Santa Barbara Teen Wins Award for Breaking Language Barriers

If there are Spanish-speakers learning English and English-speakers learning Spanish, why not pair them together? That was the “obvious solution” that occurred to Dos Pueblos High School student Romy Greenwald, who noticed that the English learners felt isolated in their separate classes and marginalized from the English-speaking students. Their struggles resonated with Greenwald, whose family had experienced “economic, cultural, and language barriers” after immigrating from Cuba and Mexico. In April 2020, she created MiSendero, or “my path” in Spanish, to help break those barriers.

“I think people often see these things as challenges when I [say], ‘No, these are strengths.’ Our language barriers can actually be used to overcome challenges,” she said. “I saw this as an opportunity to … solve both language learning problems and create a way for English learners to become leaders at their school and to integrate.”

Since MiSendero’s inception two and a half years ago, more than 1,000 students from five chapters in California and Florida have taken part in their initiatives. Recently, Greenwald, who is headed to Duke University in the fall, won $36,000 from the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards for her work founding and building the organization. The award is given to up to 15 Jewish teens each year whose leadership efforts help change the world. Little by little, MiSendero is doing just that, changing the culture at local high schools and inspiring participants to aim high.

“Some students weren’t planning on going to college before this, and being a tutor made them realize that they actually really like teaching and learning,” Greenwald said. “There’s a few students who now want to become teachers because of their participation in this program. … I think that it’s really great to hear about how it’s kind of changed their life after high school.”

Greenwald emphasized partnerships as a key part of MiSendero’s success. Bilingual education teachers like Robin Selzler at Dos Pueblos High School and Emily Bradvica at Ventura High School were their “biggest supporters and champions.” With their support, the organization was able to surpass obstacles like finding time to integrate MiSendero into the school day.

The program’s initiatives provide students with academic opportunities like paired language tutoring, school writing competitions, and conversation practice. Just as important, though, is the program’s focus on building community and helping each student develop their unique passions. Events such as playing the Mexican game lotería helped English-learner students feel proud to share their culture. Dozens of students have also gained formal and informal leadership positions, helping MiSendero create educational videos and graphic design for promotional materials.

“Not only were they serving as Spanish tutors, and finally getting recognized at school and respected by their peers and earning community service hours, but they could also use their other talents for the organization,” Greenwald said.

Before beginning her first year at Duke, Greenwald is using the summer to write an op-ed, apply for grants, and work with the Ashoka Foundation on their Migration Initiative. Thanks to the Diller Tikkun Olam Award, she will be able to continue her passions and MiSendero while at college.

“I’m really grateful to them for making it possible for me to continue to work on this in college and to dedicate a lot of time to it, because it’s something I really believe in,” she said.