Summer-fun Spanish class offered

Patty Keene of McCook, Nebraska, stands in her front yard beside her "moai," a resin replica of the monolithic stone figures on Easter Island, off the coast of her native Chile. Patty helps many learn Spanish, but offers a short-cut to pronouncing the name of her statue/replica: "Say Hawaii -- mo-waii." Patty plans summer-fun Spanish classes, her annual fund-raising project for the Museum of the High Plains in McCook. She donates class proceeds to the museum. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- For five years now, Patty Keene of McCook has offered summer-time-fun Spanish classes, promising each year, "No homework. No tests. No stress."

Patty smiles, "No hay tareas. No hay pruebas. No hay estrés." She adds, "We learn, for the fun of learning."

Patty plans two classes this summer: Conversational Spanish classes and what she loves to call her "'Bonding' Spanish Classes."

The "bonding" class is designed for an adult and a child to attend together. "It is so much fun," Patty says. Rather than a parent or grandparent or caregiver dropping a child off for an activity -- as happens so many times throughout the summer -- the adult and child come together, and stay. "It's an easy, comfortable situation. The child relaxes, and learns easily," Patty says.

Plans for the "Conversational Spanish" class will depend upon the interests of the students. Last year, Patty worked with a couple who owns a business in McCook; they wanted to be able to converse with their Spanish-speaking customers. Another student planned a trip through Mexico, and wanted to be able to travel comfortably through the country.

Patty admitted, grinning, she had reservations about the loosely-defined class, but it worked out very well, she said.

Patty plans two sessions of conversational Spanish: Every Wednesday through June, and every Wednesday through July. Students may attend the first session, the second session, or both sessions. Each month will cost $50. The classes will meet from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m., at the Museum of the High Plains and historic Carnegie Library, at 413 Norris Avenue in downtown McCook.

The bonding Spanish class will meet each Wednesday during June and July, and costs $100. In response to requests in the past, Patty plans these classes in the evening, from 7:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. They will meet at her home, at 512 Park Ave., near the top of the hill at the north end of Norris Avenue. "Look for my 'moai,' and you will find my home," Patty says, smiling. (The moai are monolithic stone figures on Easter Island, off the coast of Patty's native Chile. The 887 stone figures on Easter Island were carved between 1250 and 1500 by the Rapa Nui people from rock on the island. Patty's replica is almost six feet tall; the tallest moai was 33 feet high and weighed 82 tons.)

Registration and payment in full before the classes are required. Call Patty at (308) 345-2862; or Linda Hedges at (308) 340-1000.