The College of LAS has featured a news story on SPAN 232 in honor of the course's 20th anniversary. Prof. Ann Abbott created the community-based learning course, "Spanish in the Community," in 2004, the university's first and only general education course that is not taught in English. In the course, each student volunteers with community partners for 20 hours, meaning that each semester Abbott’s students deliver about 1,200 service hours. These experiences give students a chance to practice conversational Spanish while gaining new perspectives. 

This past semester, students volunteered in the dual immersion programs at International Prep Academy in Champaign and Leal Elementary School in Urbana, where they helped in classes where students needed help understanding English. Other students volunteered at Urbana Adult Education Center, where they helped adults learn English.