By Savannah Guyer
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In a quiet library cluttered with a variety of children’s books, six University of Iowa freshmen meticulously rearrange tiny tables and chairs to better suit the lesson plan they will carry out for the day.

A door is thrown open, and the library erupts into cheerful noise with the arrival of seven kids who are eager to learn. This is the scene that unravels every Friday at Twain Elementary.

Weekly, a group of Spanish speaking children meet with students studying Spanish at the University of Iowa in an after-school program called Spanish Buddies, which is part of Before and After School Programs.

UI freshman Laura Hult said the opportunity to work with elementary students came to her last semester when a presenter from the university came to one of her classes and talked about the Spanish in the Community class offered at the UI.

“The class sounded like a great experience,” Hult said. “I wanted the chance to reach out to the community and be with kids. Plus, working with kids sounded like a lot of fun.”

The university students assemble lesson plans, taking turns on who gets to lead the program each week. Hult said the kids get a mixture of Spanish at home and English at school, which leads them to be more prone to speaking Spanglish.

Spanglish is a hybrid that combines words and idioms from both Spanish and English.

The goal of the students participating in the program is to try to correct their mistakes and aid them in speaking in a more correct form of Spanish.

However, UI freshman Meredith Koplin said this is not the only goal they are trying to achieve.

“I think the main point we’re trying to get across is that it’s OK to use their native language outside of their homes,” Koplin said. “It shouldn’t be something they can’t use at school or something they feel embarrassed about.”

The Twain students are not the only ones who are learning, said UI freshman Caroline Fantz, who is also involved in Spanish Buddies.

“We’re helping them, and they’re helping us,” said Fantz. “We get to practice our Spanish, and most of the kids aren’t afraid to correct us and help us with our pronunciation and stuff like that. We learn new things every time we’re with them.”

Steve Nordlund, the director of Before and After School Programs, said that the program benefits all parties involved.

“The mentors get to come into a different setting and gain experience while helping kids feel comfortable with their language,” Nordlund said. “These native speakers should be proud to speak two different languages, though some of them aren’t. For a lot of these kids, this after-school program is a confidence boost to them, and they’re starting to realize that it’s something they shouldn’t be ashamed of.”