{"id":31231,"date":"2019-07-30T09:58:26","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T13:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=31231"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:12:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T17:12:09","slug":"knorr-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=31231","title":{"rendered":"Real-Life Value: APPLES Service-Learning Course Instructor Heather Knorr"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Heather
Heather Knorr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tucked in a back meeting room of the Carolina Union, service-learning leaders from across campus scribbled down notes.<\/p>\n

Their eyes were locked on Heather Knorr. At the front of the room, Knorr was excitedly remembering the children\u2019s books her students had created during her recent service-learning Spanish course. Beaming, Knorr shared insights on how the service activity had impacted her students. She listed off the community leaders who\u2019d started as partners and become friends.<\/p>\n

This scene was unfolding in the APPLES Course Development Institute, which takes place every May. It was clear from the spirit in her voice that, for Knorr, service was more than just the sum of her anecdotes. In fact, service has always been prominent in Knorr\u2019s life story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the opportunity to volunteer at a local school while I was studying at Washington and Lee University in my undergraduate years, and I loved it,\u201d Knorr said. \u201cI felt more connected to my local community. The kids made a big impression on me and inspired me to become a teacher later on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knorr followed her passion for Spanish education and service to Nicaragua, where she helped build a library and organize English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in the community. She also went to Ecuador, helping start the country\u2019s first adult English classes and elementary school English immersion program on Isabela island in the Galap\u00e1gos, Ecuador. Through the years, she traveled and served in various other Spanish-speaking countries.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Knorr\u2019s passions led her to UNC-Chapel Hill, where she teaches Spanish courses and\u2014through the Carolina Center for Public Service\u2014has developed service-learning partnerships with local community organizations like\u00a0International Spanish Language Academy<\/a>,\u00a0El Centro Hispano,\u00a0Kidzu Children\u2019s Museum<\/a>,\u00a0Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools,<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Farmer Foodshare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These relationships are key to Knorr\u2019s APPLES Service-Learning Course SPAN 329: Spanish for the Professions. Knorr said the connections forged between her students and partners drive the course\u2019s real-life value.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cI believe we become better at our profession when we contribute to our local community,\u201d Knorr said. \u201cMany of my students will go on to have a career in health, business or law. This experience of working with local Spanish-speaking members of our community helps students grow their language skills, learn more about other cultures and forge lasting personal relationships\u2014which help develop trust between students and their future patients or clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond grammar and speaking skills, Knorr passes on to her students the importance\u2014and possibilities\u2014of authentic relationship-building.<\/p>\n

For example, one of Knorr\u2019s students participated in a language exchange with a native Spanish speaker whose two jobs didn\u2019t allow time for formal classes. Knorr said the language exchange was a meaningful experience for both the traditional student and the nontraditional student.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey formed a friendship and continued to meet up until my student graduated, long after our class ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what Heather Knorr\u2019s work is all about: instructing Spanish courses, building service-learning partnerships\u2014and, ultimately, facilitating meaningful connections between students and communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Eve Elliott, APPLES Summer Fellow via the Romance studies department<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tucked in a back meeting room of the Carolina Union, service-learning leaders from across campus scribbled down notes. Their eyes were locked on Heather Knorr. At the front of the room, Knorr was excitedly remembering the children\u2019s books her students had created during her recent service-learning Spanish course. Beaming, Knorr shared insights on how the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":31234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,15,29,16,33,21,34,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-fine-arts-humanities","category-general","category-global-programs","category-media-news","category-news","category-news-archive","category-undergraduate-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49481,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31231\/revisions\/49481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}