The best learning often comes by doing, and that learning is enriched when the work has a greater purpose outside the classroom.

Associate Professor of Modern Languages María José Bordera-Amérigo’s Yellow Jackets Bilingual Children’s Library is an example of just such a happy marriage, thanks to a grant from the Modern Language Association (MLA).

Bordera-Amérigo was one of five higher education faculty members nationwide to receive an MLA Humanities Innovation Grant in 2021. Each $3,000 grant aims to support teachers in reviving student interest in the humanities, foster connections within communities, and recognize projects that have global, regional, or local significance.

Bordera-Amérigo put the MLA grant to use in her Spanish Academic and Creative Writing class, where students produced bilingual children’s books—all written, designed, and published by the students themselves. The books are accompanied by audio recordings of students reading them in both Spanish and English.

“This grant was the result of thinking about how to reinvent my classes and how to better teach Spanish with a purpose,” says Bordera-Amérigo. “This project is an example where technology and the humanities can shake hands.”

Bordera-Amérigo was particularly proud that the Yellow Jackets Bilingual Children’s Library project not only helped students continue developing their Spanish communication skills but also exposed them to community outreach. Bordera-Amérigo previously worked on similar projects in her Intensive Intermediate Spanish courses, in which students produced and distributed Spanish-language books throughout elementary schools in Richmond and Hanover. She credits Jennifer Shotwell, a former French instructor at the College, for developing her interest in incorporating student-produced children’s literature in the classroom. But what sustains her enthusiasm is a deeper connection to the material. In her view, the Yellow Jackets Bilingual Children’s Library is her way of giving back to the Hispanic community in a meaningful way.

Born and raised in Spain, Bordera-Amérigo first came to the U.S. in 1995 to attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. She began her teaching career in Ireland and then Spain before returning to the U.S. to join the faculty at Randolph-Macon in 2004. Throughout her teaching career and travels, Bordera-Amérigo has witnessed firsthand how Spanish speakers who aren’t consistently exposed to Spanish can lose touch with their native tongue. She hopes the Yellow Jackets Bilingual Children’s Library will let bilingual children ages 5-12 experience both Spanish and English.

“If I and my students, through their books, can help these kids feel like, ‘Okay, I can grow in both languages without having to sacrifice one for the other,’ then I have met my goal,” she explained.

The student-produced books were recently presented at the May 6 Student Symposium for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Work. The class intends to put them online for broad viewing at the end of the semester.