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, 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 ( es, link=no, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 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 ...

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 San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. 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 for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

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 57,8 ...

, Willow Glen and

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

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 Dave Hood (born November 1, 1950) is an American actor, filmmaker and former radio personality, best known for his award winning entertaining and educational children's productions. He has been host of many travel oriented programs including '' ...

, 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 People from Lima 1974 births Living people Children's musicians Children's non-fiction writers Peruvian women artists Peruvian composers Puppeteers Language teachers