Carolina hosts its first bilingual music summer camp
Elementary school students visited Carolina through Enlaces Verano, which incorporated English and Spanish.
Rising third and fourth grade students visited Carolina this summer for Enlaces Verano: 2026 Bilingual Music Summer Camp, experiencing a unique opportunity to explore music in both English and Spanish.
Six Carolina students served as camp counselors for Enlaces (Links) Verano (Summer), playing an active role in supporting the campers by participating in musical activities and facilitating small-group experiences.
Each week introduced a new musical theme that helped campers engage with music from multiple perspectives, culminating in a performance on the last day where they shared their learning and creativity with their families.
Campers participate in movement activities – encouraging teamwork and activities as they dance and flow together. (Submitted photo)
“Many children came to the camp with different musical backgrounds. It’s exciting to watch them build confidence, take creative risks and collaborate with their peers. I enjoyed creating a welcoming bilingual environment for every child to feel successful and included,” said Rody Huertas, camp director and teacher at Frank Porter Graham Bilingual School in Chapel Hill. “The arts have the power to bring people together, build confidence, create lasting memories and foster empathy and understanding among people from different backgrounds.”
The four-week camp focused on different themes, including rhythm, storytelling, creativity, improvisation, composition and folk music. Campers participated in various activities — drumming, movement, singing and music-making activities — while encouraging teamwork and imagination.
They began the day with a bilingual morning warm-up, then moved to themed music instruction blocks, small-group projects, outdoor movement, music games and quiet creative time, ending the day with rehearsal for their Friday performance.
“I enjoyed creating a welcoming bilingual environment for every child to feel successful and included,” said Rody Huertas. (Submitted photo)
“I got a taste of what the children were going to experience during staff training, and let me tell you — I felt like a kid again,” said Yuliana Rodriguez, a clinical associate professor at the UNC School of Education who is helping with data collection and family engagement with the camp. “We learned about music in a highly nontraditional manner; there were no desks nor formal note-taking requirements. Everyone was smiling and completely captivated by Rody’s techniques and approach to teaching music. I loved seeing English and Spanish woven together naturally through music.”
The camp was a collaborative effort between the Carolina Latinx Center and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. The idea came from conversations between Huertas, Rodriguez and Josmell Perez, director of the CLC, following three FPGB school concerts held on Carolina’s campus over the past several years.
“We saw firsthand how meaningful it was for our students to experience a university campus, especially since for many of them it was their first time visiting a college,” said Huertas. “We wanted to create this summer camp to provide students with an engaging introduction to college life while participating in a fun and enriching program.”
The hope is that campers came away with foundational musical skills along with confidence, creativity and collaboration while fostering bilingual language development and a deeper sense of cultural identity through music.
“I want the campers to understand that music is something everyone can participate in, regardless of previous experience,” said Huertas. “I hope they develop a lasting appreciation for the joy of making music with others.”
