Local students build global friendships through Spanish exchange program | News

TEWKSBURY — This fall, a group of high school students opened their homes — and their hearts — to visiting ex­change students from Spain, forging friendships that will soon carry them across the Atlantic.

One of those students is junior Valentina Avenda­ño, who recently hosted Ainhoa, a student from Granada.

“Hosting Ainhoa was a wonderful and enriching experience for our family! We are so happy we participated,” said the Avendaño family.

Valentina agreed, ad­ding, “I loved the experience of hosting Ainhoa. One of the best parts is we became friends. I am looking forward to going to Granada!”

The program was made possible through a partnership with Prometour, an agency specializing in linguistic immersion ex­periences. Colegio La As­unción, one of the Span­ish partner schools, did not have enough students to run a full exchange on its own so it teamed up with Colegio Sagrada Fa­milia Pureza de María de Granada, located just six minutes away.

The collaboration proved to be a perfect match, with American and Span­ish teachers working close­ly through virtual meetings to plan activities and pair students.

From the beginning, the goal was clear: to create a “classroom without walls” where students could practice language skills, share cultures, and build lifelong friendships.

“It’s been wonderful to see their friendship blossom,” said Sra. Graça Dudley, Spanish teacher from Tewksbury Memor­ial High School and one of the program organizers. “Experiences such as this open up the students’ minds. They realize how much we have in common. We are immense­ly grateful to our families for opening up their homes and hearts to these young people.”

Dudley is also the MA Seal of Biliteracy Coor­dinator and Internation­al Club Advisor for the high school.

The teachers from Spain echoed that sentiment.

“This is a great opportunity to learn about a different culture and to make new friends,” said Ángela Jiménez Egea of La Asunción. “Our students have enjoyed sharing with the amazing Am­erican families while im­proving their English. Traveling this way is not tourism, it is education in context, meaningful learn­ing, and I feel honored to witness the students’ personal growth.”

Students participated in a variety of pre-plan­ned events, but also did activities specific to their host families. Whether learning how to throw a frisbee, enjoying a Bos­ton theater performance, having hibachi at Kyoto, visiting Spirit Halloween, touring TD Garden, or roasting marshmallows, Tewksbury families made sure that the students from Granada were ex­posed to as much of the American- and Tewks­bury- experience that they could be.

Verónica García Rodrí­guez of Sagrada Familia agreed, emphasizing the program’s long-term im­pact.

“The goal of this ex­change program in Bos­ton is to grow, improve English proficiency, and gain academic and personal experiences that contribute to global perspectives and future professional development. We also want to thank the American families for be­ing so generous and caring to our students. They have been really amazing, and we can’t wait to welcome your children in our beautiful city of Granada.”

The TMHS teachers have noticed the excitement growing.

“It has been an amazing experience,” said Dr. Bai­ley Mahoney, of TMHS. “We have seen an increasing interest in students in our program for both Span­ish and French, and we are really excited for our trip to Spain so that our students can have the same experience as the students that came here.”

Mahoney is a Spanish teacher, the World Lan­guage lead teacher, and travel committee/Ex­change Program chairperson.

For students like senior Katherine Melendez Portil­lo, the exchange experience has already been unforgettable.

“Having an exchange student was such a blessing and great honor on my part,” she said. “It helped me start off my senior year amazingly and let me relax and have fun! Going to Spain is going to be the highlight of my year. I hope they continue to do more exchange programs once I’m gone because it means making new friends and learning about different cultures.”

And junior Donovan Con­way, who hosted two students, said it was such a great experience showing students “our daily life.” The students took the bus to TMHS each morning and were able to attend many sporting events such as boys’ soccer, field hockey, and girls’ volleyball.

Conway also felt his Span­ish improved.

“Their English was definitely better than my Span­ish, but I knew enough that when we had trouble communicating in one, I could use both [languages] at once and that would still allow us to communicate effectively,” said Conway.

As Valentina, Katherine, Donovan, and their classmates prepare for their upcoming journey to Gra­nada, the spirit of exchange — built on curiosity, kindness, and connection — continues to ripple through the community. What start­ed with hosting a student is blossoming into a lasting bridge between two cul­tures.