Learning a language opens doors to an entire culture and facilitates connections between communities to bridge the gaps in our diverse society. Moravian Academy’s “Latinos in the Lehigh Valley” course, taught by Gonzalo del Real, embraces this theme as the guiding heuristic for the class.

“Latinos in the Lehigh Valley” provides an atmosphere for students to learn Spanish through a broader cultural context, supplementing the vocabulary and grammar learned in the classroom. Del Real, who students call “Profe,” places an emphasis on applying the language skills by arranging for members of the Latino community to visit the class and converse with students.

“The ‘Latinos in the Lehigh Valley’ class arose out of a need I saw in our curriculum to positively highlight the history and impact of Latinos in the local area and in the United States,” Profe explained. “I further felt that our Moravian community needed to have personal experiences with Latinos, and not simply learn about them.”

From artists to legislators, local professionals visit the class every couple of weeks to share their life stories and work. This year, those visits have switched to a virtual setting; nonetheless, they provide an eye-opening perspective of what many people in the Latino community face.

One of the speakers who visited the class last year returned to talk about the complexities of the immigration process, from the different types of visas to working with specific clients. Raymond Lahoud, a member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A. and chair of its Immigration Law Practice Group, virtually visited the class on Sept. 22 to discuss his experiences working with Latino immigrants.

Anna Mayer, a junior taking the class this year, shared how meeting Lahoud helped the class to understand how the immigration process has affected the Latino community both locally and nationally.

“It was so interesting to learn about parts of the legal immigration process that I was unaware of,” Anna said. “Mr. Lahoud answered all of our questions about immigration and we all left knowing a lot more about the difficulties immigrants face when trying to come to the United States legally.”

As many students would agree with Claudia Hernandez, a senior who took Profe’s “Latinos in the Lehigh Valley” class last year, learning about the triumphs and hardships of local Latino professionals was one of the most valuable aspects of the class.

“As a Latina, I found it heartwarming to be able to relate to some of their cultural experiences,” Claudia emphasized. “High school Spanish classes typically focus on other Spanish speaking countries, neglecting to teach students of the prevalence of these communities closer to home. This class not only covered their cultural life, but addressed major societal issues such as bringing awareness to the reality of discrimination, discussing what can be done to change it, and combating harmful stereotypes.”

“The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a couple friends in the area, and some research online helped me to create a great list of guest speakers for last year’s class, and then again for this year,” Profe added. “Mr. Lahoud has been integral in visiting our class these last two years to explain how immigration law works for many Latino immigrants.”

Students eagerly await meeting the rest of the local professionals planning to visit Moravian Academy this year, knowing that these unique experiences will add to the importance of learning Spanish. With language comes power, a deeper perspective into society, and a life skill to treasure beyond the classroom.