The Dual Language Academy is a public school located in Seaside, California. I decided to provide my help at the Dual Language Academy because they are such a unique campus in that they teach all of there students both in English and Spanish. Although I had heard about these schools before I never thought that I would have the opportunity to experience the learning environment. I was also not aware that there was a school of this type so near to our CSUMB campus, which is only about a 5 min drive away, luckily I attended the Service Learning Fair that provided me the information on site. At the fair I was also able to provide the representative that is in charge of the Service learners at the Dual Language Academy with my information and availability. Although I saw many other great Latino serving organizations non of them caught my attention like this school.
Although I had some struggle settling into the specific classes I would help in I finally found the perfect match when I settled for a Kindergarten class and a 5th grade class. For me this combination was ideal because I would spend the morning helping the kids learn Spanish and complete there assignments and activities. After lunch I would move into my 5th grade class where I would also help the students complete there assignments and activities in Spanish, however I found it interesting to see that the students who have been at the Dual Language Academy since kindergarten had significantly higher Spanish vocabulary, writing and speaking skill. I enjoyed my time here because even though I was there to help the students they ultimately helped me gain experience for my future and also helped me practice my Spanish skills in a different environment than the courses at CSUMB.