Welcome to the Spanish Education Fund

The Spanish Education Fund (SEF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 2009. Our purpose is to raise money and recruit parent volunteers to support the International Teaching Intern Program at Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion School (K-6), Central Middle School (7-8) and Eden Prairie High School (9-12).

Interns from Spanish speaking countries from around the world assist teachers and students in classrooms at these schools, providing a unique educational resource that has been proven extremely valuable to language acquisition, by bring their language and cultures to life. As a result, students become more confident in their ability to communicate in Spanish and create connections to people and places outside of their own world.

In addition to fundraising, we work with school staff to review and select intern candidates, recruit host and buddy families for the interns from our parent community for the duration of their stay, collect donations of winter clothing, organize parent volunteers to provide transportation for interns, and many other things to ensure interns have a positive experience while in the U.S. gaining valuable experience in the field of education.

Our Mission

Support the Eden Prairie Spanish immersion program, through sustainable funding, to host the best volunteer international Spanish speaking interns and provide other educational and cultural resources.

Intern Videos

Where are they now?

Carolina Cerpa was an intern at EHSI during 2017-2018. Check out her video here.

Mely Asprilla was an intern at EHSI during 2018-2019. Check out her video here.

Latest News

We’re excited to share we’ve made our request to Amity International to host 16 interns during the 2021 – 2022 school year!
Our goal is to place 12 interns at Eagle Heights, 2 interns at Central Middle School and 2 interns at EPHS. We’ve started receiving applications, completing interviews and offering positions for next year.
If we have enough qualified candidates and receive 16 acceptances, we’ll need families willing to volunteer to be Host or Buddy Families for the school year. If you already know you’re interested in being a Host or Buddy family, please complete the application process shown on the Volunteer page. If you’re not sure, in the coming weeks, we’ll be hosting virtual information nights to learn more. Stay tuned for more details!
If you’re looking to volunteer to support our intern program, but not able or interested in being a Host or Buddy Family, we have additional opportunities available. Keep scrolling down to the volunteering section to learn more or click on the Volunteer page

Volunteering

2021 – 2022 SEF Board Opportunities

Vice-Chair 
The SEF Vice-Chair is a Director on the SEF Board, provides back-up to the Chair during Chair absences and reviews/signs-off on SEF financial reviews, monthly budget and tax paperwork. Additionally, the Vice-Chair supports the Communication team and Fundraising team, as well as our Intern Coordinator and Host & Buddy Family Coordinator(s) as needed. If you have a background in social media, communications or fund-raising OR you’re willing to learn, this is a great opportunity for you. Time commitment is approximately 1 – 15 hours per month throughout the calendar year.  If you are interested in volunteering or have questions, please contact our outgoing Vice-Chair Jeff Houdek at jeff.houdek@gmail.com.

2021 – 2022 Committee Opportunities

Intern Committee Chair(s)

Our Intern Committee Chair(s) work closely with other Intern Committee members to ensure our interns have a successful year interning. The SEF Intern committee consists of a Host Family Coordinator, a Buddy Family Coordinator, a Transportation & Cultural Events Coordinator and Intern Clothing Coordinator. The Chair(s) supports committee members in their work while providing oversight/coordination of efforts. If you’re a strong communicator, detail orientated and well organized, this is a great role for  you. Time commitment is approximately 2 – 5 hours per month during recruiting season, then on an as needed basis. If you’re interested in volunteering or have questions, please contact Sarah Bailey at sarahb11278@gmail.com.

Buddy Family Coordinator(s)
The SEF Buddy Family Program provides a “break” for our host families while participating families create lasting relationships with our interns. Our coordinator(s) help recruit buddy families who are then matched to a host family and an intern. Additionally, the coordinator(s) check-in and support buddy families and interns throughout the school year as needed, and by coordinating the driving schedule for bi-monthly intern meetings. If you’ve got a knack for organization, like to meet new people and want to connect with interns, buddy and host families, this is a great opportunity for you. Time commitment is approximately 2 – 5 hours per month during recruiting season, then on an as needed basis. If you’re interested in volunteering or have questions, please contact our outgoing Buddy Family Coordinators Holly Chester and Kim Pederson at SEFbuddyfamily@gmail.com.

Board of Director Role-shadowing Opportunities

At the end of the 2021 – 2022 school year, several of our Board of Directors will rotate out of leadership positions as their students move on to Central Middle School. If you have an interest in joining the SEF Board as Chair, Treasurer or Secretary, we’d love to have you meet with the current board members and join our monthly meetings to learn more. If you’re interested in learning more about the roles, please contact the following:
Chair – Sarah Bailey at sarahb11278@gmail.com
Treasurer – Wayne Bailey at waynerbailey@gmail.com
Secretary – Pam Noll at nollpamela1@gmail.com

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta 2021

Given the current COVID-19 restrictions for Minnesota, Cinco 2021 has been canceled.
We’ve missed gathering the past two Springs to celebrate our interns and programs, and hope to plan an event for late Summer/early Fall, should local restrictions allow.
In the meantime, save the date for Friday, May 6, 2022 for Cinco 2022 at Minnesota Valley Country Club. 

Social Media Update

EHSI is on Twitter!

Get sneak peeks into your student’s art, gym and music classes.  Enjoy seeing the exciting educational activities going on in classrooms all over Eagle Heights, intern professional development, information on school sponsored events and celebrations as well as catching the interns in action in the classroom.

Follow @EPEaglesEHSI to get up-to-date information about all things Spanish Immersion!

FUNDRAISING

The International Teaching Intern Program is 100% funded by parent contributions to our Annual Contributions Campaign and employer matching programs. We receive no financial support from the school district or schools.

While we won’t have interns for our schools to start the 2020-21 school year, our goal remains for families to make their annual contribution at the start of the school year. This ensures our program remains financially stable for the future and is able to continue to bring interns to our schools.

The most important aspect is that EVERY immersion family contributes some amount to the program to help share the financial burden of the program as all of our children benefit from this unique educational resource in some way.

The suggested contribution is $150 per student or whatever amount works in your family’s budget. It’s the easiest way to support the program…write one check at the beginning of the school year, and you are done!

Make Your Annual Contribution

Annual Contribution

Did you know… 100% of your Annual Contribution goes to the SEF and is the primary source of funding for the International Teaching Intern Program? It’s easy to contribute, just use the donate button below.




Monthly Annual Contribution

Want to spread out your Annual Contribution into budget friendly monthly payments? Select a monthly payment option from the drop down menu and click the SUBSCRIBE button below instead to make monthly Annual Contribution donations.


Monthly Payment Options



Checks

Make checks payable to the Spanish Education Fund and mail to:

SEF Treasurer
c/o Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion School
13400 Staring Lake Parkway
Eden Prairie, MN 55347

SEF Federal Tax ID# 27-0584708

Spanish Education Fund  |  info@spanisheducationfund.org  |  Expanding our children’s world