Annual World Languages Day event delights New London fifth graders
As student coordinator Emily Hackett ’23 kicked off the 11th Annual World Languages Day at Connecticut College to a chorus of “woos” and thumbs up from the local fifth graders in attendance, she noted that the children who attended Conn’s very first World Languages Day in 2011 “are now old enough to attend college themselves.”
When Pablo Tutillo ’13 created and helped organize the inaugural event at the College, his goal was simple enough. He wanted to share his and his fellow scholars’ love and knowledge of language with the New London community.
“Two things that I love are working with kids and learning languages, and I got to do both with this event,” he declared back in 2011.
Thirteen years later, the event returned to campus April 28 after a two-year hiatus due to COVID restrictions. The 11th Annual World Languages Day, organized by the Walter Commons’ Global Learning Lab and the Holleran Center for Community Action, marked a triumph for both Tutillo’s vision of the project and Conn’s commitment to growing the initiative.
“Pablo’s original project has continued to grow and has inspired all of us to continue the traditions he began,” Hackett confirmed.
