Spanish at the high school has been more and more common for students to take since it is the only foreign language offered. With that being said, there are only four levels of this course, which can be completed in two years. Students like Jocelyn Martinez, junior, have already completed these and now have no other Spanish classes offered to her besides going all the way out to Coe College.
Talk of a further level of Spanish has been discussed for a very long time. Elizabeth Henkel, Spanish teacher, said, “I have been teaching at Marion for 17 years and have heard talk about this since my first day teaching here.” Since there would be a major gap for students like Jocelyn that took all levels freshman and sophomore year, there would be definite review at the beginning of this college level course.
Spanish classes are generally smaller, so there can be more one on one time. That trend would continue in Spanish 5. About ten to fifteen students would be permitted to each class to keep them compact and easy to work with. There is much support for this course being offered. Henkel said, “As long as we could get students to fit it into their schedule, there would be no issues getting support.” No further requirements would be needed for this course besides a passing grade from all Spanish classes one through four. Martinez said that she would definitely take Spanish 5 because she likes the Spanish curriculum at the high school.
Martinez has been speaking Spanish for almost her whole life since all of her family members do. She is glad that Henkel would teach this class since she has always had her as her Spanish teacher, and she would want the course to cover more cultural topics. Her favorite topics to learn about are all the new kinds of grammar, although she does not enjoy speaking in front of the class.
The one thing that Martinez would change about the Spanish curriculum is to watch more shows. Watching shows in the language someone is learning is beneficial because they can hear the language being spoken more naturally and they can experience all of the different accents people may have. As Henkel would love that, this class would follow a Kirkwood course design and use a textbook. This class can be very beneficial in many different ways. Martinez said, “Be[ing] able to speak more fluent[ly would be the greatest benefit from this class.]”
With talk about this course being offered for almost two decades, the school hopes to incorporate it into the system soon. This will help students keep their Spanish brain moving instead of letting it rust for two years.
