Susy Dorn (born Susana Gabriela Rodriguez Santander, July 20, 1974) is a Peruvian-American teacher, musician, performer, producer, and the creator and founder of the Spanish Immersion Program "Let's Play in Spanish". Her teaching methodology includes theater,

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

, games, and music that she composes and sings.

Early life

Dorn was born and raised in Lima, Perú. She spent her preschool, elementary and high school years in an American school where she was immersed in the English language from age 3. She comes from a family of teachers. Her mother and father are both educators. Dorn got her Bachelor's Degree in Child Development Education from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (, PUCP) is a private university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1917 with the support and approval of the Catholic church, being the oldest private institution of higher learning in the country. The Peru ...

Founding Let's Play in Spanish

Dorn moved to the United States in 1998 and started Spanish classes for 8 children in the house of a friend in downtown

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. The parent participation classes started growing by word of mouth and soon she found herself driving to different cities such as

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 60,38 ...

Willow Glen Willow Glen is a district of San Jose, California, San Jose, California, in Santa Clara County, California, Santa Clara County. Willow Glen is known for its historic downtown, dining and shopping, and is one of the most expensive neighborhoods t ...

and Campbell to teach classes full-time. Soon after that, she established her main Spanish classes at the Campbell Community Center, where people drove all the way from San Francisco to take them. Later on, she hired a qualified team of native Spanish teachers and brought the program to different cities. Today the program is established in Campbell, Santa Cruz, Palo Alto, San Mateo and San Francisco attracting more than 700 children from 10 months to 9 years of age. Dorn and the "Juguemos" team have performed numerous times all around the San Francisco Bay Area attracting hundreds of young followers and their parents to the concerts. Several performances have been done with benefit purposes for Peruvian street children.EFE
"Educator combines music, games with Spanish Lessons"
'' Reflejos'', January 4, 2009.

Discography, movies and books

Dorn has composed and produced original materials in CDs, DVDs and books that allow parents to take the lessons home. * ''Crazy Adventures with Harry & Susy: Spanish is Fun!'' – with Dave Hood, DVD (2010) * ''Cantemos en Español'' – CD (2004), DVD (2006) and Book (2006) * ''Sal y Pimienta'' – CD (2005), DVD (2006) and Book (2006) * ''Los Bomberos'' – CD (2005) and Book (2007) * ''La Marcha de las Aves'' – CD (2007) and Book (2007) * ''Feliz Navidad'' – CD (2007) * ''Rimas y Más Rimas, Ratón Ramón'' – CD (2008) and Book (2008) * ''El Baile del Mono'' – CD (2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorn, Susy Educators from Lima 1974 births Living people Children's musicians Children's non-fiction writers Peruvian women artists Peruvian composers Peruvian women composers American puppeteers Peruvian women educators Language teachers Female puppeteers