K-12 Programming

LLILAS Benson’s Public Engagement program seeks to enhance the knowledge and teaching about Latin America, the Caribbean, and their U.S. diasporas by offering curriculum and professional development opportunities in the K–12 setting. We are committed to supporting culturally responsive teaching that recognizes and honors the increasingly diverse population of Latinx immigrants within the Austin area and beyond. To that end, we strive to develop outreach initiatives that attend to the shifting needs of bilingual educators and school administrators who regularly engage with ELL (English Language Learners), including students whose first language rather than Spanish, is one indigenous to the Americas such as K’iche Maya or Zapotec.

Thanks to a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center grant, we offer the following types of educational resources:

• Professional Development Workshops
• Outreach Library with reference materials, children’s and young adult books, and culture trunks
• Instructional Resources, including TEKS-aligned curriculum units for dual-language classrooms, literature guides, and lesson plans

Image: Pilar Martínez, "The Creation of Colors"