Building a Foundation for Global Citizenship

Working with a team to create a restaurant. Writing and performing a commercial. Designing a menu and presenting it to peers. Writing recipes. Creating a cooking video. Competing to win a salsa competition. All in Spanish. 

As part of our mission to serve a world in need, our Spanish department strives to build a foundation for global citizenship through the study of language. Studying a world language is so much more than vocabulary and syntax. It teaches empathy, understanding, cooperation, and appreciation of cultural diversity and inclusivity. Completing hands-on and collaborative activities like the salsa competition and restaurant project are great opportunities for the language to come alive for students. This is certainly not how I learned Spanish in middle school!

Recently, I talked with Sra. Bray, our Spanish Department Chair, about what makes the Spanish program at All Saints’ so special. 

“My favorite part of teaching Spanish is when students have real conversations with each other and are problem-solving to communicate,” she shared. “It is so amazing and rewarding when students can speak independently, communicate effectively and enjoy it. This is when they are critically thinking and processing in the target language.”

This marks the 34th year that our eighth-grade students have taken the National Spanish Exam—an assessment typically given to high school students. Every year, I am amazed by the results, and this year is no exception. The majority of our eighth-grade students performed exceptionally well, with 31 students earning an 85% or above, and 3 students earning a perfect score.

All Saints’ graduates traditionally have the opportunity to take advanced courses and accelerate their language class requirements in high school because of their experiences in our Spanish program. However, the most important thing for the Spanish department is that students enjoy the language and develop an appreciation for the culture. Often, our alumni go on to study abroad programs and continue language classes at the graduate and professional levels. 

It takes a strong team to prepare our students to see such great success. As Sra. Bray shared, each teacher in the department has a different background and connection with the language, which is extremely helpful in providing different lenses for the language and culture, hearing different pronunciations, connecting with students as they learn the language, and more.

Sra. Bray loved her time as a middle school student and is ecstatic she has the opportunity to teach middle school. She lived in Mexico for six years and taught English, Spanish, and scuba diving. She also studied at the University of Granada. Teaching middle school Spanish is the perfect connection with her—she has the opportunity to work with amazing colleagues who are immersed in various parts of the Spanish language, and combine her own love of Spanish language and culture with teaching. She is a wonderful leader and numerous graduating students comment that she is one of their most beloved teachers at All Saints’. 

Sr. Urtubey is a heritage speaker from Columbia. Known as Don Carlos to his students, he enjoys making Spanish fun in lower school with songs, conversations, and movement. His goal is to engage the children in language and immerse them in the approach. He also integrates the Spanish language into the lower school cross-curricular projects. For example, the kindergarten students had a performance after studying penguins and several of their songs were in Spanish. Sr. Urtubey makes Spanish part of our everyday lives as he moves around the campus speaking Spanish to everyone. 

Sra. Triki is from Morocco and speaks four languages. Her family has a long history in Spanish and Arabic architecture. She has a deep understanding of the Arabic influence of the Spanish language in Morocco and shares that perspective with her students. Like Sra. Bray, she also studied at the University of Granada. Sra. Triki uses her language skills to connect with students that speak other languages and helps them translate these skills into Spanish. 

Sra. Benoit loves Spanish culture and fashion. Her husband is from Seville and she travels there everysummer. An All Saints’ alum, Sra. Benoit first found her love of languages at All Saints’. She is known for her creativity, the energy and excitement in her class, and for inspiring children to be creative through projects in fifth and sixth grade. Sra. Benoit is a master at developing a close rapport with each of her students and finding ways to help them excel.

Although each of our Spanish teachers shares their passion for the language from different vantage points, their common goal is to inspire their students to become comfortable with the Spanish language while also gaining universal skills. Sra. Bray shared, “The strategies we teach cross over into other classes—retaining information, how to study, how to apply the concepts and language skills. The teaching of Spanish at All Saints’ goes far beyond learning the language.”