The Dalles High School junior Natalie Varland read the bi-lingual Spanish book she wrote to some second graders at Colonel Wright Elementary, then asked: “Did I pronounce everything right?” She had. For eight years now, TDHS Spanish teacher Brian Greeley has had his students create their own 10-12 page illustrated bi-lingual children’s stories, which they then read to younger students at Colonel Wright.

For the second year, a group of students studying Spanish at The Dalles High School is heading to Guatemala on a service trip to bring water purifiers to desperately poor Mayan residents on Lake Atitlan. This year’s group is twice the size, with 10 students. On their nine-day trip next spring, they will work with Worthy Village, a non-profit, to distribute the simple water purifiers to families.

A group of The Dalles High School students have returned from a week in Guatemala, where they helped bring water filtration kits to the poorest of the poor.

Spring break in Guatemala, alongside one of the world’s most beautiful lakes. Sounds like an awesome getaway, but for a group of five Spanish class students from The Dalles High School and their three adult chaperones, the planned visit to the highlands of Guatemala is a service trip focused on bringing water filtration kits to desperately poor Mayans.