Community Outreach through USC's Spanish Program

The Community Outreach Program works to make both students and faculty aware of volunteer opportunities in which they can utilize their Spanish skills to serve the Hispanic communities of South Carolina. Examples of our recent and ongoing volunteerism are through working with ESL students, translation and interpretation, and other areas that need bi-lingual assistance, such as medical, government and education.

If you are interested please contact the Spanish Program’s Outreach Coordinator Andrew Corley.  Email: corleyam@mailbox.sc.edu 

The Spanish Program Director is Dr. Francisco Sanchez.   Email: Sanchezf@mailbox.sc.edu

A bulletin board with current opportunities is maintained in the foyer of the 7th floor of the Humanities Office Building at 1620 College Street, located on USC’s Columbia Campus.

Some Upcoming Activities

• Many volunteer participants at USC work with immigrant students in the midlands of South Carolina who are struggling to learn English and need help acclimating to the classroom.  Volunteers travel to various schools in Richland and Lexington Counties.  Apart from teaching elementary and middle school students, volunteers participate in adult ESL classes and some after-school programs designed for students who are learning English.  Windsor United Methodist Church and Davis Elementary School are two active venues for student volunteerism.
• Another popular opportunity for students who are interested in Spanish and areas of study related to medicine or social work is with local Free Clinics and Health Clinics. Spanish students often opt to volunteer in the free clinic “Amigos Del Buen Samaritano” where they assist with translation and other customer contact.  To contact the clinic for more information on volunteering email them at amigosdelbuensamaritano@gmail.com
• Beginning this fall, some students will work with a group of area law enforcement officers.    Spanish Majors will assist law enforcement who have prior experience with Spanish with their vocabulary and pronunciation while having the opportunity to shadow with and learn from these officers. This is a joint program coordinated with the State Office of Victim Assistance which began in August 2010.

Courses

SPAN 305 Working With Hispanic Clientele and SPAN 301 Service Learning in Spanish are two popular courses offered through the Spanish Program at USC. These courses combine the traditional in-class experience with hours of community service.  “Learning through serving” has become a popular way for USC’s students to actively seek to improve their use of Spanish while benefitting the Hispanic Community of South Carolina. However both students and USC employees take meaningful roles in community outreach. Contact information at the top of this page