Presenting their take on summer ‘09 at Wheeling Jesuit University, 17 students from various Jesuit high schools in Spain chatted and shared their videos and power point creations with the university community at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10 in Acker Science Center’s Hawk Auditorium.

The group of eight girls and nine boys were on campus for five weeks as part of a cultural and service experience this summer. They stayed in the dorms, ate at the Benedum Room and studied English on campus, then combined this with off campus cultural and service excursions.

The educational trip was arranged by Wheeling Jesuit’s English Language Institute and the campus Office for Global Outreach and their contacts in Spain.

The students were under the direct supervision of two Spanish escorts and teachers, Jaime Badiolo, S.J. and Irantzu Otaegui.

The Spanish group performed service and worked in area organizations including the Catholic Community Services 18th Street Center, the Northern Panhandle detention center, Laughlin Chapel, St. Michael Parish and Appalachian Institute projects in southern West Virginia.

“These students immersed themselves in our community for service and helping others, and we are grateful,” said Eileen Viglietta, English Language Insitute director at the university. “We really enjoyed the students and we’ll really miss them.”

The Spanish students also traveled to Pittsburgh museums and enjoy a Pirates baseball game while in town, visited Wheeling Park and enjoyed the activities there and enjoyed concerts and fireworks at Wheeling’s Heritage Port. They will now travel to Washington, D.C., then New York City before returning home.

The Spanish students presented power point messages that detailed their work, their studies and their time in Wheeling. All agreed that they were pleased to have a chance to improve their English skills and grow as human beings at a Jesuit university during their summer vacation.