Bridging Classrooms, Bridging Worlds: Na’atik’s Newest Virtual Intercultural Exchange
Creating meaningful exchange across linguistic and cultural boundaries is at the core of Na’atik’s mission. While much of this work happens within our classrooms, we are equally committed to fostering global connections that reach beyond our school walls. Most recently, the Na’atik English Program participated in a virtual exchange initiative that brought our local students together with their peers in the United States. This month, English Program Director Erick Chuc Santos shares details about our partnership with the coordinating organization One World, past exchange highlights, and the exciting potential for future collaboration.
“One World is an institution that creates educational programs to help prepare young people and teachers to better navigate a globalized world. The connection with One World came through Brian Montes, an acquaintance of Na’atik director Catherine Gray, who spoke about Na’atik with Ana Naulaguari, the Director of the Global Connections department at One World. The program was originally planned for May 2024, but it wasn’t until January 2025 that we were able to better coordinate the schedules of Na’atik and Felix Festa Middle School, a school in New York with whom we are currently working.
Na’atik was assigned the Virtual Exchange Global Connections program, which connects two schools from different countries to interact and practice the foreign languages each school is learning through activities and presentations. A total of 6 exchange sessions have been planned—3 in the form of virtual exchanges via Zoom, and 3 in an asynchronous format, meaning students will be assigned small projects to complete and then upload to the Padlet platform, where they will leave comments and questions for their peers in New York and vice versa.
As of March 11, 2025, two virtual Zoom exchanges have been held. The first session was called “I AM” and took place on February 26. In it, students created a self-portrait, including a drawing of themselves along with elements that represent them—musical tastes, favorite foods, artists, hobbies, culture, traditions, etc. The drawings were uploaded to the Padlet platform to share, and during the Zoom session, the students took turns presenting themselves and describing their drawings in their target languages. At the end, the students had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session in both languages.
For the second session on March 5, called “My Community,” students gave a presentation describing their school environment and some characteristics of the cities they live in. The students were divided into small groups to present different sections, including: School Information, Teachers, School Facilities, Lunch Hours, Extracurricular Activities, School Traditions, Uniforms, Community Landmarks, Local Culture, and Important Community Facts. This was also a Zoom session, and just like before, each student took a turn in front of the camera to speak and present their section. At the end, there was a short Q&A session where they again had the opportunity to share fun facts about each country and their schools.
These have been the two sessions successfully carried out through One World so far, and I must say they have been some of the most dynamic and interesting for both the students and for me and teacher Kevin. The next sessions have not yet been scheduled due to calendar and time zone adjustments in the United States. It is already known that they will be asynchronous, and efforts are being made to organize the final session as a video call.”
These early sessions have shown just how powerful and engaging intercultural exchanges can be—not only for language learning, but for broadening worldviews and building confidence in our students. As we look to the future, our goal is to cultivate lasting, meaningful partnerships such as our partnership with Felix Festa Middle School, to continue connecting our students with the wider world. By fostering a spirit of mutual learning and empathy, we hope these exchanges continue to inspire curiosity, respect, and a deeper understanding between communities.
To learn more about Na’atik’s English language program for local and Indigenous students in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, visit our Impact Page. We are only able to provide this much needed program thanks to the support of generous donors and the funds raised from our award winning Maya and Spanish Immersion Program. If you would like to support our mission please consider donating today or take a look at our immersion programs and online class packages.