Field Trip!

Last week, I had the opportunity to take a group of my Spanish students to BYU's Foreign Language Fair (known as "Espanolandia"). BYU sponsors this every year for junior highs and high schools, but Alpine School District is usually unable to participate because it always falls on our spring break- but not this year! I remember how much I loved going when I was in junior high, and I wanted my students to have the same opportunity to attend.

The students were given a "passport" and left on their own to wander throughout "Espanolandia", going to the different booths (pharmacy, market, bookstore, post office, etc...) speaking nothing but Spanish! If they were caught speaking English, they would be "arrested", and taken to the "carcel" (jail). The students had to talk to people at these booths, and once they did, they would receive a stamp in their passport. They couldn't leave Espanolandia until their passport was full!

I also required my students to participate in different competitions, such as poetry, show and tells, and skits. They all did very well, especially the skit group. They all received "Superior" scores on a Spanish II level! And they're only in Spanish I! They were so excited to tell me their scores; I was so proud of them! (The picture above is me with the skit group, posted with their permission.) Travis was even able to walk over from work and take his lunch with us! It was kind of funny to see their stares as Travis and I held hands. One student said, "Wait, so, if you're her husband...that would make you...Mr. Anderson?" :)

Everyone had such a good time- unfortunately next year Espanolandia will fall on spring break. :( But maybe we'll organize a group and go anyway!