Evansville Day School’s Spanish 1 Class and the University of Evansville worked together on the “Landfill Harmonic Tribute Project.” Day School students have the opportunity to learn a second language (Spanish) through experiential education focused  on social issues and community-based activities. This amazing project develops our students’s sense of social justice and community transformation through music, art, sustainability, culture, and Spanish language communication skills (writing, reading, listening, and speaking).

What is the Landfill Harmonic?  

Landfill Harmonic is a remarkable musical orchestra in Cateura, Paraguay, where the musicians play instruments made from trash.
http://www.landfillharmonicmovie.com/

Day School Spanish 1 students and UE students in the “Social Issues: Latin America” course are completing  the following tasks/assignments:

• Web Quest and Spanish PowerPoint Presentations related to the UN children’s rights (UNICEF), Cateura, Paraguay, Recycling in Latin America, Landfill Harmonic, Hispanic Arts, Traditional Hispanic Musical Instruments, Compare and Contrast USA life vs. Latin America daily life and Paraguay Geography/Tourist information, and empathy development. Evansville Day School students send their presentations to UE students for   use in their college class discussions.

• UE students send Evansville Day School students original newscast videos researched and produced for the course for “Paraguay News” in Spanish as well as interactive games relating to vocabulary and cultural facts of Paraguay.

• Evansville Day School students make their own musical instruments using recyclable materials (in our Sieboldt iLab) and they write a description about their instruments in Spanish.

• The University of Evansville exhibits Day School’s  musical instruments made from recycled materials  in the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library display cases during Hispanic Heritage Month.

• Parents and the school community are invited to the UE & Evansville Day School exhibition.

• Evansville Day School Spanish 1 students visit the UE Social Issues class and participate in a discussion in Spanish about their experiences throughout this amazing project.

I hope that our students enjoy learning Spanish and developing a sense of respect and appreciation for cultural diversity. Enjoy the “Landfill Harmonic”, and send us your comments about the project. Special Thanks to Dr. Diana Rodriguez Quevedo for inviting us to work together and learn through experiential education!

Silmary Echevarria
Spanish Teacher