Public school students across the district of St. Thomas-St. John will celebrate National Foreign Language Week March 7-13. “Inaugurated in the spring of 1957, Foreign Language Week has been a longstanding celebration of the many varied cultures of the world,” said District Foreign LanguageCoordinator Myrna van Beverhoudt. “In the Virgin Islands, we have been celebrating National Foreign Language Week as far back as I can remember, and most will agree that the celebration was endorsed by our schools since, at least, the early 1970’s. This year, however, our celebration will be extended for the entire month of March and will culminate with activities held as late as April.
“As in previous years, the St. Thomas-St. John District will observe the celebration with a number of events at our local schools and throughout the community. The first event, the Spanish Spelling and Question Bee, is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 1, 2010, at the Lockhart Elementary School from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Elementary School students will vie for the title of district champion. In addition to requiring students to spell in Spanish, participants will, for the very first time, be required to also answer Spanish questions in complete sentences. “Our goal is to help students to communicate more in the target language from a young age.”
The celebration will continue from 1-3 p.m. on Friday, March 5, in the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School cafeteria. Three district secondary schools, Ivanna Eudora Kean High and Charlotte Amalie High Schools, and the Gifft Hill School, will challenge each other for the district championship of theHigh School Foreign Languages Quiz Bowl.
The Junior High Spanish Quiz Bowl will take place during the actual observance of National Foreign Language Week from 1-3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, in the Addelita Cancryn Junior High School cafeteria. The student participants will be expected to respond to questions in complete Spanish sentences that touch on various content areas (i.e., math and geography, as well as general Spanish and French vocabulary and knowledge).
The final event for the observance will be the much anticipated Foreign Languages Cultural Showcase,which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 10, at Center Court at the Tutu Park Mall. There will be displays of: Copy the Spanish and French Masters’ Posters (2010 theme: Spread Your Wings, Learn a New Language), piñatas and replicas of architectural wonders of the Foreign Language World. A new feature of technology projects that highlight language acquisition will also be included.
The student projects will be judged by local educators and artists from 11 a.m. to noon. A show segment when the students recite poems, sing, dance or perform short skits will begin at 1 p.m. During the show segment, the winners of the various contests will also be announced. Students will finally compete in the area of Spanish and French speech this year when they will be expected to give the audience an introduction of themselves that includes their likes, dislikes and plans for the future in both the target language and in English.
Van Beverhoudt, as organizer of the district foreign language events, extends a warm invitation to parents and to the community to attend the planned events. For more information, contact her via e-mail at mvanbeverhoudt@sttj.k12.vi or by phone at 775-2250 ext. 8540.
