By Marcy Campos
On Friday, May 3rd, Salvadoran author Mario Bencastro visited Houston Elementary School to share his 2021 bilingual book, Un tren llamado Esperanza, or A Train Called Hope, illustrated by Robert Casilla. The visit was a collaboration between the Houston ES’s bilingual program director, Roxana Diaz-Wong, Oyster-Adams’s Bilingual School librarian, Laura Kleinmann — who has worked with Bencastro for many years — and Teaching for Change. Houston ES is one of DCPS’ fully bilingual schools, where all students learn English and Spanish. Thirty-six third graders participated in this visit, hosted in the school’s library. As they entered the space, students met Bencastro and received signed copies of his book.