Recent Holy Cross Graduate to Serve as Language and Culture Assistant in Spain

WORCESTER, Mass. – Crystal Quintanilla, a graduate of the Holy Cross Class of 2007, has been awarded a grant to be a North American Language and Culture Assistant in Spain.

Quintanilla, who majored in Spanish with a concentration in Latin American and Latino Studies, will work in Andalucía.

She plans to become a teacher, either of Spanish language and literature or bilingual education. She is currently enrolled in a summer workshop through the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers at Phillips Academy in Andover, which is preparing her for graduate school. The program “aims to reduce over time the critical underrepresentation on the faculties of certain minority groups, as well as to address the attendant educational consequences of these disparities.” She plans to begin a master’s degree program by the fall of 2008. She lives in Washington, D.C.

At Holy Cross, Quintanilla participated in Student Programs for Urban Development for three years.

Grants for North American Language and Culture Assistants in Spain are funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain. Approximately 1,000 grants are awarded each year. Assistants have the opportunity to learn about the Spanish language and culture and use their experience upon their return to the United States, thus helping to develop cultural understanding between the citizens of Spain and the United States. At the same time, the program provides Spanish students and teachers of English an opportunity to broaden and increase their knowledge of the English language and North American culture through interaction with native speakers.