Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English On a recent Thursday morning, the campus of Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Highland Park buzzed with the energy only preschoolers can bring.A wave of children darted toward the playground. Kids cruised in Little Tikes Cozy Coupes while shouting “Honk!” and “Wee!” Others giggled as they soared high on the swings.From a distance, Liliana Martinez watched the unfolding scenes to make sure no one wandered off or hurt themselves.She’s the founder and director of education at Rayuela, a Spanish-language immersion program that started in 2014 in her home and local church, with her two children as the first students. She and other maestras have taught hundreds of children from across Southern California in her native tongue ever since.“Bienvenidos a Rayuela High” reads the blackboard in one of Good Shepherd Lutheran’s classrooms. Children would soon file in for a full day of reading, science and more.This isn’t their academic home, though.On the afternoon of Jan. 6, Martinez closed up Rayuela’s two locations in Altadena as powerful Santa Ana winds disrupted the flow of learning and scared the staff and children. The following evening, as the Eaton fire raged, Martinez’s son broke the news, which he saw on a TV report, to her that the original campus — nicknamed Rayuela Uno — was destroyed.On Jan. 8, she and her family went to see the second location, which had damaged kitchen windows, a torn-down wooden fence and children’s books covered in ash, but was still standing. Rayuela Uno, the Spanish immersion school’s original campus, was destroyed by the Eaton fire in early January. (Sarahi Apaez / For De Los) It took Martinez a week to visit Rayuela Uno. Its two classrooms, vegetable garden and colorful playground were completely gone. “It felt like another baby died,” she said, her voice catching.She estimates 20% of Rayuela’s families lost their home in the Eaton fire; another 20% have dropped out as they deal with the aftermath.Rayuela Uno faces years of reconstruction. Rayuela Dos is closed until Martinez can have it properly cleaned.Before Rayuela High, Martinez and las maestras often took their students to field trips across L.A., such as to the California Science Center and to Nickelodeon on Sunset; future outings are currently on hold.And yet Rayuela continues.A GoFundMe page has raised over $72,000. Neighbors and school parents have asked Martinez how they can help. An environmental group in Bolívar, Colombia, that Rayuela once raised funds for returned the favor, even though “they are not in a great position to,” said the slim, soft-spoken Martinez.“If you would have told me [on] January 8th that I was going to be able to open a new location, I wouldn’t have believed it,” she said. “I thought there was no way out.”The Colombian native previously taught Spanish at Oak Knoll Montessori School in Pasadena. She decided to create Rayuela when her American-born children, Federico, 16, and Bronte, 14, arrived home one day only speaking English in their Spanish-speaking household. Martinez feared they would be unable to communicate with her and their Madrid-born dad in their native tongue.“If you have two languages,” she said, “you will have two souls, two cultures and two different points of view.”The name Rayuela — which means “hopscotch” — came with the help of her sister because it was a game they played when they were younger. She also feels that the game reinforces the program’s philosophy of using play as the key to learning in early childhood.Other parents found out about the program through word of mouth. A year later, they helped her find Rayuela’s first location. Three years later, demand was so high that Rayuela Dos opened in a private residence that had been refashioned into a preschool; Martinez’s friend offered her the home because she believed in the program. Rayuela’s second campus — dubbed Rayuela Dos — in Altadena was spared from the Eaton fire but sustained damage and remains closed. (Sarahi Apaez / For De Los) At its height, the two Rayuelas taught a total of 40 children. The original location was reserved for the cachorros — kids 2 to 3 ½ years old — while Rayuela Dos was where the mapaches y elefantes — children 3 ½ to 5 years old — attended.Both schools had the same schedule and followed the Montessori philosophy of teaching because it’s “an eclectic approach [that’s] more comprehensive and aligned with our [play-based] philosophy as a Spanish immersion program,” she said.The students range from non-native speakers to the children of native speakers, such as the son of Karl Baumann.“Watching him grow with his language development, it’s just been incredible,” said Baumann, a designer and filmmaker, whose 4-year-old son, Ernesto, has Salvadoran roots from his mother’s side.Martinez and las maestras have tried to replicate the lively vibe of the original Rayuelas at their temporary location by performing the same activities. They perform plays inside KidKraft playhouses and engage in crafts, such as creating the paper bees that currently hang on a bulletin board.They do this even while navigating through the trauma that many of the children — and their maestras — have endured because of the Eaton fire and the school’s relocation.“Little by little we’re moving forward,” says Estrella Leal, who has taught at Rayuela for seven years. “[Las maestras] are supporting the students by valuing their emotions and ensuring they don’t think about bad things because it makes them anxious and stressed.”That care hasn’t gone unnoticed by Rayuela parents. Julia Ahumada Grob is the mother of a 3 ½-year-old who attended Rayuela Uno and is now at the temporary location. They lost their home to the Eaton fire.“One of the beautiful things Liliana and las maestras did was that they immediately responded by creating” an environment where Grob says the kids are able to stay in Rayuela’s “spirit of joy, fun and play, even if they’re not in the physical structures.”Martinez praised Good Lutheran as being “generous and welcoming.” She hopes to open Rayuela Dos as soon as it is safe to do so, hoping to add a second classroom and fix up everything else.But Martinez also doesn’t want to rush the community she has helped to build.“Since many parents personally affected by the fires are still” in shock, she said, “then we will stay [here] for as long as we need.”
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