanish Club members get to help others, but they were able to practice their Spanish speaking skills throughout the morning.

“At first, I thought it was going to be a long, boring day, because we had to get up so early and we waited a while for the kids to arrive,” Schoenbeck said. “But in the end it was really fun. I enjoyed shopping for the little boy, Jo-Jo. One of his teachers had told us that he was an only child, … so it was fun to focus on him and get him what he wanted and what he was excited about.”

Spanish teacher Leigh Sapp helped set up the event through Spanish Club. From previous years she had known that “something always happens during the holidays, when you shop with a little Spanish speaker.”

So when Service Club sponsor Dave Jacobson brought to her attention the Wal-Mart event that was created by Woodfield Area Community Organization (W.A.C.O.), Sapp knew that this would be an event Spanish Club should participate in, because with every event Spanish Club participates in, a large component of it is students practicing the language, in hopes that they continue Spanish.

Since this had been the first time Sapp has done the event with W.A.C.O., she didn’t know what to expect, but in the end she found the event to be “phenomenal.”

As part of a Spanish club activity, Schoenbeck felt that participating in the event "got me in the Christmas spirit of giving."

“Just standing up front and seeing that they had boys pulling out carts and plopping [the little kids] in was great,” Sapp said. “I had never been to an event so big.”
Sapp hopes that Spanish Club can continue doing projects like these, where students are volunteering and using their Spanish.
Schoenbeck also hopes that another event like this comes around next holiday season.
“[Participating in the event] got me in the Christmas spirit of giving, and made me feel like I actually had made a difference in this kid’s life,” Schoenbeck said.

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Spanish club shops for gifts for underprivileged kids and families

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