At the Harbor School last Friday, several sixth-grade students gathered to listen to a story in Spanish, but instead of their usual instructor leading the class, a guest teacher told the tale, joined by five of his students from Uruguay.

The visiting students and their instructors are not those who typically take part in student exchange programs, but rather they are from a community called Casavalle, the poorest area of Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay. There six days a week they attend a free, private school, where days run 11 hours long, three meals are served, and school activities in the evening hours are encouraged to keep all students engaged and safe. At home, the teens contend with a variety of problems in addition to poverty, including family violence, drug dealing or prostitution, according to their teacher Ezequiel Aleman. In their neighborhood, he said, 75 percent of students drop out before they finish middle school.

This program, called Dreams Come True Casavalle, is a film project that teaches the skills of filmmaking, as well as English and is aimed at helping the young teens stay in school, increase their opportunities in life and end the cycle of poverty in that community.

This year that project included a stay on Vashon Island, thanks to an island connection and a U.S. State Department grant, which provided the travel funds. Last week, Aleman and the students shared their thoughts about the trip — and the difference it could make in their lives.

“I really feel kids 12 to 14 — that is the ideal time to capture them as travelers,” he said. “They take it in in such a way that it changes their view of the world.”

The school, Liceo Impulso, serves 300 students, said Harbor School teacher Sally Adam, and for every 100 students accepted, there are 500 applicants. Aleman, who is the chair of the English department, said the school instills a can-do attitude.

“We tell them, ‘The future here is in your hands,’” he said. “The word ‘future’ is a strange word in that neighborhood.”

Here in the Northwest, they went to the mountains, where the students saw snow for the first time; took a sightseeing tour of Seattle, which included a trip to the University of Washington, and spent time at both Vashon High School and the Harbor School. Their time also included work on their film, which — in English —  tells the tale of a boy from Uruguay, who has a dream that he travels to Vashon Island. The film, like others the group has created, will be used to help other Casavalle students learn English.

College is free in Uruguay, Aleman noted, and if students remain in school, they will be able to advance, and knowing English will help them do so, both academically and professionally. Sometimes, in that neighborhood, speaking English is discouraged, and the films are intended not simply to instruct, but to make speaking the language more accepted.

In a program like this, though, organizers stress, learning happens not just for the students who are traveling, but for the host families and local students as well.

“It’s been awesome for us to host this group,” said James Cardo, head of the Harbor School, noting the school places an emphasis on travel to help broaden students’ perspectives. “It is crucial to give our kids an experience beyond where they are raised.”

At Vashon High School, where the visitors took part in Harris Levinson and Sarah Powell’s Spanish classes, Levinson echoed that sentiment. While the trip was eye-opening for the visiting students, he said it was valuable for Vashon students to hear a different dialect of Spanish than what they are used to. Additionally, Aleman taught Levinson’s Spanish Four class a lesson about Uruguay’s politics, history and culture.

“He was fantastic,” Levinson added.

All of the travelers, including Aleman and fellow instructor Andrea Caretta, stayed with host families from the Harbor School. Student Bella Clayton and her family hosted Sol Mansilla, who turned 14 early in the trip.

The experience was very good, said Linda Clayton, Bella’s mother, adding she was motivated to be a host family in part because of the challenges it might bring.

“Any opportunity to put ourselves into new positions, sometimes out of our comfort level, is good,” she said.

The visiting students speak little English, and the Claytons speak little Spanish, she said, so conversations were difficult. But by the end, the girls were using Google Translate to help communicate, and sometimes, no words were needed. Alex Rissotto, one of the other students, visited one day. He likes the singer Ariana Grande, Linda noted.

“We put that station on, and danced around our house. He sang and danced and showed his best moves,” she said. “We had fun.”

At the heart of the Dreams Come True project is filmmaking, and the students frequently worked on their film, which they will complete back at their school. Levinson noted that two Vashon Island School District professionals volunteered to assist, James Culbertson and Richard Montague, lending their technical expertise.

The group left on Sunday to return to Uruguay, and last week Aleman and the students all said one week was too short. Already the program has grant money to make another trip next year, and while Aleman said he does not know yet if they will return to Vashon, Adam encouraged him to do so — and to stay longer.

It was Adam, in fact, who was instrumental in making the trip possible. In 2013, her son Jimmy Mahady was a Fulbright Scholar living in Montevideo. He wanted to volunteer while he was there and ended up at the school. Adam visited and also connected with the school, where she taught some English lessons and spoke to the students about travel study. The seed was planted, and Aleman went on to apply for the funds offered through the U.S. embassy in Montevideo. With those funds and host families in place, the trip became possible, but only a limited number of students could participate. Twenty-six students wanted to come, Aleman said, but through auditions, just five students were selected.

Last week at Adam’s home, they were gathered around the table eating lunch and sharing their thoughts about their trip, with Aleman to translate.

Seeing mountains and snow was a highlight of the trip, and scrambled eggs and raspberries made the list of new favorite foods they had tried. Speaking more seriously, they said that they were impressed with how differences are accepted and embraced on Vashon. Uruguay has a conservative culture, Aleman added, and students with differences are often bullied. This theme — of acceptance — was repeated a few times during the conversation, and when the young students discussed what they would remember most about their trip to Vashon, there was much discussion in Spanish, and then the answer was clear.

“Kindness,” Alex said.