Joy Elizondo, Crane Country Day School’s Upper School Spanish teacher, has been selected as a Summer Scholar by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Elizondo is one of 23 teachers and two graduate students to be selected from a national applicant pool to attend summer study opportunities supported by the NEH. The endowment is a federal agency that supports seminars and institutes at colleges, universities and cultural institutions each summer so teachers can study with experts in humanities disciplines. Elizondo will embark on a month-long study in Mexico City this summer.
“To study literature with specialists and engage with fellow teachers from all over this country in an on-site exploration of one of the literary and cultural capitals of the Americas is a dream come true,” Elizondo said. “I can’t wait to be a student again, speak Spanish all the time and immerse myself and my family in ‘la vida chilanga.’” (A chilanga/chilango is a Mexico City native.)
Elizondo will travel with her husband and two young children to La Salle University in Mexico City to study “Dialogues in the Americas: Mexican Literature and Culture in Context.” Taught by U.S. and Mexican professors, this course combines seminar-style literature with site visits to national museums, author readings, film screenings and cultural events. She will also participate in “Mesoamerican Cultures and Their Histories: Focus on Oaxaca.”
It is estimated that the 715 NEH Summer Scholars who participate in these programs of study will teach almost 90,000 American students the following year. Nearly 100 of them will be at Crane Country Day School, 1795 San Leandro Lane in Montecito.
“I am thankful for such a unique intellectual opportunity and hope to share my love of language and culture with my students,” Elizondo said. “I think it is critically important for my students to be willing and able to communicate with their own families, friends or neighbors, and to attain some degree of Mexican cultural and historical literacy.”
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— Ann Pieramici handles publicity for Crane Country Day School.