Professor Perillan, the GW Spanish Program’s Service-Learning Liaison, began her Spanish Service initiative last fall, calling it Operacion Impacto, or Operation Impact, and since its official launch in January, it has been a huge success. Professor Perillan and her new partner, Professor Ulloa, have encouraged more than 50 students to engage in service-learning who otherwise may not have. Professor Perillan identified a linguistic gap in GW’s and DC’s community service priorities—there are countless community partners who seek Spanish-speaking students to help out, and she is helping to provide what they need. The program is open to any student enrolled in a GW Spanish course, and successful completion of the program results in extra credit. Students must commit a minimum number of hours to a service organization and reflect regularly throughout the semester. Some of the service sites partnered with Operacion Impacto include the Bruce-Monroe Bilingual School, Somos Familia (a Latin American branch of We Are Family), Hermanos y Hermanas Mayores, and many others. Thanks, Professor Perillan, for your dedication to service-learning!
