History Colorado Center – Elizabeth Bello Aldaco, Week 4

August 1st, 2025

 History Colorado Center Week 4

Hi everyone!

Today, August 1st, marks the end of my last week interning at the History Colorado Center. Although I am a bit sad that this is all coming to an end, I am extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity to meet so many kind and amazing people! I have learned so much throughout this practicum experience, and that is thanks to everyone who made this possible. Since today was my last day, this will also be my last blog!  

☆★☆★ Tuesday ☆★☆★

Tuesday was a work-from-home day for me, but I also had my reading event at the Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales Branch Library! I was a bit nervous because there were no previous YAP alumni to help host the event with me, and I wasn't sure what to expect. My audience ended up being my siblings and babies/toddlers with their parents; it wasn't really what I was expecting, so that threw me off a little bit. I think I was nervous because I wasn't really sure how to engage and communicate with the children, but Tiffany, the librarian, helped me guide the event. I cannot thank her enough for that!! 

I read El Paletero Man to the children and handed out the activity sheets. Toddlers and babies have a short attention span, so I had to keep it quick to not lose their attention. Tiffany ended up suggesting we all sing songs together; I was not expecting to perform in front of babies and their parents! But, from that experience, I did learn that little kids pay more attention if you keep it short and use a lot of body language and expressions rather than words to communicate. This event was a surprising yet interesting experience. (Tiffany forgot to help me take pictures, but she did take pictures of my siblings and me practicing afterwards, so that's ok!)

Once I got home, I continued working online. It wasn't anything new; I just finished up some things that I had from last week!

★☆★☆ Wednesday ★☆★☆ 

Wednesday was a calm day; my tasks were to watch and timestamp the Colorado Experience documentary clips. The documentary clips were educational Colorado history videos; after all, I was interning in the education department of the museum. I also attended the weekly meetings with my coworkers in the education department! We talked about our progress, accomplishments, goals, and anything else that needed to be brought up. During my lunch I continued to explore some exhibits that I didn't get to finish viewing in my first week.

☆★☆★ Thursday ☆★☆★

Thursdays are kid camp days, so I spend all of my day downstairs with the campers! This week, we focused on exploring other regions and their culture, traditions, and landmarks that represent them. We had hands-on activities, presentations, and mini exhibits to teach the kids about historical moments, architecture, language, environments, and arts of their countries. The campers learned about South America and some of their traditions. They made masks and "ganzas" which is a cylindrical instrument used to play samba and bossa nova.

★☆★☆ Friday ★☆★☆

90's Exhibit

Mario Kart Race

Finally, Friday!! It was a bittersweet day, but I tried to make the most out of it! In the morning I was in the office finishing up timestamping more document clips. In the afternoon, I was with the campers again. Friday is more of a relaxed day for the campers; they get free time and movie time in the afternoon. My group decided to go to Keota and the 90s exhibit again! Kids love going to the 90's exhibit because they have a Tv with a game console where they can race each other in Mario Kart. (Campers in my group competing with each other ----> )

   Playing in Keota + Mini Japan Artifacts Exhibit +  Time Stamping Documentary Clips

Once again, I would like to give thanks to NMALYAP and the History Colorado Center for providing me with this opportunity! It was an honor being a part of this journey. Thank you for reading, until next time!!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Bello :)