CLARKSVILLE, TN – This week, high school students from Northwest High School will continue their journey to positively impact their community and provide meaningful learning experiences for younger kids. This exciting new venture between The Spanish Club at Northwest High School and the Clarksville Montgomery Public Library begins on Tuesday, February 20 and continues until May 5. Meeting times are from 5:30-6:30 pm at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library.
Entitled “Hola Amigos! A Spanish Series for Kids,” the program’s main purpose is to provide elementary students with early access to learning a foreign language in a fun and engaging manner. Similar to the Spanish immersion program at Barksdale, this program is centered around teaching basic language and cultural concepts. What makes this program transformative, however, is that the lessons are planned and executed by high schoolers under the supervision of Spanish Club Sponsor and World Language Coordinator at Northwest High, Melissa Smith.
Smith, the program creator, notes that “this program has dual purposes: in addition to reinforcing second language skills, it provides elementary students with early exposure to positive peer influences and the opportunity for high school students to become role models, thereby increasing both groups’ school engagement.”
Each lesson will be broken into three parts through which younger students will explore Spanish language, culture, and food. Lessons will be taught using fun strategies such as sing-alongs, adaptation of fairy tales, games like four corners, and scavenger hunts where students will receive prizes. There will also be arts and crafts, puppet shows, and funny skits performed by high school students in Spanish. For instance, in this first lesson, there will be live music with sing-alongs as we teach young kids how to introduce themselves and greet each other. Then students will learn about Spanish speaking countries in a variety of formats before going on a “Country Quest” (scavenger hunt) using booklets created by their older peers. Students will receive prizes before trying foods such as tacos, salsa, and limonada (lemonade).
Once the program starts, The Spanish Club at Northwest High school will be performing service learning with two very distinct organizations. The Club already has an established service-learning program with the Kleeman Center to teach Spanish to middle schoolers on Wednesdays from 3:15- 4:00 p.m.