“My Spanish teachers in the Massapequa School District taught me that if I didn’t know a word in Spanish, I should work around it by using what I know.”
That’s exactly what senior Kate Fahy did when she traveled to Costa Rica for two weeks to participate in various community service projects. Settling in the village of San Jose de Rivas, Fahy and a group of 18 teenagers from around the world came together to move large rock piles and level land for construction, build a concession stand for local villagers to sell their goods and paint and run electricity for an office building through an organized program coordinated by Putney Student Travel.
“We slept in sleeping bags on the floor of a community building that had a little kitchen,” said Fahy. “Every day we would wake up at 5:30 a.m. and by 8 a.m., the children would come and help us. We communicated with them in Spanish and I was surprised that I was able to hold a conversation, although 
they described my Spanish as ‘understandable,’ and it was amazing to be able to speak the language outside of a classroom setting.”
When Fahy and her peers weren’t working, they had time to bond with the villagers. Fahy said that some of the women prepared food and threw a welcome party for the students, and taught them how to dance to their music.
“I had the opportunity to connect with the children through song,” said Fahy, remembering a song that she learned in her ninth-grade Spanish class with Mrs. [Amelie] Czekaj called, “Los Pollitos Dicen Pio Pio Pio.” “Señora Czekaj filmed us singing and dancing to the song. I began to sing it to some of the younger children and, right away, they started singing it with me and it was such a happy moment to bond this way.”
Fahy credits her teachers Czekaj and Ernest Kabelka for inspiring her to become immersed in foreign cultures and for having students speak Spanish or translate in front of the class, which she believes helped prepare her for her trip.
“This was such an amazing experience…I learned so much, I expanded my vocabulary and I feel more confident about my Spanish-speaking abilities,” she said. “I hope to continue taking Spanish classes in college and plan to study abroad to enhan
ce my education.”
In addition to Spanish, Fahy is in her third year of studying American Sign Language and has traveled to various countries, including Scotland, England, Italy and France, which also has fostered her love for globetrotting and experiencing new cultures.
—Submitted by Massapequa Public Schools
