Spanish is lot more than a foreign language to Grace Van Voorhis.

Memorizing nouns and verbs and conjugations just wasn't enough for the West High senior. She knew that knowing how to speak doesn't mean much unless you have something to say.

"I started taking Spanish in seventh grade. I really love foreign

language," Van Voorhis said. "But I thought our classroom focused on

grammar, not as much on the rich cultures of Central and South America."

West had clubs for French and German, and despite the fact that more students studied Spanish, there was no club. So she started one.

"It was my idea, but I got help from the teacher," she said.

The club has sponsored several activities,

including recently communicating via speakerphone with a staffer at the Argentinean Embassy.

Van Voorhis also volunteers with Puertas Abiertas, an after-school program for Latino students at Horace Mann Elementary.

"I play with the first- and second-graders," she said. "I really look forward to it."

Her biggest use of Spanish - and the most important - was on a medical missionary trip to Ecuador with her father, Brad, her sophomore year. She served as a translator between American doctors and local patients.

"I had never done anything like that," she said. "I went in thinking I'd do more behind-the-scenes things. But when I got to the airport, the director said we needed translators.

"It was very rewarding, especially to get to work with little kids. They weren't used to regular checkups, and they'd be timid and afraid. I'd have to try to make them comfortable."

She plans to attend Washington University in St. Louis in the fall, studying international relations.

- Jon Klinkowitz