Spanish growth

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - For the past five years, Larson Elementary School has taken young English speaking American students and gradually transformed them into adept Spanish speakers.

The Spanish immersion program at Larson began in 2001, when a group of parents presented the idea of allowing teachers to use the Spanish language to instruct their children in standard subject like math and science.

Kindergartners piloted the program, which then added a grade each year. Those kindergartners are now fifth graders and next year will head for middle school. During their elementary career, the students received instruction half a day in Spanish and half a day in English.

In order to facilitate their continued development, Teeland Middle School plans to launch the first ever Spanish immersion classes at the middle school level next year.

Monica Goyette, principal at Teeland, met earlier this year with the principal from Mirror Lake Middle School in Chugiak to get a better idea of how to transition Spanish immersion instruction from one school to the next. Mirror Lake offers two Spanish immersion courses for students who were enrolled in Spanish immersion at Chugiak Elementary.

In order to succeed in language immersion classes, students must begin learning at an early age and gradually increase their ability. This limits the number of students who are able to participate in a class and understand instruction when completely delivered in Spanish.

Goyette said she expects 10 fifth-grade Spanish immersion students to join Teeland next year. They won't receive a half-day instruction in Spanish but Goyette said Teeland is offering a morning reading and writing class in Spanish. As the Larson program expands and the number of immersion students increases, Teeland hopes to add more classes in the future.

Ideally, Goyette would also like to offer a social studies class in Spanish next year. A full class is needed, however, in order to make that possible. One solution Teeland is looking into, is offering a dual class that combines English speakers who are learning Spanish with native Spanish speakers who want to gain a better academic grasp of their native tongue. By combining the two student groups, Teeland hopes to recruit enough bodies to offer a social studies class in Spanish by next year.

For the long term, Teeland wants to expand Spanish immersion to include a total of three classes.

Goyette said she also wants to add standard Spanish language classes for students who have no Spanish instruction or background at all. Currently, no middle school in the Mat-Su offer a foreign language. Goyette wants to see that change.

&#8220Research shows that kids who learned a second language early increase their ability to problem solve and use higher level thinking skills,” she said. &#8220All areas of academics increase - there are just tremendous benefits from learning a foreign language.”

Jackie Cochran teaches Spanish immersion at Larson Elementary, where she said the number of Spanish immersion students will increase from 70 this year to nearly 100 next year.

Cochran said the waiting list to get into the program is also growing.

As those student grow up, Cochran said she hopes they will be able to continue their studies at middle school and ideally high school. Cochran is considering teaching the social studies course next year at Teeland, if needed, in addition to her class at Larson.

Spanish immersion teacher Sandra Schmidt works with Mirror Lake Middle School students in Chugiak. She offered advise to Larson and Teeland parents and teachers in terms of how to transition their programs from one school to the next. The real key, she said, is establishing a strong connection between schools.

&#8220Our programs here are growing fast,” she said. &#8220Next year I will have 45 students coming from the elementary school but the schools stay very connected and we know what each is teaching.”

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.