Fiesta engages students in exploration of Hispanic culture

Students in Avondale Middle School’s eighth grade Spanish class were treated to a fiesta as part of the curriculum that teaches Spanish while exploring and celebrating all things Hispanic. Students snacked on authentic foods such as enchiladas, guacamole, salsa, churros and flan. Teacher Joanne Yatooma knows the fiesta is a highlight for the students and likes how engaged in the event they are, “it’s a nice way to expose them to some of the food and celebrations of the country they are learning about”. She adds that “the focus of the class is much more than the food and customs though. In addition to teaching the language, lessons focus on the people, geography and various events in history in the Spanish-speaking world.”

Yatooma, in her 16th year teaching Spanish in Avondale School District, develops her classroom lessons with the idea that her students will become adults in a world where the cultural divide all but disappears. “In middle school, when students begin to think about life careers, it’s important to help them understand that the number of jobs that have a tie to a country other than the U.S. is growing every day. The global job market continues to expand and the jobs these students will compete for will most likely have a language requirement. Employers will be looking at candidates that not only speak another language but they will also be looking for depth of knowledge about other cultures.”

According to the website, careerbuilder.com, the number of Hispanic citizens inhabiting the U.S. today is estimated to be 40 million with an annual growth rate of 4.65. This trend is creating demand for bilingual job seekers fluent in Spanish and English in areas including health care, education, customer service, social services, technology and finance.

Eighth-graders Kallisti Fauble and Lexie Kintz know that in their future career of choice, nursing, communicating with their patients is more than speaking a common language. “You really have to understand a patient’s background when you are working in nursing. It’s not just about speaking their language, it’s about being able to relate to them because you know something about their culture and their lives” said Fauble.

Kintz agreed and said that she will continue on in high school with her Spanish classes, “it is going to be important to know a foreign language to get the job I want and then to be good at it.”

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