Anneley, a student at an afterschool program in Havana, looks at a book about the alphabet made by students at Shawnee Heights Middle School.

In a video projected on a classroom wall in Havana, middle school students introduce themselves in well-enunciated English. The students say their name, age and where they live.

“Hi, my name is Brooke. I’m 13 years old. I live in Topeka, Kansas, which is in the United States,” one student says as part of a vocabulary lesson presented in the video.

Cuban students are gathered to watch the video, which is projected on a makeshift screen, made of wood and a bed sheet, propped against the wall. As relations normalize between the U.S. and Cuba, the video may seem like a small shift among the large diplomatic gestures, but Lawrence resident Melanie Dill sees it as an important one.

Melanie Dill

Dill, who teaches Spanish at Shawnee Heights Middle School in Topeka, recently started what she is tentatively calling the “Kids to Kids Language Bridge.” After showing the Cuban students the video her students made, she helped them record one in return.

“It is forging a kind of friendship between groups of people whose countries have been at odds with each other for many years,” Dill said.

In 1961, Fidel Castro proclaimed Cuba a communist state, and diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba were severed. Since the relationship between the two countries began to improve last year, travel restrictions have been eased and discussion broached of lifting the long-standing trade embargo.

In fact, it was during the same week in March that President Barack Obama made a historic visit to Havana that Dill visited one of the city’s afterschool programs. It was there — at a program called El Señor Arco Iris — where she played the video and also delivered a book her students made about the alphabet. Amid the recent diplomatic changes, Dill said she sees the video exchange between the kids as making a connection less bogged down by politics.

“Those Cubans are representing their country, my students are representing their country,” Dill said. “And what better way to do it than with kids — kids who don’t have this baggage.”

Students at Shawnee Heights Middle School are participating in a language video exchange with Cuban students. The program was created by their Spanish teacher, Lawrence resident Melanie Dill.

In the video, the Shawnee Heights students go over the alphabet, colors, classroom furniture and other vocabulary lessons. They use props and animation, breaking composure at times. Alie Fulks, 13, was one of the students who helped make the video and said she thinks the lesson goes beyond the language.

“They might be learning about our culture more than anything, too, just because they get to see what our school is like,” Alie said.

When she visited Cuba, Dill brought a projector, speakers and a flash drive with the video, which she left behind so the Cuban students can watch it again. In the days since Dill has been back, she has been editing the footage recorded by the Cuban students before presenting a finished product to her classes. She also took video outside of the school, of dancing and conversations she had with locals, that she plans to include. Dill said her students are excited to see the finished video and ask her everyday if it’s done.

Anneley, a student at an afterschool program in Havana, looks at a book about the alphabet made by students at Shawnee Heights Middle School.

Savanah Harrington, 14, is one such student.

“I’m really excited for it because you get to see how they communicate toward each other, how they talk and what the environment is like around them,” Savanah said.

Dill said even with the language videos offered by textbook companies, she thinks kids are more engaged and therefore learn better from other kids.

“Textbook companies have put out some really good material, but to me this is just raw, it’s natural,” she said. “It’s more intriguing because these are real people.”

Dill said she plans to return to Cuba again over the summer and hopes to make the video exchange an ongoing element of her class.